By Suzanne Smith
The UK’s first vegan and vegetarian camp for 11-17 year olds, the result of a great idea and a lot of hard work by the team behind the social networking site TeenVGN, is taking place this summer in Bristol and it has been so well received that there is now a waiting list of hopeful campers as it is fully booked. When you have a look at the line-up of events set to take place across the 6 day camp, from 23rd-28th August, it isn’t hard to see why!
Before we get into the finer details of the camp, for those who aren’t familiar with TeenVGN, in their own words they are ‘a Social Network and Support Group for compassionate young people age 12-19.’ Founded in March 2013 by Laura and Kylie, it was created as a way for young vegans and vegetarians to meet and connect with likeminded people of a similar age through a safe and secure channel, filling a gap in the market to provide for young, compassionate people. TeenVGN is now an award-winning site and has a social media following of over 20,000!
So, back to the camp and the fun-filled events which have helped it book up so quickly! There are talks from organisations such as ADI and Animal Equality, workshops making organic (and vegan!) lip balm and soaps in conjunction with Heavenly Organics, there are yoga classes, wildlife walks and cookery classes as well as team building events, theme nights and movie nights. There is sure to be something to occupy even the most active young veggies and vegans out there. In addition, the VEGAN lifestyle ASSOCIATION are one of the supporters of the camp and the VLA’s Founder and Managing Director, Chantal Denny, will be hosting a workshop about how easy it is to be vegan!
I am particularly excited about this camp (even though I’m too old to go unfortunately!) as it combines two topics which are very important to me – the power of education for young people and veganism. With six years of experience in education, as a high school teacher and now in the education non-profit sector, the empowerment of young people is extremely high on my agenda. And being a Director for the VEGAN lifestyle ASSOCIATION, you could say veganism is pretty important to me, too!
To be successful in achieving a ‘normal vision’ for veganism by 2020 we must educate the next generation and make living a vegan lifestyle an easy, logical choice which young people feel proud to undertake. And what better way to start? This camp will educate, inform, inspire, entertain, enthuse and excite our young vegans who will hopefully, in turn, pass this on to their friends, family, classmates and even their own children one day, paving the way for a brighter vegan tomorrow!
Happy Camping!
For more information on Summer camp, you can visit the TeenVGN website or follow them on Twitter @TeenVGN
Tweet Suzanne @soosie_smith and check out her blog butgrowingupisoptional.wordpress.com