The Government’s camps programme has received an overwhelming response, exceeding its target in many regards, the Minister of Tourism, Transport, Culture and Sport said.

Owen Darrell also told the House of Assembly that spaces for the summer camp programme last year were sold out within the first week of the application process and the programme this year drew even greater interest.

In the Budget, about $1.02 million was allocated to the ministry’s camping programme for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which Mr Darrell said represented an increase of 5 per cent over the last fiscal year.

The allocated sum will cover staff and administration, including the salaries of ten full-time employees for camp facilities.

It will also cover the use of marine equipment.

In his Budget brief on Wednesday, Mr Darrell said that last year, 96 per cent of the programme’s clients described their overall experience as “satisfactory”.

He told MPs that more than 5,000 users participated in “safe, affordable” camp experiences during the year.

The budgetary allocation for the recreation development section of the ministry is $1.42 million, representing an increase of 7 per cent over last year’s allocation.

Mr Darrell said: “This increase aims to assist working class parents by alleviating the stress and finding safe and affordable summer services for their children.”

He said the funding will increase the number of placements that can be obtained through the Camp Connect summer day camp programme.

The scheme typically supports 1,700 school-aged children but the number of participants recorded last year was 2,773.

Mr Darrell said that the increase in interest was a direct result of a boost in funding for the programme.

He told the House: “Further increase in financing should see another rise in participation of even more school-aged children

“While we continue to strive to meet the needs of parents during the summer months, it must be acknowledged that the demand for camp spaces exceeds our capacity.”

He said the ministry’s team is reviewing applications, removing duplicate applications in the process to ensure spaces are allocated “accurately and as fairly as possible”.

Preliminary feedback showed that there could be as many as 4,000 children in the summer day camp programme this year.

Mr Darrell said about 150 part-time workers delivered the programme last year, supervised by qualified educators.

He said a similar number of workers will be employed to carry out this year’s programme.

In his brief, he said that in 2025-26, the Department of Culture’s key focus will be to expand access to cultural spaces and resources.

The department was allocated $2.49 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year, an increase of 12 per cent over 2024-25.

In a brief update, Mr Darrell told MPs that while deliberations continued by a requisite committee, a new National Hero could be named this year.

Bermuda’s induction of National Heroes, which began in 2009, represents the island’s recognition for exceptional and enduring service to the community.

Eight have so far been named and residents were invited last year to submit nominations for the island’s next honouree.