A Weekend of Connection, Courage, and Cosmic Cookie Decorating!

As part of our annual LYF tradition, we kicked of 2025 with an unforgettable weekend at LYF Camp 2025!

Each year we head to a new campground – and this year we headed bush to the beautiful Serpentine Camping Centre.

With a busload of enthusiastic teens, dedicated mentors, and more food than one could reasonably imagine, we kicked off three days of laughter, mateship, and meaningful connection.

Friday: First Impressions and spotlight vibes

The weekend began at Murdoch University, where teens and mentors met for the first time, sharing pizza, name games, and those fun first-meeting nerves.

After a heartfelt Welcome to Country to ground us on the land and set the tone, we piled onto buses and rolled out to Serpentine.

Once we landed, it was time to settle into dorms, sign our behaviour contracts, and kick off the fun! 

The evening offered something for every vibe: spotlight in the dark, space-themed indoor games, or just some downtime to ease into the weekend. 

We finished the night with a wind-down option of either a night bushwalk or a short film – perfect under the stars and against the backdrop of the bush.

Saturday: Big Days and Out-of-This-World Nights

After a peaceful (and slightly early) bush walk for our early risers, Saturday launched us into full adventure mode that was packed from start to finish!

LYF teens and mentors rotated through a range of exciting activities – from the high energy moments like bush laser tag, ropes courses and raft building, to more relaxed moments with arts and crafts with our art therapist Demi and introspective sessions with Headpspace focused on mindfulness and mental wellbeing. .

By nightfall, it was time for our “Out of This World” evening!

Night times cosmic combo of space themed cookie decorating, out of this world improv games, ball sports in the gym, and clay creations with our resident creative wizard Demi were all set to the background noise of pouring rain and gale force winds, but that didn’t affect the fun to be had! 

When the weather cleared enough, we raced outside to stargaze into space, with real life telescopes set up to get us a peek into galaxies and worlds far far away….   

Sunday: Teamwork makes the dream work

Our final morning saw the whole crew come together for some group adventures and challenges.

Cue: high-energy warm-ups, teamwork, and belly laughs. 

Have you tried to see how long your group can keep a ball in the air? It’s not as easy as it sounds but bonds were formed as we worked together to complete the challenge! 

We wrapped up the weekend with something special and so many mentors favourite moment of camp, Youth Commitee Elections. Teens in year 10, and there last year in the LYF program were able to nominate for Youth Commitee, who not only get to spend more days out together throughout the year but also help plan our final Big Day Out for the year! 
A number of teens nominated, and gave inspiring, heartfelt and passionate speeches as to why they should be elected to Youth Committee for 2025 – the perfect way to close out a weekend of great moments, great memories, and great times!

Then it was back to Murdoch and back home, bags a little heavier with muddy shoes and craft projects, but hearts filled with new friendships, unforgettable memories, and a fresh sense of belonging.

A Big LYF Thank You!

Camp is a reminder of what LYF is all about: showing up, backing each other, and creating space for young people to be heard and supported. This weekend only happened because of our incredible volunteers, facilitators, supporters and donation partners. 

To every teen who gave it a go, to every mentor who leaned in, and to every helping hand behind the scenes – thank you. You made it magic.

We’re already counting down to next year – but there is something missing from LYF Camp 2026… YOU! 

To keep doing what we do, we need more mentors to join us and show up for Perth Teens!   

Apply here today, and you can join us for our next Big Day Out and LYF Camp 2026!