Supporting siblings to build connections with special residential trips

At Barretstown, we create spaces where children and young people with cancer and other serious illnesses, and their siblings, can step away from hospital routines and reconnect with fun, friendship and confidence in a safe, medically supported environment. We provide free residential camps and outreach programmes, and everything we do is grounded in therapeutic recreation. This means we use play, challenges, creativity and shared experiences to help build confidence, independence and connection at a time of uncertainty.

Who we are

In 1994, actor and philanthropist Paul Newman founded Barretstown in partnership with the Irish Government, as part of what’s now the SeriousFun Children’s Network. The vision was to create a place where children could be children again, not defined by diagnosis, and where families could feel understood by people who truly 'get it'.

For many families, Barretstown becomes a rare pause in the intensity of treatment schedules and appointments, and somewhere to make memories not centred on illness. We welcome children and families from across Ireland, Northern Ireland, the UK, Europe and the USA. Our programme model includes a range of residential camps, alongside outreach delivered in hospitals and schools. 

Residential programmes include family camps, children’s summer camps, teen camps, a young adult programme, bereavement family camps, and dedicated sibling programmes. Our outreach programmes bring elements of camp creativity, play, peer connection and emotional support into clinical and community settings, helping to reduce isolation and strengthen coping during and after treatment.

Sibling support

Within our broad programme offering, sibling support is a vital and growing area of focus. Siblings can carry a lot: worry about their brother or sister, guilt for being well, and a sense that they need to be 'fine'. They often become the 'strong one' adapting quickly, worrying silently, and trying not to add to the load at home. They may also miss out on attention, routine and time with parents as family life understandably reorganises around treatment and care. 

At Barretstown, we create dedicated spaces where siblings can be seen, heard and celebrated. Our Sibling Camp is designed specifically for siblings of children and young people with cancer and other serious illnesses. It gives them the chance to step away from the pressures of home, meet peers who understand without explanation, and take part in age-appropriate activities that build confidence, connection and joy. 

That sense of connection is powerful. Through shared experiences from outdoor adventure to creative arts, siblings can relax, have fun and rediscover a sense of normality. 

Our Brothers & Sisters Camp offers a different but equally important kind of support, with it welcoming siblings and the poorly child or young person together. It recognises that sibling wellbeing is closely tied to the whole family system. By creating positive shared memories, strengthening relationships and offering opportunities for both individual and shared experiences, the camp helps families reconnect beyond the medical narrative as brothers and sisters first. 

Across all programmes, our teams work to ensure every child and sibling feels safe, included and empowered. Again and again, families tell us that what matters most is feeling less alone and seeing their children, including siblings, relax into being themselves.

Lily, a sibling Barretstown has supported, said:

For more information please contact families@barretstown.org

From Contact magazine issue 111 | Summer 2026