Shining Bright at the #YCFestival2024!!

After more than a decade since our last visit to the YC festival, we finally managed to take a group of #YoungCarers again!

It was uplifting to see our Young Carers enthusiastic about participating in activities and eager to take on the great outdoors. After setting up at the campsite, we grabbed dinner and took off for the available activities. We closed off the day by dancing in the Samba march and gazing up at the fireworks. During the first night the YCs were so keen they were out of their tents at the first sight of sunlight and began playing football, Unlucky for them it was 4 am and they were sent back to their tents for some more r and r.

The second day was an adventure from start to finish. After breakfast we all split up into pairs to explore the field and immerse ourselves in what was on offer. by dinnertime we had spoke out in the Voice Zone and completed several tasks to win prizes, soured through the air on a zip-line, crashed karts, bounced on castles, competed in a fierce nerf battle and sought thrills on the local attractions. We spent most of the evening adorning ourselves in neon tattoos and glow sticks to be ready for the UV Disco and Movie Night.

On the final day we did a last minute shop at the tuck shop, some rock climbing and rappelling before chowing down on lunch and heading back. While the minivan was being loaded the Young Carers snuck off to the "YCF" stand to take a momentous photo.

It was a truly magical experience with memories that will surely last forever!

See below for the individual YC's review of the festival

YC REVIEWS

"I really loved the idea of spending time camping and the activities we extremely fun but the sleeping was not fun and we should be able to make a camp fire overall a good time"

"It was a good experience I wold go again.. but I Ii wouldn’t spend my time at just the fun fair I would have spent time around the campus but the thing I didn't like was the coldness of the tents and how the weather changed from time to time" 

"It was a great experience full of fun and friendship with so many fun activities we were never bored. I liked how we could move around the site in pairs or groups freely and I would definitely jump at the experience to go again but a campfire would have been nice and the tents were cold on the first night but overall it was GREAT!"