The Urban Renewal Summer Camp wrapped up its three-week summer camp Friday.
Thousands of children throughout The Bahamas participated in this year’s programme.
Children took part in workshops which focused on the importance of Bahamian culture, sporting activities and valuable life lessons.
Youth from nine Urban Renewal centres in New Providence took part in Friday’s closing ceremony.
Acting Prime Minister Dion Foulkes, who spoke on behalf of Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis, applauded the growth of this year’s programme which mushroomed from 300 participants in 2017 to 3,000 camp attendees this year.
“One of the things I’m most impressed with is the cultural immersion this program offers,” said Foulkes.
“The facilitators ensure that they all understood Bahamian culture and appreciate it, whether Junkanoo, sewing or craft.
“I also appreciate that they had a course in conflict resolution and one of the main issues we have with youth is their inability to solve simple issues so it was great that they had that included in the program.”
Fort Charlotte member of parliament Mark Humes attended Friday’s closing ceremony.
Humes told Eyewitness News that he is especially proud of the young participants who took part in his constituency’s program.
“The Urban Renewal summer camp really provides them with an outlet to engage all their abilities and their social skills. It also exposes them to new life skills that they can employ in school, at home, and within the community,” noted Humes.
“We had about 125 kids from Fort Charlotte that participated this year.
“It keeps them occupied and it’s a great initiative to keep them engaged through the beginning of the summer months. Now they will begin to enjoy a bit of family time before preparing to head back to the classroom in September.”
