The Acorn Scheme

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What is an Acorn?

An Acorn is a gift of £10 per month* committed by an individual, group or church to The Oakes.

Why do we need Acorns?

We aim to keep camp fees to a minimum to enable maximum participation. Therefore, camp fees cover only cost of running the camps themselves, not the additional expenditures which are explained below.

One-off gifts are always a real encouragement! Acorns, however, ensure a consistent monthly income allowing us to budget sensibly.

What are Acorns spent on?

  • Facilities

    Work completed during 2008 included:

    • a storage shed (including electricity)
    • outside seating area and chess board
    • a hedge to surround the new field
    • new chairs for the dining room
    • new cupboards in the cellar
    • a coach park / turning area
    • redecoration of all the dormitories
    • extra security lighting
    • sanding / revarnishing many ground floor rooms
    • a new platform for the remote control car track
    • renovation of the ha-ha
    • updated routes on the climbing wall

    Plans for 2009 include:

    • a crazy golf course
    • a new activities shed
    • completion of the pointing on external stonework
    • painting the ground floor
    • re-carpeting the dormitories
    • carpeting the games room
    • new chairs for the craft room
    • upgrading the computers
    • replacing the boilers

  • Sponsoring Assisted Holiday Places

    This year the Trust hopes to offer 160 free / subsidised camp places (10% of the expected number of campers). Camps currently cost from £60 (two nights) to £150 (five nights).

  • Supporting Team Members

    All team members work as volunteers but The Oakes covers the cost of their board and lodging, a team car, team retreats and training expenses. This amounts to an estimated £2,500 per person per year.

    Team who decide to stay on beyond their initial year and take on a specific role (e.g. catering, maintenance, etc) receive some modest financial assistance towards their support.

The Challenge

Although the house, grounds and team already have the capacity to offer great holidays, we know that there is a huge amount of potential still to be developed.

The Oakes is committed to clearly explain Christ with non-Christian children and young people in a way that they will find relevant and interesting.

There are many very needy charities but only Christian believers are going to consider supporting the work here at The Oakes.

The following verse was very significant for us in our original motivation for The Oakes:

How can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear the message if it is not proclaimed? (Romans 10:14)

Please help us to continue to proclaim Christ and see children and young people believe in the truth of the Gospel. Your contribution really can make a difference. To commit to one or more acorns, please phone +44 (0)114 2359995.

If you have already joined the scheme, thank you, we really appreciated your support. Please encourage others to do the same. The more Acorns we receive, the quicker we can upgrade existing facilities and move forward with new plans.

*Previously, an acorn was £8.25, but new Acorns will now be £10 per month to reflect inflation.