Strand resort Voortrekker Park served as venue for an annual youth leadership camp of the City of Cape Town’s Recreation and Parks Department.
Camp Cape Town was held at the facility in Hofmeyer Road from Monday 28 March to Friday 1 April to recognise and assess teens identified as young leaders at community centres. Altogether 36 candidates were shortlisted to kick-start the next three-year Recreational Leadership Development Programme.
Throughout the year, hundreds of youth participate in sport and recreation at City programmes. Some extraordinary participants stand out for their willingness to go the extra mile by helping to organise events, motivating others to join and being role-models by leading healthy lifestyles.
Since its inception in 2014, Camp Cape Town has mentored 180 teenagers into informed and active citizens, who care about their environment and are aware of the opportunities that the City offers to develop their interests in positive recreation. The purpose of the initiative is to motivate the youth (aged 11 to 16 years) to use their free time responsibly and create safe spaces or projects for others.
“Our staff designed a camp which can impart the skills needed by a youngster to lead projects, as part of a toolkit that they can take away to create recreational opportunities for their peers,” explained Patricia van der Ross, Mayoral committee member for community services and health. “There is ongoing support at community centres, making it easy to accommodate a multitude of creative programmes that the youth may initiate or promote.”
Monitoring and evaluation tools enabled staff to consider the capabilities of participants to work in a team, solve problems and lead. Those rated the highest secured their place in the three-year programme.
This week marks the beginning of the programme, as participants attend workshops, volunteer at City programmes and events, and become part of the teams who organise after-school and holiday programmes.
The 36 new recruits will complete a different module each year.
