Some things are part of Layos, even though we've never talked about them.
Layos was born to run camps.
Since 1985, our life has been about something as simple to explain as it is hard to do well: looking after children and young people 24 hours a day, and helping them live together, enjoy themselves, learn and feel part of the group.
That means much more than organising activities.
It means being there for a child when they're far from home. Helping them get along with others. Giving them responsibilities. Teaching them to manage on their own. Keeping an eye out when something isn't right. And getting very different children to share a room, a table, games, outings and daily life for a few days.
After more than 40 years of doing this, we've learnt that a camp can also be a tool for inclusion, education and growth.
And that has led us, almost always naturally and often without telling anyone, to do other things.
A camp where we try to make room for everyone
Every summer, children with very different circumstances and needs come to Layos.
We've welcomed children and young people who needed far more support than usual, and every case has been different.
We can't do it in every case, and we don't want to promise something we can't do well.
But when a child's needs fit our resources and we can look after them as they deserve, we try to make it possible for them to come.
We're fortunate to have the facilities, the means and, above all, a team of people who allow us to look at each situation individually.
Because when it can be done well, we believe differences shouldn't have to be a barrier to experiencing camp.
What happens around us matters to us too
Over the years we've put our resources, our team and our community at the service of projects that made sense to us.
For more than five years we ran our own volunteering programmes in Sapa, Vietnam, working with Hmong communities.
We've worked with Fundación Soñar Despierto, providing bursaries so that children connected with the foundation could come to camp.
We've also tried to bring that responsibility into much more everyday decisions. For example, by working with Hemper on more responsible fabrics for our uniforms.
And some of the things we enjoy most happen very close to home.
With schools, we've organised activities to pick up litter left in nature and raise environmental awareness at the Guajaraz reservoir, a place that is part of our everyday life and needs us to learn how to look after it.
During the summer we also work with the care home in Layos, taking along some of the shows, plays and activities the children have prepared themselves.
They're simple get-togethers, but that's probably why they mean so much: children and older people sharing some time, a stage and a lot of laughter.
We also want to help those who are starting out
We believe that working with children can be an extraordinary lesson in responsibility.
That's why we help young people from Layos and Argés who want to take the official leisure-time counsellor course, with a bursary covering 50% of the fee – €1,550 at list price – when their circumstances justify it.
It's a way of giving something back to the community we're part of and, at the same time, helping to train a new generation of counsellors.
The course is open from the age of 16; if the participant is under 18, their enrolment must be authorised by whoever holds parental responsibility or legal guardianship. The bursary applies to the course fee and doesn't cover transport or extras. Each bursary is assessed case by case and is not an offer open to the public.
And we want to go a little further.
We're developing a way of supporting young sportspeople of real promise who, at certain points in their careers, may need a small financial or material boost to keep progressing.
We don't intend to become a large sponsorship organisation.
What we want is for it to be something close and personal: getting to know each story, looking at each case and helping wherever a contribution from Layos can make a real difference.
What comes next
Bringing a little of Layos into everyday life
There's another idea we've been thinking about for some time.
At camp we see something parents know perfectly well: very often a child doesn't need another private lesson or another organised activity.
They need someone a little older who listens to them, is there for them and helps them get organised.
That's why we're working on a new idea, built around our own counsellors.
The idea is that some Layos counsellors could become, during the school year, a kind of older brother or sister for children and teenagers who need one.
Some time each week to help them organise their time, set goals, find other things to do in their free time, talk about what worries them, become more independent or simply have a young role model nearby they can connect with.
We don't want to replace parents, teachers or any professional.
We want to do what we know how to do.
Being there.
And when this project is ready, we want there to be financial help too, for families who need it and can't afford the cost.
We're still working on it, and we'd rather get it right before putting a date on it.
It isn't a service yet: it can't be booked, it has no date and it has no price.
Since 1985
This is Layos too
For many years we've done many of these things without thinking too much about what to call them.
Perhaps they don't need a label either.
They're simply what comes of more than four decades working with children, young people, families, counsellors and the place around us.
Now we want to bring them together, give them continuity and open the door to new ones.
Because after so many years we've learnt something:
Layos can do much more than camps.
And we want to do it while still being Layos.