be yourself no matter how weird cause the right people will accept you for you so thank you

be yourself no matter how weird cause the right people will accept you for you so thank you

It’s the one place he truly felt included. He came home with smiles, so many stories and happy memories and the experiences. He would tell me how people would say how much they appreciated different things about him. He’s never known such kindness.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts ♥️

Eddie Rice Camps have been everything to me for the better part of my life and I can’t believe they’re over.

To this day, I consider my first camp back in the summer of 1999 as the single biggest formative experience of my life.

It revealed to me a world that existed beyond my bubble. It was the first time I had truly served - given everything of myself for those kids, and received nothing (tangible) in return. There was no certificate, no badge - just an incredible sense of fulfilment and gratitude. It felt good, and I was surprisingly good at it. As a 17 year-old, this was a revelation, and little did I know it at the time, but Camps would become my vocation, my calling.

It became a place that no matter where I was in the world I could always come back to, do a camp, and feel “whole” again. Camps became my primary source of spiritual nourishment. They reconnected me with the story of Jesus, as expressed through the charism of Edmund, which was lived out in countless “Eddie Moments”. This combination of forces ultimately led me back to my true self.

Now, as I look back over 20+ years of involvement in camps in VIC and SA, I am particularly grateful for:

• the 1:1 moments and chats with young people and their families

• the songs, games, stories, chaos, and sheer fun we had

• the lifelong friends I made

• the collective spirit of the leaders - all committed to a common cause of ensuring those kids/families had the best week of their lives

• Key Christian Brothers and senior ER leaders who taught me about formation, and how to facilitate meaningful experiences and reflections

• the countless volunteers behind the scenes who cooked, drove buses, organised programs, led Boards etc

• the staff and leadership who always went above and beyond because they believed in the mission, often in the face of endless change and challenge

Now, while there is an undoubted sense of sadness and loss, I also feel hopeful as I think back to the example of those first trailblazing Brothers who started Camps.

I take heart knowing that the spirit of Edmund will always find new expressions and life in frontier spaces - spaces that exist both within and without us, and spaces that are often revealed when we go to the ‘edge’ and are in relationship with one another.

Thanks for everything ERC. ❤️

EDDIE, EDDIE, EDDIE!!

The almost unique volunteer led model with trained and supported young people acting as role models, mentors and friends for the participants resonated with me immediately, and the obvious building of dignity, trust and the sense of community that developed each and every camp remains a feature of camps to this day.

My involvement has been as a leader, Camp Captain and Coach, Committee Member, Board Member, Treasurer, Board Chair and a Life Member. I stepped away from an active role in the organisation a couple of years ago but continued to live vicariously through my now adult daughter who is also a longtime volunteer.

The news and reality that a thing that I helped build from the ground up over 40 years ago is no longer transforming lives one camp at a time hurts, this was a tangible and wonderful thing that existed in the lives of thousands of leaders and campers and the memory and life changing good it has delivered will live on forever.

I am so grateful that ERC Vic has been life changing for me and has shaped my life in so many ways. It has helped me build my leadership skills, empathy and find ways to make the world around me a better place as well as foster a lifelong commitment to Volunteering. Missions evolve and I take solace in the belief that ERCS will continue to deliver transformative change and impact into the future albeit in a different way perhaps with less chanting, singing and cries of Eddie, Eddie Eddie, Oi, Oi, Oi.

Thankyou