Camphill News
This year Camphill celebrates 70 years since it's humble beginnings in 1940...
Various events are planned for this year and all of them will be announced here.
Recent News!!
Camphill pupils refurbish Aberdeen community garden
Work carried out as part of Duke of Edinburgh Award
Pupils from Camphill School Aberdeen, which provides education and support for children and young people with special needs, have been carrying out refurbishment work at the Ross Watt Community Garden in the Culter area of Aberdeen, as part of their activity for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
Four final year pupils – James Jay, Conor Reid, Samuel Scott and Charlie Walker, all 18 years old – have been improving the gardens and the play area, as well as starting work on a new walkway and seating area in the wooded section of the garden. This part of the work has been particularly hard as it involved removing large boulders from the route.
In total there are nine pupils from Camphill School completing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, which involve voluntary work, physical activity and an expedition. On Tuesday and Wednesday (June 15 and 16) the pupils will be taking part in the expedition element of the award scheme, which involves them spending two days and one night in remote countryside.
One of the pupils, Conor Reid, explained why he had decided to volunteer for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards:
“I thought it would be an opportunity for my last year at Camphill School Aberdeen. It has been a lot of hard work, but it has also been good fun.”
Issued on behalf of Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire
by Ken McEwen Public Relations
Feet will take a pounding as Stuart aims for Camphill cash in Sunday’s Edinburgh Marathon
Stuart Probart, from Kincausie Estate, Maryculter, near Aberdeen, is in the final stages of his 100-mile training for Sunday’s (May 23) Edinburgh Marathon.
The 45-year-old teacher is the veteran of eight marathons, including Amsterdam in October 2009 and Edinburgh last year. He has worked out that, in the 26.2 miles of the Edinburgh Marathon, his feet will slam into the tarmac 52,000 times.
“All this pounding makes my feet sore,” Stuart says. “It also hurts the ankles, legs, knees, hips and so forth. At about 20 miles my body’s store of glycogen fuel will run out. Runners whose bodies have not yet learned to burn fat will often hit the wall at this point. Then there is the hobbling around for several days after the race.”
Why is he putting himself through this? For Stuart, it is not just the challenge of completing the race, he is using his entry to raise funds for Camphill Medical Practice and its ExHale programme, designed to tackle hypertension (commonly known as high blood pressure).
“Hypertension is a health condition which affects at least 12% of the Scottish population,” Stuart explains. “This condition leads to a heightened risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease, alongside uncertainty and worries, possible loss of control over oneself, feelings of despair and reduced self image.
“The ExHale programme is delivered jointly by the NHS and charity arms of Camphill Medical Practice. The programme offers powerful tools to help strengthen your sense of self and control over your life. The ExHale project is not funded by the NHS and so it relies on patient contributions and fundraising and donations to offset the running costs.”
Camphill Medical Practice, one of seven charities within Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire, provides NHS primary care services to the local community along with the intensive professional care required by the children and adults in Camphill communities in the Aberdeen area. The medical practice is a former winner of the Innovative Practice Award and the Quality Practice Award, both presented by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of Camphill in Aberdeen. On June 1, 1940 a group of young refugees opened the door of Camphill House in Milltimber, Aberdeen, to children with with special needs.
From those early days in wartime Aberdeen, Camphill has now grown to encompass 100 communities in 23 countries. In the Aberdeen area more than 700 people live and work in Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire charities.
• Stuart Probart’s fundraising page on Just Giving is at http://www.justgiving.com/Stuart-Probart
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Change of Date
Please note that the talk on Childhood Illness by Marga Hogenboom which was due to take place on Tuesday 25th May has been postponed. It will now take place on Tuesday 1st June, same time same place: 7.30 p.m. – Newton Dee Café.
Childhood health in the spotlight
Dr Marga Hogenboom of the Camphill Medical Practice will be talking about Childhood Illness as the last in a series of five talks looking at different aspects of the work of the practice.
One of the GPs at Camphill Medical Practice, Dr Hogenboom will be giving practical advice for parents. She will examine what to do when a child becomes ill, when to contact the doctor and she will also discuss some of the natural remedies that are available.
Sponsored by the Friends of Camphill Medical Practice, the talk takes place on Tuesday, May 25 at 7.30pm in the Newton Dee Café, on Old Ferry Road, Bieldside, Aberdeen.
Camphill Medical Practice, located on the Murtle Campus of Camphill School Aberdeen in Bieldside, provides NHS primary care services to the local community along with the intensive professional care required by the children and adults in Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire communities in the Aberdeen area.
Camphill Medical Practice is a former winner of the Innovative Practice Award and the Quality Practice Award, both presented by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Admission to the talk is free and refreshments will be served afterwards.
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Issued on behalf of Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire
by Ken McEwen Public Relations
Aberdeen man aims to raise £1000 for Camphill on Lairig Ghru hill race
Dave Thompson (42), from Cults in Aberdeen, is in training to take part in the gruelling 42km Lairig Ghru hill race on Sunday, June 27. Apart from the sheer challenge of finishing, Dave is aiming to raise £1,000 for the Camphill Newton Dee community.
Dave Thompson, Business Development Manager with Capita Health Solutions in Aberdeen, has competed on this race twice before – so he does know the challenges he will face. But he describes his last attempt two years ago as a “nightmare” and found it very difficult to finish the course. That, he says, was the spur to try again this year.
The Lairig Ghru race route takes contestants from Braemar, climbing to more than 2,000 feet on the boulder-strewn trail through the Lairig Ghru mountain pass. The finish is in Aviemore.
Commenting on why he wants to raise money for Camphill Newton Dee, Dave Thomson says:
“I live quite close to Newton Dee and I am a regular visitor at the store and café. I think what they do there is tremendous and I really want to do something to help and support them.
“The ethos of Camphill and Newton Dee is that everyone brings to the community different abilities, which they use for the benefit of those around them. The community is therefore bound together by the support, which each individual gives and receives.”
Newton Dee, one of seven charities within Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire, is home to some 200 people of whom around half are adults with special needs. Newton Dee is currently celebrating its 50th Annversary as an adult community.
This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of Camphill in Aberdeen. On June 1, 1940 a group of young refugees opened the door of Camphill House in Milltimber, Aberdeen, to children with with special needs.
From those early days in wartime Aberdeen, Camphill has now grown to encompass 100 communities in 23 countries. In the Aberdeen area more than 700 people live and work in Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire charities.
• Dave Thompson’s fundraising page on Just Giving is at http://www.justgiving.com/Dave-Thompson0
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Issued on behalf of Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire
by Ken McEwen Public Relations
Two large donations mean that our target of raising £100,000 towards the cost of the new Therapy Centre on Camphill Estate has been reached. Our thanks go to the Wooden Spoon for £50,000, The Robertson Trust for £43,000 and to countlesss others who made this possible.
Tuesday 8th December - UK Minister for the Disabled visited Camphill School Aberdeen and saw for himself ‘the work of the last 70 years’. He met senior co-workers, and members of the Council of Management, Pupil Council and Parents’ Group.