As announced on Monday night, the KYW will be moving to a four week programme next summer. This is a remarkable achievement for the group and one which we have been planning for quite some time now. Recent advancements in internal processes like the online application system and the demand from campers in newer regions has allowed us to grab this opportunity with both hands without massively increasing our workload. If you missed Monday’s post, the dates for summer 2018 are below;

• Week 1: June 16th – June 23rd (Dundalk, Tallaght, Kildare, Cork)
• Week 2: June 23rd – June 30th (Newry, Annaclone, Kildare)
• Week 3: June 30th – July 7th (Dundalk, Tallaght)
• Week 4: August 18th – August 25th (All Regions)

The KYW welcomes and takes feedback very seriously so I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who got in touch with us to share your thoughts on the online application process that we launched last year. Overall the feedback has been very positive and the majority of parents who got in touch were in favour of the new application process. However, we did receive constructive feedback around the payment options and how paying the €170 upfront was an unwelcome change to the deposit & cash installment option in previous years.

I am happy to announce that this year the KYW will be able to provide alternative payment plans that will give parents flexible monthly options as to how they want to pay for their child’s camp fee. The only downside to using this method is that we needed to implement a new payment system that provides this capability and unfortunately this comes with an added cost. The cost per camper that the KYW has to pay Knockadoon camp has also increased this year. To combat these added costs we have increased the cost of camp by €5 per camper meaning the total cost of camp for 2018 with be €175 per camper.

How to sign up
The online application form will go live on the 2nd December @ 2.00pm and the link to the online form will be available on our Facebook page and website as soon as the clock hits 2.00pm. Below is a few points worth reading over and remembering before filling out the form;

• Please read the terms and conditions on the first page of the form.
• Please include a valid email and phone number on the parents information section (section 2) of the application form.
• Multiple bookings will no longer be available and we require individual entries for each camper.
• There will be no priority list this year.
• A non-refundable deposit of €25 will be included in your first monthly charge.
• Your place as a camper will not be secured until you have 100% completed the application form and your first months payment has successfully processed.
• All fee’s need to be paid before the 31st May 2018 – as a result each payment option will have an expiry date as to when you can sign up for them. For example;
  • If you sign up before the 31st of December, you can avail of a 6 month or below payment plan.
  • If you sign up after the 31st December, you can avail of a 5 month or below payment plan.
  • If you sign up after the 31st January, you can avail of a 4 month or below payment plan.
• Monthly payments will be automatically deducted from your account on the same day each month as to when you first signed up. For example;
  • If you sign up on the 2nd December with the 4 month plan your remaining payments will be automatically deducted from your bank account on the 2nd January, 2nd February & 2nd March.
• Should any monthly payment fail, you will be sent an email and given 10 days notice to complete the payment. If payment is not received after the 10 days, your place will be cancelled and your money will be refunded to your account (excluding the €25 deposit).

Payment Plans
Please see the image below for a detailed description on the payment plans offered and the dates on when you can avail of them:

I hope all of this makes sense, if anyone has any questions please reach out to me via email or our Facebook page and we will get back to you to ASAP to help clear any confusion up. As I said last year, all these operational improvements would allow us to focus more on improving the KYW for campers and I believe last year on camp was one of the best programmes we have put on yet. We will continue with this objective over the next couple of years and aim to improve all aspects of the KYW for everyone involved.

Kind regards,
Niall Cunningham
Senior Leader KYW