More than 420 groups are still looking for a place to rent to organize their summer camp this year, announce together all the French-speaking youth movements on Thursday. This represents 18% of the total number of groups, or 17,300 children.
Concretely, the animators responsible are looking for 424 camp sites for this summer, a figure slightly higher than last year. To be more precise, they need 275 buildings (schools, community halls, sports facilities, etc.) and 149 meadows to pitch tents there.
The majority of the groups impacted are those who have been forced to shift their usual camp dates from the first to the second half of July due to the reform of the school rhythm, indicate the French-speaking youth movements.
“Various inquiries from our facilitators have reported an explosion in rental costs. Some meadows are now renting for several thousand euros, well beyond the amount of 1.5 euros per participant and per night recommended by the ‘ASBL Atouts Camps, expert in the field”, says the press release.
Another obstacle encountered: equipment, such as tents, is more difficult to share “since the groups go to camp during the same periods”.
The large colonies are, moreover, limited in their possibilities since certain municipal regulations impose a maximum number of members.
To overcome the shortage, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation launched a call for projects at the beginning of February for nearly 1.5 million euros to support the work needed to transform the premises of youth movements into camp sites. . “The subsidies granted will amount to a maximum amount of 20,000 euros per year per location or location of activities of local groups of youth movements”, underlines a previous press release from the French-speaking Minister of Youth, Valérie Glatigny.
However, the ASBL Les Scouts, the National Federation of Patros, the Faucons Rouges, the Guides as well as the Scouts and Guides Pluralists of Belgium insist: “That will not be enough!”.
This is why they are jointly appealing for help to owners of buildings and meadows for rent, to school principals, to municipalities or provinces. All have part of the solution in their hands.