Unicorn Camps: About Us

About Us
The Core Group Unicorn Voice Camps and Peace through the Arts Camps are organised by a core group of four people, Bob, James, Jenny and Nickomo. On a day to day level the camp is run by teams led by co-ordinators working in and supervising the Creativity Area, Site Crew, Gate Team, Well- Being, Teenage Activities and Café. Unicorn Camps have been running since 1988. Over this time an ethos and policy has developed through shared experience, discussion and observation. Our hope is that everyone will feel accepted as an individual, and as a part of the community. A central aspect of Unicorn Camps is that of living together in community and it is this that can often bring the greatest challenges and the deepest rewards.

Jenny Thomas has been involved with Unicorn camps for many years. She has worked in all the key areas and participated in every aspect of camp life. Jenny’s belief in, and experience of, personal transformation and of heart-felt community at camp informs and enhances her role as a core group member.	Nickomo is a composer and arranger of acappella singing. He leads natural voice workshops and community choirs and is the creator of the inspirational and uplifting Harmonic Temple. Nickomo has been a central figure on the camp scene for many years as a musician and voice workshop leader.
Bob Horner is a greatly experienced site manager and camp participant. He brings his expertise to the physical organisation and management of camps with resourcefulness and ingenuity. For Bob, being surrounded by nature and living outdoors is a central aspect of the camp experience.	James Burgess was the originator of unicorn camps back in 1987. He has maintained the Unicorn vision and expanded the scope of the camps with tremendous dedication. James is an international teacher of Dances of Universal Peace and a leader of Sufi groups, bringing a depth of understanding from his own Sufi practice.

Ethos
Unicorn Camps have been running since 1987. Over this time an ethos and policy has developed through shared experience, discussion and observation. Our hope is that everyone will feel accepted as an individual, and as a part of the community. A central aspect of Unicorn Camps is that of living together in community and it is this that can often bring the greatest challenges and the deepest rewards.In order to preserve and improve upon the particular quality of Unicorn Camps we have always asked for full co-operation with our core rules concerning noise, alcohol and drugs, and vehicles on the site.	The result of this is that increasing numbers of campers have appreciated the benefits of these boundaries and are prepared to insist that others respect them. We are ready to defend these boundaries to the extent of banning offenders from future camps, and in extreme cases requiring them to leave. You are required to sign your ticket indicating that you have read, and are happy to comply with these boundaries; if you're not, please return your ticket now, and the full amount will be refunded.

Psychology We recognise that each of us is in a continual process of personal development, and that this can be intensified by the camp experience. We aim to create a safe space where we can allow personal growth in a supportive environment. We can experience a greater sense of connectedness as our defences soften allowing us to be more sensitive to each other.	Ecology In living simply on the land we have an opportunity to attune to the rhythms of the natural world around us. We become more aware of our impact on the natural environment and learn to respond with sensitivity and appreciation. Experiencing ourselves as part of the land, we treat it with respect and seek ways to minimise the impact of our presence upon it.
Spirituality We honour all spiritual paths and affirm the right of all individuals to find their own way according to their own inner guidance. Through our everyday encounters we feel the presence of Spirit as a heart-opening experience and we celebrate our connection to it in many ways and forms such as song, dance, meditation and simple inclusive ritual.	Community Camping together in circles brings many opportunities for sharing and co-operation, leading to the possibility of creating community. The size of the camp is such that this intimacy can be felt by the camp as a whole, and can be experienced in the whole-camp activities such as the morning gatherings and special celebrations. There are opportunities for everyone to contribute and every voice to be heard, creating a sense of ownership in everyone.
Noise Freedom from 'noise' is a feature of Unicorn Camps: We ask people not to bring things such as CD players, cassette-players, radios, noisy electronic games etc. to keep our acoustic environment live and natural. Please note that this extends to the use of mobile phones which must be switched off. Outgoing calls must be made away from the camping area. Participants are asked to be quiet after 11p.m. to enable everyone to enjoy a full and restful night's sleep. Parents are asked to ensure that their children are back in their camping circle by 10p.m. On special occasions such as full-moon celebrations, and the Voice Camp campfire nights, there is an extension. Parents are asked to take responsibility for keeping their small children quiet during morning gatherings so that everyone can be heard. This also applies to the performance evenings on the Voice Camp, especially the final night, which is recorded for the camp CD.	Alcohol and Drugs We require all participants to abstain from alcohol during the camp. Whilst we recognise that almost all of the adults who attend our camps have a very responsible attitude to drinking, we feel very strongly that drinking and certainly drunkenness can be both threatening to the stability of the camp and inhibit the deeper experience of community and self-awareness. It is important that a good example is set for the older children and teenagers and for their parents and carers to be very clear that our policy on alcohol applies to everyone. We see it as the parent or carer's responsibility in the first place to ensure their children are aware of the ethos of the camp and that it is respected. For similar reasons illegal drugs must not be brought on site.

History
It is quite possible that the story I’m telling has its roots in 1954, the year Jack Kerouac published On The Road. He was the first ever backpacker and began the process of making popular a new ethos in western consciousness centered around freedom of the individual. This new way found expression in music, fashion, speech patterns and attitudes to relationships, work and home that startled the conservative majorities in society. With Bob Dylan, The Doors and The Beatles, a million voices joined together in claiming the right to a new way live. Festivals were to be seen springing up everywhere and the richness of human experience bopping into a new dimension.	Twenty years after these first festivals, a newly conceived type of gathering was nudging its way into existence: camps. They had their background in festivals and green gatherings and yet were fundamentally different in their purpose, which was education and personal development and in their approach, which required that people took an active part in what went on.
	In 1983/1984 the first camps were introduced as weekend events whose purpose was to learn astrology and circle dance and were facilitated primarily (as I understand it) by Palden Jenkins and Colin Harrison in the garden of author and playwright Jeremy Sandford. From these came the Glastonbury Camps, the first major weeklong events of this type.
Around this time the expansion was really quite vibrant with a strong feeling of excitement and expectancy in the air. Dance Camps were developed - Marion Violets in France, Dance Camp Wales, a bit later Dance Camp East and the Oak Dragon’s Nanteos Camp that coincided with the Harmonic Convergence. A small yet important addition to this list was the first UK Dances of Universal Peace Camp in Bristol, led by Amida Harvey
	A few months later, also in Bristol, the first Unicorn events took place - a weekly group of people sharing a wide range of healing and teaching techniques as a way of developing a wider awareness of the wealth of new perspectives and also as a training in group facilitation. The following year, in 1988 this theme was taken into the format of a camp and the first Unicorn Solstice Camp was held at Sancreed, which lies in the most south-westerly tip of England, at the heart of a fistful of ancient monuments that make this a truly remarkable area for students of the subtle forces of the earth. A few years later the Unicorn Land Trust was created to buy our site and so be able to plant a small tree-sanctuary and learn how to care for the Land.
Celebrations of the Celtic/pagan festivals at Beltane, Solstice and Lammas became key features of the programme as the years unfolded and today the Lammas Family Camp remains one of the most joyful and wholesome ways for kids and parents to spend time living in an outdoor community near the beaches and cliffs of Cornwall. The DUP camp began in a millionaire’s back garden in '93 and, on outgrowing that, moved to its current location at Child Okeford where we feel truly blessed to have a lovely organic farm and nearby swimmable river.
	In ’96, a revisioning of the Unicorn Camps took place, after which the various camps no longer came under one umbrella of management. While Raaja Fischer was a couple of years away from his German camps, and with Jilly and Mark focusing on Sancreed, Nickomo, James, Bob and Jenny became the core-group for the DUP and Voice camps. Nickomo was at that time a member of the acappella group ‘The Beachpersons’, which included Chrys Blanchard, Jackie Roxborough, Nick Petts, Rasullah Clarke and Tony Wrench, each of whom were also workshop leaders in their own right. All the members were very experienced with camps, and had often spoken of running a camp together with Voice as its main focus. The other Unicorn core-group members were keen to make this idea a reality, and so Unicorn Natural Voice Camp was born. It began in ’97 as a four-day event, built around the teaching and performing talents of the Beachpersons, with the help of some of their friends and contacts from the newly established Natural Voice Practitioners Network. Although the Beachpersons stopped performing together in ’00, they still contribute individually to the quality of the camp, which has grown to become the phenomenally successful event that has become the regular summer holiday for so many singing friends each year.
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About Us

The Core Group

Ethos

History

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