A Brief History of Camp Don Bosco Youth Camp Gawler

Don Bosco Youth Group was established in 2009 in Gawler as a gathering of young people (12-18 years old) to play and pray on a fortnightly Sunday evening in style of John Bosco’s oratories. In recent years some of the youth leaders had travelled to Don Bosco Camp Dromana Victoria for leadership training and to assist with Salesian youth camps during summer or winter holidays in Victoria. The possibility of an affordable camp for young people was suggested as a Christian outreach in the local area for the group. The Don Bosco Youth Camp was established in 2015 using the grounds of Xavier College Gawler in order to make the camp affordable with fee reductions to accommodate campers from the same families or those who may not be in position to pay the full fee. The camp has been run in the first week of the school term holidays for three years.

The leaders on the camp are a mix of senior secondary school leaders and post secondary school and Adult leaders who work together to create a welcoming and fun and supportive environment though games and activities. The leader to camper ratio is kept high to ensure leaders are among the campers during activities and free time to guide and connect through play and conversation in order to create a positive atmosphere in the spirit of Don Bosco who worked to create Oratories where the young had good experiences and could grow and develop in a supportive environment.