Virtual Camps & Puppets: Camp Quality connects community online

29 April 2020: Camp Quality’s Happiness Hub has launched, giving families facing cancer, and the broader community, a new website to help get through isolation together.

When COVID-19 hit the Australian community, children’s cancer charity, Camp Quality, who run face-to-face services and programs for kids aged 0-13 such as Kids’ Camps, Family Fun Days and Primary School Education Program puppet shows shifted to digital fast by developing Camp Quality’s Happiness Hub.

The Happiness Hub is now the online home of the Camp Quality Puppets, creating a digital version of the educational puppet show that tours schools across Australia, and the hospital visits to children undergoing treatment. The hub also houses a digital version of Camp Quality’s much-loved camps with a Virtual Camp section full of activities.

Camp Quality mum Jolyn knows the effects of isolation all too well after daughter Codee-jo was diagnosed with Leukemia at 2 years old.

“Codee-Jo was quite sensitive to chemotherapy, which meant we have had to isolate… During isolation we aim to exercise daily and partake in fun family activities. We don’t take life too seriously and ensure we relax and have free time to just enjoy being together.”

Jolyn is one of the parents who has shared her family’s top tips for isolation on the Happiness Hub to help other Australian families who are experiencing isolation for the first time.

Camp Quality CEO Deborah Thomas has made it clear that support for families facing cancer will continue through the pandemic saying,

“Cancer doesn’t stop so neither can we. Camp Quality’s Happiness Hub truly shares what has always been at the heart of Camp Quality for 36 years – laughter, connection and positivity.”

In a society now grappling with the kind of isolation families facing cancer commonly experience during treatment, Camp Quality’s Happiness Hub is a vital resource not just for the families it sought to support but the wider community. The Happiness Hub will become a permanent part of service delivery at Camp Quality into the future. To help Camp Quality stay by the side of families donate here.