2024 Unicamp Young Adult Retreat

Unicamp of Ontario, Honeywood, ON
September 13, 7:00 pm – September 16, noon

Save the Date! The Young Adult Retreat at Unicamp is happening September 13-16th! 

Join Unitarian Universalist young adults (18 – 35) for a wonderful weekend of community, conversation and outdoor adventures amidst the fall colours. Unicamp provides the perfect setting for a relaxing and rejuvenating retreat with new and old UU friends. You are welcome to stay for two or three nights, whatever works best for you. 

Back in the day, some young adults decided that they’d like to hang out at Unicamp with other young adults. The Retreat was born! After a few years as a self-organized tradition, volunteer capacity lagged, and the CUC stepped forward to hold the logistical pieces to ensure this beloved event was able to continue. This is still how it works – we do enough to get everyone together, make sure we’re well fed and cared for, and then those gathered decide how they want to spend their time together. It’s a beautiful, simple, community-led model. 

Friday evening (after dinner) we will gather for Orientation to meet each other, go over site rules, and set our goals for the weekend. Unicamp offers many options for relaxing alone or together: you can hike on the trails, swim in the pond (if you can brave the cold), gather for a workshop or discussion, or grow friendships over crafts and games, evening worship and stargazing. Depending on participant interest, the retreat may include nightly worship on Saturday and Sunday evenings, and a closing circle on Monday morning, and small and large group activities. With cars coming from everywhere between Montreal and Windsor, we can help arrange rides too.

    • Date and Time: Friday, Sept 13 to Monday, Sept 16, 2024 (3rd night optional). You are welcome to arrive at camp anytime after 1:00 pm ET on Friday and stay until Sunday or Monday. Friday dinner will be around 7:00 pm ET, for those who are there. Monday programming ends around lunchtime.
    • Location! Location! Location! Unicamp of Ontario is a Unitarian Universalist camp in Honeywood, Ontario – North of Orangeville. A few of its amazing features include: a spring-fed pond, walking trails, great star-gazing, access to the Bruce Trail, outdoor showers, and comfortable cabins and facilities. To read more about Unicamp, please visit their website. To see pictures of this incredibly beautiful place, check out Unicamp’s Instagram.
    • Getting there: Directions to Unicamp can be found in the FAQs doc.
    • We do our best to help you find a ride to Unicamp. Please fill in this Google form if you need a ride, or can offer a ride. Those who fill in this form will be given access to the carpooling Google spreadsheet, so make sure you fill in the survey! It is then up to those folks to keep an eye on the document to find an arrangement that works for them, and to be in contact with the people they would like to travel with. For more information on Ridesharing see the FAQs doc.
    • Kids: We welcome children 12 and under to the retreat! Feel free to bring your kids with you, knowing that activities will not all be geared to their participation. The retreat is fairly free form, so you have the flexibility of doing what you need and want to do during the weekend.
      The cost for children (ages 5-12) to attend works out to $17/day. Please keep this in mind when choosing how much you will pay. Babies and toddlers ages 4 and younger are free.
      Childcare is offered on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 9:30 to 12:00 noon – free of charge. Please let us know on the registration form if you’d like to access childcare so we can plan ahead.
      Accommodation will be in dorms and cabins. Please contact young-adults@cuc.ca if you have questions about accommodation for families and we can make arrangements that best suit your needs.
    • Volunteering: We need you! Take a look at the volunteer roles below and if you are interested in filling one, please let us know by emailing young-adults@cuc.ca.
      • Carpooling coordinator 
        • Leading up to the retreat, keep an eye on the carpooling spreadsheet and help people find matches 
        • Identify someone who can pick people up at a nearby GO station, if necessary 
        • At the retreat, make sure everyone has plans in place as to who they are leaving with, and support them to make these plans if not 
      • Worship coordinator 
        • During the event, be the point person on collaborating with other participants to plan and lead a worship for the group on Saturday 
        • Option to also collaborate with CUC staff to offer a short Friday night ingathering and/or Sunday closing circle, depending on your capacity 
      • Peer chaplain 
        • Chaplaincy, pastoral care or equivalent training strongly preferred 
        • Be available throughout the event to empathetically listen to folks who need a little extra support 
        • Bring CUC staff person on site into the circle of care as needed 
      • Kitchen support coordinator 
        • Make sure there is a schedule for folks to sign up to do dishes, remind folks as necessary when it’s their turn 
        • Put out and put away snacks at appropriate times and make sure they are critter-secured 
      • Craft/games/warm fuzzies area coordinator 
        • Set up and keep this area relatively tidy and usable 
        • Explain warm fuzzies at orientation 
        • Suggest games at appropriate times 
      • Welcome Captain 
        • Lead ice breakers on Friday afternoon as people trickle in, and a name game to start off orientation after dinner 
      • Scheduling Facilitator 
        • Facilitate the activity scheduling process on Saturday morning – when we collectively decide what we’re interested in doing over the weekend and when each thing will happen 
        • Remind folks through the weekend when new activities are starting, as needed
    • Covid Safety: We ask that everyone takes a rapid test before leaving home to travel to camp. If you get a positive result, and/or you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, please do not come. A full refund will be provided to anyone who has to cancel for medical reasons.
      We will have some extra rapid tests on site for anyone who does not have access to tests at home, and to use should anyone develop relevant symptoms during the event. Because rapid tests are less accurate with the current covid variants, we will take all flu-like symptoms seriously even if the rapid test indicates a negative result. Anyone who feels unwell will be asked to isolate and space will be provided to make this possible.
      Wearing masks, both indoors and outdoors, is optional. The majority of our time will be spent outdoors. Indoor spaces that may be used include the Dining Hall, Program Centre and dorms. Extra masks will be available. While it is very unlikely this event will be cancelled, we always recommend booking travel that is refundable or exchangeable when possible.
    • Cost & Financial Support: Registration is offered on a tiered sliding scale, and includes accommodations and food from Friday dinner to Monday lunch.
      • Suggested scale for 2 nights: $90-$120-$160 
      • Suggested scale for 3 nights: $120-$160-$200

We regret that subsidies are not available at this time. If you need to pay a different amount, please use the “Choose the amount you can pay” option.

    • Registration Notes:
      • Maximum number of registrants: Dorms can accommodate 34 people, more can be accommodated in campsites or cabins if needed
      • Minimum number of registrants: 14
      • Don’t forget to click the final “Submit” button at the end of the form, and watch for the confirmation email. If you don’t get a confirmation, your form may not have been properly submitted.
      • Registration deadline: Monday Sept 9, midnight PT

Registration form 

Unpublished form