CPW Virtual Summer Week in Review | Young People's Report

My ‘Virtual CPW’ Review

By Rosie Huckfield

CPW is my favourite part of the summer holidays, so when I was told that it was cancelled, I was really upset :(

Then I was told that it was going to be held over Zoom and, to be honest, I didn’t want to do it. I thought it wouldn’t work and I didn’t want to talk to people I miss and can’t hug but, after the first session, I was so happy that I had joined.

Like all beginnings of all CPWs at first we were all awkward and no one knew what to say, but the Helpers quickly fixed that by making a few jokes. Everyone had a chance to talk and the Helpers made sure of that. I got to see people I hadn’t seen in years and I didn’t want the week to end.

Every morning a new array of clothes, pillows, toys and more were laid out on the sofa ready for our next session.

A colour each day was a brilliant idea! Most of my clothes are dark, so I struggled slightly but my family really got into it and every morning a new array of clothes, pillows, toys and more were laid out on the sofa ready for our next session.

The Helpers were calm and organised (even though they kept saying they had no idea what was happening) and they collectively controlled any situation thrown at them. The game ‘Mafia’ strangely worked better than when played face to face and by the third session everyone seemed comfortable and could speak up confidently.

Unfortunately, Patrick (my friend with High Functioning Autism) didn’t want to get involved like he would normally. Maybe that was because he couldn’t play physical games or sit next to someone in real life.

Listening to Ally Kateusz talking about women in the Church was really inspiring because I have always grown up with only male figures at the altar, but now being told that women had/have important parts in the Mass made me really happy (so were my friends). Afterwards, we discussed the Talk in the Young People’s session and I liked how the Helpers were ready to listen to different opinions. They said: “Does anyone disagree?” and that just shows you how accepting CPW is.

So..to Zoom or not to Zoom?

The Young People of CPW embrace Zoom.

I probably would never want to do Pictionary over Zoom again (I’m still mad that we lost, but the technologically challenged ‘older’ members of our team were definitely to blame for that!) and the Quiz was quite…chaotic. Plus, I really don’t trust the Mute button, so even when we were muted I stayed quiet. Hopefully next time we get to see everyone, we won’t have to unmute ourselves before we speak. But, because of COVID-19, I know that what the Team came up with was the best that could be done.

Virtual CPW? I loved every second of the Week and at least the Young People didn’t stay up till “Daft O’Clock” (as my Dad says) every night and were up and ready for action at session time (no early morning starts probably helped too). But a traditional CPW would always be best!

Mum’s Bit (by Mary Huckfield)

Rosie knows nothing about this, but I wanted to add my two pence worth to her review.

As she says, the girls were very disappointed that Kintbury CPW was cancelled this summer. It’s not an exaggeration to say that CPW is in their genes and to miss a year has been hard on them. But…the Helpers really pulled it out of the bag. To have both girls excited and engaged in ‘God Camp’ (their term, to help explain to non-CPW friends what it’s all about) was way beyond our expectations. They wanted to tell us about each session (a bonus…we rarely see them during a ‘real’ Week) and were more than willing to take part in the teen activities. I think I had underestimated how much they value the company of other like-minded teens and how much it means to them to ‘hang out’ with cool (way cooler than ourselves (exemplar, using the words ‘hang out’)…or even our contemporaries…sorry guys) role models (yes, I’m talking about you Lorna, Jes, James, Rachel, Tom, Nora, Clare and Esther). Big love and thanks to all.