Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group Summer Camp

Gibraltar’s dyslexic students go back to school with new skills

Not many children look forward to doing their school work again after the summer holidays. But for those with dyslexia, it can be a particularly tough challenge.

“Summer learning loss is one of the greatest problems children face over the long holidays,” says Jacqueline Lane Olesen, former Chair of the Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group. “For a child with dyslexia, it can make going back to school even harder.”

The support group, which runs a home work club, a study skills course and brings in expert support, decided to offer children an incentive to carry on with their studies during the holidays by taking them on a week-long summer camp.

Our grant of £6,390 funded 10 students and 2 adults to attend the group’s specialist camp in 2011.

“The camp aimed to boost their self-esteem and confidence, as they learnt new things in a friendly and safe environment that was different to their daily routine,” says Jacqueline.

Dyslexia occurs in at least 1 in10 people, putting more than 700 million children and adults worldwide at risk of life-long illiteracy and social exclusion.
In 2011, we funded a summer camp for 10 young people with dyslexia to boost their self-esteem and confidence
In 2019, our second grant helped the group run a seminar on the positive impact of dyslexia in the work place.

Developing dyslexia-friendly work places

In 2019, we gave a second grant of £1,500 to fund a seminar about the positive impact of dyslexia in the work place. “Our group has been working with the Education Department for many years to help children with dyslexia, but we have found it hard to access adults and support businesses to make the work place dyslexia friendly,” says Stuart Byrne from the Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group. “We believe that this event will be a big first step in achieving this and hope that the business will leave thinking differently and positively about their staff with dyslexia.”

“The summer camp was a chance to offer our children, who work very hard all year, a summer holiday with a difference. On the residential week-long camp, the children learnt new skills, from a vast array of sports and activities on offer. Plus, they had time set aside for further study, overseen by dyslexia specialists.”