OMV International Holiday Camp 2024

A week with the OMV at International Holiday Camp brings guests and helpers, from over 20 countries across Europe and beyond, together to enjoy exciting activities as well as soulful reflection. The action-packed week is beautifully complimented by the tranquility of prayer, both individual and communal, and guests are offered the opportunity to try activities that might not normally be accessible to them. There are also discos each evening that are the highlight for many of the guests, as wheelchairs rock n’roll the night away!

Throughout the week the guests are given opportunities to try activities that might not normally be accessible to them including; Sailing, Horse Riding, Scuba-Diving, a flight in a light aircraft or Hot Air Balloon. The week enables a number of branches of the OMV youth community to come together in one place, enjoy the culture of different countries each year and engage in activities together regardless of any language barriers. 

This year, 7 guests and 14 volunteers went to Belgium for a week of fun activities and meeting many new people. The team explored Brussels and Antwerp, dressed up for the themed disco nights which included some Smurfs, 50s-90s throwback and surrealist outfits. The highlight was the chance to fly in a glider and experience awesome views. It’s a fun, enjoyable and thoroughly memorable week for everyone.

We can’t wait for Switzerland this year! This year’s camp is from Sunday 11th August to Sunday 18th August 2024. We look forward to seeing you there.

Please find below the basic information you need to know before applying to join us in Switzerland this summer. 

Volunteer Requirements:

1. Minimum age – all volunteers must be 18 or over.
2. First Aid Training – volunteers must have undertaken First Aid training by attending the OMV training day.
3. DBS checks – all volunteers must have valid DBS clearance through BASMOM or other entities with “enhanced clearance”. Volunteers will complete a DBS form at the OMV training day. Please note that if you do not have a valid DBS form you will not be able to attend.
4. Safeguarding – all volunteers will need to take a safeguarding test ahead of the pilgrimage. This is an online test and will be circulated to volunteers closer to our departure date.

Training Day:

The OMV Training Day will be held on the last May bank holiday, date and time TBD.

Costs:

The cost of this year’s camp is £575.

This price includes flights, food, accommodation and transport within Switzerland.

The OMV offers bursaries to volunteers and please see further information on this below.

Bursaries:

The OMV Bursary Scheme is there to help those who would not be otherwise able to.

As a charity, OMV has a limited bursary fund and bursaries are made at the Treasurer’s discretion.

We would strongly advise you to seek other forms of financial support from your family, school, university, parish or workplace before applying for a bursary.

If you would like to apply for a bursary for this activity, please get in touch with the OMV Treasurer at treasurer@omv.org.uk

The OMV has a bursary policy on our website which you can access here for more information: https://www.omv.org.uk/contact/policies/

The deadline for bursary applications is 14/04/2024.

More information:

For more information, please contact Nadia & James on ihc@omv.org.uk