Summer Hype is an innovative residential summer camp community for disadvantaged children aged 10-13 from the Hackney area of London. Each year thirty children are taken to the countryside for a week. Summer Hype believes that everything from dance-offs to discussion has educational value, and they aim to give children a unique space for fun, personal development, and self-expression during the school holiday.

There are 3.9 million children living in poverty with London maintaining the highest rates of child poverty in the country. Without the provision of Free School Meals during the school holidays, many children are forced to skip meals or eat unhealthily. If these families can afford meals, it is often at the expense of other activities. Educational and developmental activities are often prohibitively expensive and so poorer children can fall behind their peers during the school holidays. Children’s social development can also be severely disadvantaged because of a lack of available money and space for social activities. Children who attend Sumer Hype are at a vulnerable age where they are no longer nurtured by their primary schools and are beginning to struggle, both academically and behaviourally at secondary school. They also face the additional risk of being recruited by gangs. Headteachers in the schools have stressed that there is a desperate need for this project, and they have identified many children who would benefit.

The camp programme is exciting and varied, starting with a healthy breakfast and some exercise followed by the young volunteers running a creative, informal education session on the theme of the camp. Last year the theme was aspiration, and the year before it was identity. The children then take part in site activities, from archery to zip lines. After lunch, the participants choose Masterclasses, where they can develop a new skill such as video making or art. In the early evening the team run a fun activity for the children which encourages them to use their imagination. Before bedtime, the leaders spend time with children in their dorm groups to help them process the day. Surveys and feedback from the participants on the impact they felt Summer Hype had had on them. 90% of participants reported feeling more comfortable expressing themselves after Summer Hype. 100% of participants felt they had the opportunity to communicate with and relate to people who were different to them. 100% also said that they learned to communicate with adults in new ways.