With summer camp looming, a children’s group expressed concern that regulations still had not been put in place.

According to the Coalition for the Protection of Children, without thorough monitoring it remained possible for a person of dubious background or experience to run a summer camp.

The Government announced in June of last year that regulations would be put in place to have oversight for camps in advance of this year’s season.

With no measures formally announced thus far, the CPC, which gets support from Oil Management to send children to summer camps, announced yesterday that it would set its own requirements for camps to receive its subsidy.

There was no government response by press time last night to a query from this newspaper on whether regulations were coming for this year.

Sheelagh Cooper, the CPC’s chairwoman, said the organisation remained troubled that there were no rules in place to govern “who can run a summer camp, what qualifications are required, what the ratios ought to be between the supervisors and the children, or for that matter, the safety of the location or the transportation arrangements”.

For this year, the coalition requires the following criteria to be met before registering a camp:

• Camp operators should be at least 21 years old, with at least two years’ experience working with children;

• They must be qualified in CPR, and have attended Scars training;

• Camp operators and adult supervisors must have a clean criminal record;

• Support staff must be at least 16 years of age and trained in first aid and child-minding, available through the Bermuda Red Cross;

• A maximum ratio should be maintained of ten children per supervisor for five- to eight-year-olds, and 12 children per supervisor for nine- to 14s.

• The camp site should be free from any health or safety concerns, with sufficient shade to protect children from direct sun exposure;

• Indoor and outdoor space should be provided, with indoor space no smaller than 25 square feet per child;

• Adequate sanitary accommodations should include a toilet and wash basin for every 15 children;

• Swimming and water activities should take place in designated areas at stated times. A ratio of 6 children per staff (for children over the age of 5) should be maintained during swimming activities. Staff must be strong swimmers if they are supervising such activities;

• Supervisors should always have access to transport in case of emergency, the number of children transported not to exceed the number of age-appropriate, safe seats in the vehicle.

•Registration forms are available from the CPC at 295-1150, or by e-mailing cpc@logic.bm.