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Inhaling. Liberated joy. A new momentum. In addition to numerous adventures, new challenges, and the power of a community of friends, and parents these are many of the things people experience in the Family Camps. They are happy – and we are very proud of them! – that they allowed themselves, dared themselves, these few days. The few days when they could break away from the daily grind, step out of their comfort zone, so that their sick child, healthy siblings, and themselves, as parents, could gain a new strength to keep on fighting, and bravely confront the difficulties that they face in life. We have gathered some energizing thoughts from parents who participated in the Family Camp.

The camp was special because…

We could be carefree together, and recharge.

The Brave Camp is like…

Being in the camp as an adult…

We are proud of ourselves because…

Since 1996, the International Day of Tolerance has been celebrated on November 16, initiated by UNESCO. Its main goal is to draw attention to the dangers of intolerance and promote non-violence within the school environment. However, understanding and attention are also greatly needed in our everyday relationships. Dorka Kocsis, a psychologist from the Bátor Tábor Foundation, offers five simple but proven tips on how to be more understanding and patient with our own difficulties and how to provide emotional support to others.

There are many factors that influence how we handle stressful and challenging situations. It’s not just the level of mental stress and our previous experiences that matter, but also our current physical and mental state. Emotional regulation plays a significant role in how we react and how we influence our environment. It enables us to adapt to the world around us by indicating that we can influence and control our emotions. Our feelings, thoughts, and physical sensations are closely interconnected and mutually influence each other. Striving for understanding and sincere communication forms the basis of successful human relationships. However, amidst the hectic demands of everyday life, it can be challenging to remain constantly aware of this. The International Day of Tolerance reminds us to pay closer attention to others and ourselves.

Take care of ourselves!

Taking care of ourselves also plays a significant role in our openness towards others. When we are tired or after a stressful day, even the slightest novelty or obstacle becomes difficult to handle. Shifting perspectives and looking at things from different angles requires considerable mental resources, as our physical condition influences our emotions. Physical and mental rest, whether it is active (releasing tension) or passive (recharging), is an important step towards achieving a more balanced emotional state.

Ask questions boldly!

Ask questions to ourselves and others. Through internal dialogues, we can answer why certain things affect us sensitively and what bothers us. However, it’s better not to understand the other party’s perspective in a one-sided dialogue; involve them in the conversation and establish a connection. Understanding and changing perspectives can help transform stereotypes and ingrained beliefs.

Acquire knowledge!

If something is difficult for us to tolerate, let’s learn about it and gain a better understanding. Whether it’s a phenomenon, external stimulus, or situation, watching movies, reading, or becoming neutral observers in specific situations these can all help. Our thoughts and cognition also influence our emotions.

Engage in conversations!

Engage in conversations with acquaintances and friends who can better help us cope with what is challenging for us to accept. Learn from them, observe or ask them what helps them cope. It’s easier to deal with a situation when there is someone we can look up to as an example. Have conversations with friends with whom we can share our feelings and dilemmas with, allowing our internal struggles to be expressed. Learning about opinions different from our own can broaden our horizons and break free from habitual thinking and emotional processes.

Meet in person!

Maintaining distance and avoiding interactions can protect us from tension, but it may not help change our perspective. A meeting, closer contact, or shared activity can provide an opportunity to seek similarities instead of differences and understand the other person’s viewpoint.

Since 2001, the Bátor Tábor Foundation has provided healing experiences to over 15,000 seriously and chronically ill children and their families. Through the methodology and tools of adventure therapy, they bring the carefree nature of childhood not only to camps but also to the schools and hospitals as well.

As the first among Hungarian nonprofits, we have issued a sustainability report.

The Bátor Tábor Foundation has prepared its first Sustainability Report in full compliance with the global reporting standard (GRI). The Foundation has set a goal to achieve climate neutrality in its operations by 2030 through energy modernization, efficiency improvement, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and fuel consumption. A significant part of the Foundation’s emissions is attributed to the energy consumption of the campsite complex in Hatvan, amounting to 28.6 tons of CO2e in 2021, representing the annual emissions of Bátor Tábor.

In addition to its important social mission and its history of ethical and transparent operations, the Bátor Tábor Foundation is increasingly focused on the environmental aspect of sustainability. In 2021, a shortened ESG assessment was conducted to examine the sustainability of their operations based on environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria. As the next step, the organization prepared its first Sustainability Report in 2022, with the assistance of Planet Fanatics’ Network Ltd. The data calculations were based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, following international expectations. This resulted in the Sustainability Report covering the data from 2019 to 2021.

“As one of the influential foundations in Hungarian social life, we consider it our duty to serve as a good example to society by making our operations sustainable. We carry out our work, focused on providing assistance to children and their supporters, ethically, as fair employers, and on sustainable financial grounds. It is inspiring to see not only the quantified environmental impact but also to commit to clear and forward-looking goals such as achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030,” expressed Erna Kindli, the CEO of the Bátor Tábor Foundation, emphasizing the milestone’s significance.

The Bátor Tábor Foundation has excelled in two aspects of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for decades, namely Health and Well-being (SDG3) and Reduced Inequalities (SDG10). Over the past 20 years, the Foundation has provided courage through its programs to more than 15,000 children and their family members battling cancer or other serious chronic illnesses, who still consider Bátor Tábor the most positively impactful environment in their lives. In addition to supporting the mental well-being of society, the Foundation also promotes a culture of giving and volunteering, contributing to the strengthening of social solidarity. Beyond the therapeutic camps, they also facilitate the integration of severely and chronically ill children into communities, as well as the development of healthy interpersonal relationships and social skills through hospital, online, and school programs.

“We collaborated with the Bátor Tábor Foundation in this form for the first time two years ago when they participated in our Sustainability Day online event. Last year, we conducted their simplified ESG assessment and calculated their GHG inventory. We highly value the cause represented by Bátor Tábor and the Foundation’s way of operating, and the challenge of preparing a report for a nonprofit organization based on the GRI used by companies was so unique that there was no question whether we would embark on it,” said Katalin Szomolányi, CEO of Planet Fanatics’ Network Ltd., about the cooperation.

To achieve the set sustainability goals, in 2021, the Bátor Tábor Foundation installed solar panels on their program building at the campsite in Hatvan, which was completed a few years ago. They also carried out the comprehensive replacement of boilers and maintenance of windows and doors. Since a significant portion of their emissions comes from electricity consumption, they place particular emphasis on measures aimed at achieving higher efficiency in the future. To reduce their indirect emissions, they plan to decrease the energy demand of their properties by 2030, and to avoid these emissions, they will increase their solar energy capacity. In order to reduce fuel consumption, they have been organizing carpooling tables for volunteers and staff for several years to optimize per capita fuel consumption. Additionally, they have set tasks for the modernization of their vehicle fleet and the acquisition of electric vehicles. The combination of solar energy supply and electric vehicles is important not only for reducing emissions but also for reducing dependence on external pressures and ensuring continuous operation.

The Bátor Tábor Foundation believes that civil organizations should follow the progressive models of the business sector, and sustainability is an area that affects everyone, regardless of the sector, and everyone has a responsibility to contribute. This is why they considered it important to take another step towards sustainable development.

The Bátor Tábor Foundation’s Sustainability Report can be downloaded in Hungarian from this link.

The Élménykülönítmény was born in 2011 as the charitable athletes’ community of Bátor Tábor. Throughout the 11-year history of the purple-shirted participants, they have transformed the lives of seriously ill children and their families by collecting nearly 285,000,000 Hungarian forints in donations, with more than 2,500 charitable athletes. However, from now on, besides donating kilometers, you can join the purple-shirted team with any hobby!

Are you the best carrot cake baker in the countryside? Have you been planning a home concert for a long time? Would you celebrate the next X? Would you make your special day memorable for sick children?

Turn your hobby into charity, join the Élménykülönítmény!

More than 2,200 Alumni Take Part in American Institutes for Research In-Depth Study for Non-Profit’s Largest Outcomes Study 

SeriousFun Children’s Network (SeriousFun), a non-profit which provides exceptional camp, in-hospital, and at-home programs for kids living with serious illnesses and their families, recently partnered with the American Institute for Research® (AIR®) to conduct a first-of-its-kind study that examined the influence and lasting impact of residential camp participation for alumni campers of SeriousFun camps around the world. Alumni campers from Bátor Tábor were among the study’s participants. Bátor Tábor which operates in Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, has been a part of the SeriousFun Children’s Network since 2007. The study explored personal, social, and health-related outcomes that are influenced by SeriousFun camps; elements of the camp and camper’s experiences that affect those outcomes; and whether outcomes were affected by frequency of attendance or demographic characteristics of attendees.  

SeriousFun, founded by legendary actor and philanthropist Paul Newman, is made up of Bátor Tábor, along with 29 other camps and programs around the world that help children living with serious medical conditions and their families reach beyond illness to discover joy, confidence, and new possibilities. SeriousFun is the only organization of its kind to serve children living with more than 50 medical conditions – including cancer, blood disorders, immunological conditions, neurological conditions, and more. Through camps like Bátor Tábor children and families have the opportunity to escape the everyday demands of hospital visits, doctor appointments, and treatments to experience an unparalleled opportunity for belonging and accomplishment.  

Study data were gathered between January and March 2021 through online surveys administered to SeriousFun alumni, who reported their outcomes and the extent to which they attributed these outcomes to participation in SeriousFun camps. More than 2,200 SeriousFun alumni, ranging in ages from 17-30, from 16 camps and eight countries (France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States) took part in the survey, the largest study ever carried out by SeriousFun Children’s Network.  

More than 80% of total alumni reported that their SeriousFun camp experience played a major role in their development of lasting outcomes, which they used in their everyday adolescent and adult lives including: 

According to the study, all types of campers, representing diverse demographic backgrounds, benefitted from their experience at SeriousFun. Demographic characteristics, including race/ethnicity, age, education, gender, employment status, and medical diagnosis, had little to no bearing on the perceptions of alumni about the influence of camp on outcomes. 

About Serious Fun’s Network 

SeriousFun Children’s Network is a global community of 30 camps and programs serving children with serious illnesses and their families, always free of charge. Following the founding of The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp by Paul Newman in 1988, he and other like-hearted individuals opened similar camps around the world, ultimately joining together to form SeriousFun Children’s Network. Thanks to a shared vision and collective contributions, the Network has evolved to become the leader in the field of medical specialty camps, delivering more than 1.4 million life-changing experiences to children and families from more than 50 countries. Each member camp is an independent, not-for-profit organization dependent upon private funding to serve all children at no cost to their families. To learn more about SeriousFun, visit www.seriousfun.org. 

We launched in April our Digital home camp, aiming to help children fighting chronical diseases through online, interactive games to alleviate the mental challenges of increased isolation over the past months. The online camp continued growing in May and opened its gates to broader society through sessions organized for families and adults. This summer, the program culminates with the launch of a microsite, an online knowledge bank gathering a repertoir of games, ideas based on our therapeutical recreation methodology.

„If our brave kids cannot come to our camp, we go to their homes” – sounds the epic insight moving the online camps forward. Bátor Tábor helps near 3000 ill children and their families through camp and hospital programs on a yearly basis. It was obvious for us to rethink and reorganize our activities inmediately to support those children who could not attend spring and summer camps cancelled due to the pandemic.

„Since April we had over 600 participants in our online in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech and Poland. We arranged the sessions on a weekly basis and now we reached a new milestone: with the launch of our website we will be able to help and share our expertise further. Bátor Tábor has been supporting the mental health of ill children and their families for 19 years, these days the psychological burdens we are facing have proven to be heavy for all of us. In response to this, we gather useful games for both children and adults, we show our methodology and share regularly inspirations that can be useful for pedagogical purposes too” – says Julianna Vargyas-Tóth, a Bátor Tábor’s program development expert.

The basis of the site is the camp’s map, where we can wander around virtually and find contents in different topics, a joyful ride for all ages.

Besides this wonderful online journey, the registration stays open for the Digital home camps, where participants can connect and gain fun experiences in their garden, their room or even during their vacation.

The realization of these online programs would have not been possible without the help of our volunteers and donors. We thank the technical development of this platform to IBM and the support of Boston Scientific  and Wiener Städtische Versicherungsverein who played a major role in our international digital camp dreams coming true!

What happens to us from psychological point of view?

In psychological sense, the current situation is a crisis, which means that we cannot avoid nor solve this situation with our existing coping mechanisms. For this reason, numerous negative emotions are revolving in us, such as anxiety, uncertainty, fear, hopelessness or sadness. This situation evokes the experience of loss on several layers in all of us since temporarily we lose our future plans, the possibility of personal interactions, our recreational opportunities or even our financial security. That is why, we constantly recalculate and we have to accommodate to the actual often daily changing conditions. Besides this, we all have relatives and friends who are at higher risks to infections and whom we are especially worried about. We have to ’manage’ all these psychological challenges under circumstances we have never been in before, often in closure or solitude we have never experienced before. So what can we do to manage it as well as possible and to be able to preserve our mental and psychological balance?

Let’s start with ourselves!

The word ’crisis’ derives from Greek and the Hungarian meaning of it is ’opportunity, decision’. Regarding ourselves, it means that even in the present situation, I have the opportunity to decide how I react to the given situation. I can choose to take the best advantage of the opportunities brought by the maximum time spent at home: I can devote more time for my hobby, I can dive into a good book, I can improve my knowledge of a foreign language, I can improve my cooking expertise, I can try a new form of recreation or I can talk long hours with my friends living abroad. Whatever I decide, I can gain from these things and they can help to give some meaning to this period in the short and long run. By pondering about these things, we can ask questions if later reflecting upon this period of our life how we would be content with ourselves. How can I devote this period of my life to improving myself? What sense of achievement can I reach in the present? In what aspects can I personally improve having all these new experiences? There are thousands of reactions to these assumptions, but whatever answers we find, we can be sure that with the help of awareness, we will be able to overcome the most difficult times of our life.

How to satisfy our basic needs?

Physiological needs

Build up a daily routine, a stable and reliable system that can ’hold’ you on more difficult days. We should try to establish a daily rhythm and pay attention to healthy diet and regular exercise. We should separate as much as possible – even with introducing rituals – the time spent with home office working and free time activities. Establish the proper ’place and time’ for all these activities.

Social needs

Be in contact with others, talk about ourselves, and listen to other views. Even though, we have to give up personal encounters for a while, in the online world we can keep up our usual ’appointments’ that have characterised our everyday life beforehand. As an impact of isolation, our need to connect to others may intensify above the average, thus this is a good opportunity to establish the habit of taking coffee breaks together, evening cookings and long talks with our family members. These activities may help us experience something from the joys of ’normal’ everyday life.

Emotional needs

In the present situation, it can happen that new emotional needs intensify that have not been significant before, for example, I need more my family’s reassurance or enthusiastic remembering of the good times with my friends. These are natural reactions that is why it is important to devote some time to observing the waves of my own emotions and to make efforts to keep these emotions in the right channel. For instance, what impacts does it have on my fears if I keep reading articles about the disease all day long? How do I feel after I have offered my assistance to the lady next door? What emotions can I recognise in myself after calling some of my rarely seen older relatives?

Connections within our surroundings

Home isolation imposes different challenges to people who live alone, in a relationship, or to those who live together with several generations.

People living alone

People living on their own may often feel loneliness and they can experience the responsibility of entirely relying on themselves. In this situation, it is crucial to establish a stable and regular form of communication with others and to appoint a dedicated time to online discussions. This situation may offer the opportunity to make our communication with others more frequent and intense. Through online ’face-to-face’ discussions, we can better understand others’ feelings, thoughts, and through this ourselves as well.

People living in a relationship

Couples living together may find themselves in an unprecedented situation as most of us have not spent more than a few days’ time so ’close’ with the other yet. This extreme closeness often entails emotional distancing since we have no choice if we wish to be close to the other or not. That is the reason why, it is important to establish straightforward rules concerning managing our daily living together and managing time. It is also crucial to share every day chores and to assign areas of responsibility. We all need different amount of time spending on our own, thus it is worth proactively discussing the scope and possibilities of it. On the other hand, the wisdom of the saying ’living together is how we get to know each other’ is especially appropriate for this situation as I can get to know some new sides of my partner and get a realistic picture of how my partner handles emotionally tense times. This common experience and all the effort we make together offer an opportunity to deepen our relationship.

Generations living together

When talking about generations living together in this situation, we can observe similar motives as in the case of couples living together. The constantly rising closeness, isolation, growing tensions, and leaving behind our old habits – that meant safety and recreation – can all increase mental frustration that may lead to the deepening of conflicts. Kids follow their parents’ attitude – seeing through their parents’ eyes – and react to the changed situation accordingly, which may enhance the actual anxiety and tension of the whole family. As kids are expressing their fears in different ways, for example, by disobeying or showing concentration difficulties, parents are advised to react with increased comprehension and acceptance. How can we help our kids in this situation?

Safety and acceptance are basic needs for all children because these necessities ensure the development of their personality and skills. It is worthwhile talking about the current situation in a way appropriate for the children’s understanding and taking seriously the questions they may have and also dissolving the fears emerging in their fantasies. In order to establish safety, it is crucial to keep the daily routine, to proportion the timing of activities and to keep time and space for common and individual activities as well. It is vital for the kids as well to keep in touch with their peers, which may require the cooperation of their parents. Because of the new situation, new habits and more flexible frames can be set up and the hidden resources of the family system may emerge. This is an enormous opportunity for the children to take over the adaptive forms of coping with crisis situations from their parents. Moreover, they can acquire new skills and means. The family cooperation, the mutual responsibility taking for each other, and the experience of ’we can struggle with all these difficulties together’ can become such an essential experience they can always remember in the future as well and it can represent resources for them.

Those children who have to defeat severe cancerous illness start their lives with a great drawback. They have to quit school during their hospital treatments which makes it impossible or a lot harder to spend time with their friends not to mention that their body often alters during their illness. Even if the children are on the way of healing, the great amount of fear and pain lives a mark on their soul. They lose their self-esteem, openness and faith.

Our mission at Bátor Tábor is to help these children relaunch their lives and to make the most of their skills and opportunities. We have been helping children with severe illnesses for 18 years to let them believe in the world and themselves as again.

In 2018, The American Camp Association (ACA) and The University of Utah worked with SeriousFun to carry out a Youth Impact Study to understand the long-term learning outcomes of the camp experiences on children living with serious illnesses who attended a SeriousFun camp.

Alumni campers aged 18-25 from eight SeriousFun camps across the United States, Hungary, and Ireland experienced a number of beneficial outcomes from camp that they now consider useful in their daily, adult lives. The most prominent of those outcomes were appreciation for diversity, living in the moment, empathy and compassion, perseverance, self-confidence, and self-identity.  They also conveyed that they learned these outcomes primarily at camp, compared to other environments like home or school.

And what is the secret of camp? For them camp is such a special place where they can acquire these skills in a safe and encouraging environment through unforgettable experiences. The key factor are the people surrounding them there. The qualified and experienced volunteers, camp leaders, doctors and nurses have meant thems both an emotionally and physically safe environment in which they could develop well.

With the words of Bátor Tábor’s alumni campers the most important things learnt in camp are:

Why are these skills, primarily learnt in the camp, so important to them?

Bátor Tábor does provide on a long-term as well significant help to children with severe illnesses because it gives them such abilities which help them finding their place in life and become healthy adults.

…

References:

Youth Impact Study: SeriousFun Children’s Network Oversample conducted by the American Camp Association and the University of Utah

Research report / Papp Zsuzsanna – Semmelweis University of Budapest, Institute of Mental Health

During the summer of 2014, a total of 645 families from five SeriousFun camps, including Bátor Tábor completed pre- and post-camp surveys to reveal the impact residential camp has on the lives of campers coping with serious illnesses. The post-camp surveys were completed one month after camp. A follow-up survey six months later with the same group of parents is currently in progress to better understand the potential for lasting change in campers following camp attendance.

The evaluation builds on a multi-year collaboration between SeriousFun Children’s Network and Yale Child Study Center. Results of the data have the potential to inform and strengthen camp programming.

The 2014-2015 findings replicate the results from the previous years’ surveys, which included nearly all of the SeriousFun camps, but with a smaller response rate.  Although only five camps were included in this study, all SeriousFun camps share a common mission and adhere to a common set of program and medical operating criteria.  Previous years’ findings and this year’s high response rate support that these trends are widespread throughout the SeriousFun Children’s Network.

Key Data Findings

Changes in Children Noticed By Parents Following Camp

Camper Outcomes Relating to Resilience

Parents were asked to rate variables of social support related to resilience. A key variable that improved one month after camp was Relationship Skills. Improvement with these skills contributed to increases in many positive correlated outcomes including:

Conclusions

Participating Camps

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About Yale Child Study Center

The Child Study Center is a department at Yale University School of Medicine which brings together multiple disciplines to further the understanding of the problems of children and families. Among the many disciplines are child psychiatry, pediatrics, genetics, neurobiology, epidemiology, psychology, nursing, social work and social policy. The mission of the Center is to understand child development, social, behavioral, and emotional adjustment, and psychiatric disorders and to help children and families in need of care.

Vigyük el együtt a Bátor Tábort az otthonokba!

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Áprilisban kezdtük el építeni digitális táborunkat. Azóta szervezünk online, interaktív foglalkozásokat súlyosan beteg...

Célunk

We change lives.

Súlyosan beteg gyerekeknek és családjuknak nyújtunk sorsfordító élményeket, erőt, eszközöket az élethez, a gyógyuláshoz. Mindezt ingyen. Hisszük, hogy a felhők fölött mindig süt a nap.

Táborunk nem klasszikus értelemben vett tábor. Különleges élményekkel mozdítjuk ki a gyerekeket a komfortzónájukból, hogy félelmeik legyőzésével felismerjék: képesek szembeszállni nemcsak a kalandok során rájuk váró feladatokkal, de a betegségükkel is. Mosolyt csempészünk az arcokra, erőt adunk a küzdelemhez.

About Bátor Tábor

A táborok lényege

Különféle kihívások elé állítani a táborozókat, s rengeteg sikerélményt és megerősítést adni nekik

Saját táborhely

Saját tárborhelyet üzemeltetünk Magyarországon, Hatvanban, ami 168 fő elszállásolására alkalmas.

A táborok lényege

Különféle kihívások elé állítani a táborozókat, s rengeteg sikerélményt és megerősítést adni nekik

A táborok lényege

Különféle kihívások elé állítani a táborozókat, s rengeteg sikerélményt és megerősítést adni nekik

A táborok lényege

Támogatás

Segíts újraindítani a gyerekkort!

We change lives. Help us in our mission!

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Adni jobb, mint kapni.

Tudja ezt, aki nehéz helyzetben kapott már segítő jobbot. Ha ismered az érzést, forgasd vissza táborlakóinkba mindazt a jót, ami benned lakik. Add át, mutass példát, változtass életeket, tedd önkéntes munkádat követendő példává a jövő generációjának!

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Én minden egyes pillanatot, percet, másodpercet és órát magammal akarok vinni! A barátokról a csodaszép emlékeket, a leküzdött félelmeket és minden kalandot és kimondott kedves szót. Az egész tábor életem legemlékezetesebb és legboldogabb hete volt.

Balázs, 17 éves

Az egész tábor életem legemlékezetesebb és legboldogabb hete volt.

Balázs, 17 éves

Én minden egyes pillanatot, percet, másodpercet és órát magammal akarok vinni! A barátokról a csodaszép emlékeket, a leküzdött félelmeket és minden kalandot és kimondott kedves szót.

Balázs, 17 éves

Én minden egyes pillanatot, percet, másodpercet és órát magammal akarok vinni! A barátokról a csodaszép emlékeket, a leküzdött félelmeket és minden kalandot és kimondott kedves szót. Az egész tábor életem legemlékezetesebb és legboldogabb hete volt.

Balázs, 17 éves

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