Your commitment to us
1. You must agree to our Code of Behaviour
We want to provide you with a safe and supportive environment, so when you apply for camp you also agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. You can find a copy at the bottom of this page, and we will have copies with us at camp.
2. You must arrive and leave at the right time on the first day
a. If you are volunteering, please arrive between 2pm and 3pm for training on the first day and leave between 11am and 12noon on the last day;
b. If you require care for your disability, please arrive between 5pm and 6pm on the first day and leave between 9am and 10am on the last day.
If you arrive or leave at a different time, we will not have enough trained volunteers to provide an effective handover, look after your property or provide care for you. The only exception to this is if you have contacted us in advance and we have agreed to provide you with extra care.
3. If you need to cancel and give us notice, we can refund part of your camp fees
We rely on you coming to camp to make everything work, so if you really need to cancel then you must talk to us about it first. If you do this, and we agree there is no reasonable alternative to you cancelling, then we can refund your camp fee as follows:
- If you give us at least 42 days’ notice before the first day of camp, we can refund 80% of your payment.
- If you give us at least 21 days’ notice we can refund 40% of your payment
- If you give us fewer than 21 days’ notice we will be unable to refund you.
If your application is not accepted or we cancel your place then you will be entitled to a refund.
If you have made a donation to us which means you have paid in total more than the camp fees then we can discuss with you whether and how to refund this.
You might wish to consider buying holiday insurance to cover your costs in case you become ill just before or during your week at camp and can’t stay the full week.
4. Equality, diversity and inclusion policy.
We actively encourage diversity and strive to be an inclusive organisation.
Follow this link to see our Equality, diversity and inclusion policy.
5. Our Data Protection Policy.
We will look after and process your personal data to organise camp, to perform security checks, to match care needs with offers of help, to communicate with you about camp, to invite you to future camps and to tell you about social and fundraising activities and events. We will not use your personal data for any other purpose or make it available to anyone else without your permission.
Follow this link to see our Privacy notice and data protection policy.
Our Code of Behaviour
We want everyone at Odyssians to feel confident about working in a safe and supportive environment. So if you come to Odyssians, you must follow the five rules below.
If you break our code of conduct, then our camp leader will agree with you how to prevent it happening again. In the unlikely event you break it after we have warned you or you put someone’s safety at risk, or if you put our reputation at risk, we will send you home without notice and might place conditions which you must meet before we accept your application to future events. If you disagree with our decision, you can ask an independent person appointed by our trustees to review our decision. We will do this as quickly as we reasonably can, but if we send you home first then we might have to arrange your appeal later.
Rule 1. Be Nice.
We have a lot of young adults around us, so please have fun. Be silly, use innuendoes and suggestive language, but only if it’s appropriate and you feel comfortable with it.
It is OK for you to drink alcohol in moderation, but do not get drunk. You must still stick to these rules and be able to carry out your work safely. If you are working on a night duty, we prefer you to drink no alcohol the day before.
If you are responsible for someone else’s care, either stay close by or arrange for someone else to do so.
Contribute your fair share of all the work, including socialising with the whole camp in the evenings.
We want you to have a great time at Odyssians. It is OK for you to ask for a rest during the day or to ask if you can go to bed early, but only if you have not been up late partying the night before.
Rule 2: Treat Everyone Fairly.
Treat everyone fairly no matter what their age, disability, gender, nationality, race, religion or sexual orientation.
To protect our trans and nonbinary members, don’t assume people’s gender. Always use everyone’s preferred pronoun (like he, she, they). Do not challenge people who you think are in the wrong space because of their gender; they know better than you. If you get something wrong, apologise quickly.
For example, you must never use a volunteer’s gender to help you decide whether they are the best person to provide care in any situation.
The only exception is if the receiver of care tells you that they have a strong preference. Never assume that the person receiving care has a preference without asking.
Rule 3: Protect Yourself
This rule is to stop other people making a complaint about you if you haven’t done anything wrong.
- Never find yourself alone with a vulnerable adult.
- If you’re over 18, never find yourself alone with an under-18 year-old. Move to a busier area or find someone to accompany you. If you can’t do this (for example, if you need to take someone to the toilet quickly) then tell your patrol leader or camp leader immediately afterwards.
Rule 4: Protect Others.
Do not smoke anywhere except the smoking area. Never smoke in the woods or in a tent.
Lock away all medicines or hand them to the camp nurse.
Make sure your words, touch and behaviour towards other people are always appropriate. For example:
- Do not touch anyone in an inappropriate way, even if the person you are touching has said it is OK. In particular, if you are over 18 then you must not have sexual contact with anyone under 18.
- Don’t encourage anyone to develop a crush on anyone else.
Rule 5: Tell us about inappropriate behaviour.
If you think someone has behaved inappropriately:
- Don’t cause a scene.
- Don’t investigate it yourself.
- Do immediately tell your patrol leader. If you are a patrol leader, tell our camp leader.
Encourage everyone to feel safe to talk about behaviour they do not like, whether or not it happened here at camp.
Don’t agree to keep secrets: you must tell us everything you hear about inappropriate behaviour, even if you are unsure.
If you tell us about abuse of vulnerable adults or people under 18, we will accept what you say, help you to write it down and then we’ll tell the appropriate authority.
If you’re worried about anything on this page, please contact us via our website or speak to your patrol leader or the camp leader about it.
And most of all: thank you for helping to make Odyssians brilliant 🙂