Canada’s Saskatchewan Co-operative Youth Program (SCYP), also known as Co-op Camp, is celebrating its 90th anniversary.
Founded in 1928, the programme has evolved into a series of annual summer camps that contribute to the personal development of 12 to 18 year olds. Its aims are to instil self confidence, leadership skills and co-op values in young people.
Participants also get lessons in how a co-operative runs and community involvement.
With more than 44,000 young people taking part over the past nine decades, the programme offers the chance to meet new people and enjoy summer camp activities like canoeing, swimming, volleyball and campfires. Activities are participatory and interactive, and challenge participants to work together.
Jim Dean, chair of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Association board, said: “We are pleased to see that young people are learning about the values and benefits of co-operatives, and are building their interpersonal skills and leadership abilities too.”
Usually staffed by volunteers from local co-ops, credit unions and SCYP alumni, camps run annually in July and August at Candle Lake and Last Mountain Lake in Canada’s Saskatchewan province. Participants pay a $250 fee and must find a local co-op to sponsor the remaining $475.
Over the years, participation in Co-op Camp has led to countless young people finding work in a Saskatchewan co-operative or credit union. Scott Banda, a camp alumni, is now the CEO of Federated Co-operatives Limited, a wholesale, manufacturing, marketing and administrative co-op in Western Canada. He became the camp’s Program Assistant in 1983, and staffed camps as a counsellor for much of the 1980s.
“I met many new people with diverse perspectives and clearly learned that more can be accomplished by working together,” said Banda. “All of this has inspired my career and has remained foundational to the work I do today.”
