Cooltour – Better than Holidays
Cooltour is a summer camp for children and young people with and without disabilities between the ages of 9 to 18. Over the span of eight days, they experience a varied programme that meets their needs. The focus is on shared experiences, fun and living together. They attend a variety of courses - from spray painting and street dance to cooking - and realise that people with and without disabilities actually have more in common than separates them.
The inclusive holiday camp began in 2009 in cooperation with national and regional partners from the youth, cultural, health and social sectors. Since then, around 80 children and young people with and without disabilities have taken part in the summer camp every year. In an informal setting, they learn to act in a self-determined, independent and responsible manner and realise the added value that diversity and inclusion bring.
Three qualitative studies by the Lucerne School of Social Work (HSLU) were able to show that Cooltour participation has positive long-term effects on the children's and youth’s social, as well as personal skills, tolerance and self-determination. The positive feedback from the participants and their parents, also makes it clear what an important and formative influence Cooltour has.
Cooltour is listed in the action plan of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a good practice example from the field of leisure. Furthermore, the project was awarded the „PrixPrintemps“ in 2016 and on top of that received the audience award at the ceremony.
Registration Cooltour 2024 (in German)
Camping with friends for a week, making new friendships and acquaintances and enjoying the summer together. The inclusive summer camp Cooltour by Blindspot has everything what a successful holiday experience needs. Put together your own week from a wide range of courses. All this and much more awaits you during the Cooltour.
Our inclusive summer camp will be take place at Camping Eichholz in Bern from July 26th until August 2nd 2024.
Instructions to register
Please note that if the registration cannot be completed, one or some fields are not filled in correctly. In this case, you can simply click on the 'Back Button' and see where information is missing or entered incorrectly.
The confirmation mail may end up in spam. Therefore, we also recommend that you check your spam folder when you have completed your registration.
We will also be taking registrations by telephone phone for people with high support needs. We ask that you keep the lines free for these people and register using the registration form.
Note: Only if all required fields are filled in correctly, you can submit your registration. If you don't find your registration confirmation in your email inbox, check your SPAM folder.
General regulations and instructions
We search for: Volunteers with and without disabilities
To support the participating children and adolescents as well as help with the infrastructure, we are searching for young and motivated volunteers with and without disabilities.
For more information or applications, you can directly contact our project manager, Fabienne Marques, per e-mail or telephone.
Requirements
To apply as a volunteer, you should fulfill these requirements:
- You enjoy doing things with children and young people
- You like to approach people openly
- You take on responsibility
- You like to structure things
- You feel comfortable in a lively environment
- camp leadership experience is welcomed
- minimum age of 17
Our offer
We can offer you the following:
- Free food and accomodation
- Consideration of your preference for course guidance
- Covered travelling expenses
- Confirmation for the voluntary work
- A unique and inclusive experience as well as interesting people
Sponsors & Partners
We would like to thank our sponsors and partners for their support of the Cooltour inclusion project:
