WHEN his dad died, six-year-old Marko Dimcevska would tell the kids at school that his dad was “working away”, says his mum Elena.

“He guarded the truth closely and I noticed he was starting to retreat,” she says.

Elena says Marko, now 11, has been supported by charity Feel the Magic, which holds “Camp Magic” camps that provide grief education and support for bereaved children. 

Postponed from April because of covid, Canberra’s second Camp Magic will go ahead this weekend (December 4-6) in Tharwa.

And to support the free program, which first came to Canberra last year, a 500km, four-day charity bike ride is underway through the Snowy Mountains and ending at the camp, where the riders will meet the kids “they have been riding for”.

Feel the Magic has supported more than 1000 children aged 7-17 who have lost a parent, sibling or guardian at 20 camps across Australia.  

It takes around 150 people to bring camps together, from 60 grieving campers to a one-on-one mentor for each child, psychologists, coordinators, leaders and support team members, and the inaugural bike ride has already raised more than $100,000. 

More than grief education, Elena says Camp Magic teaches emotional intelligence. 

“These kids have had to go through so much. They’re often young when they lose their person, so they don’t have as many memories of them as we do. They’re legitimately missing memories, and missing out on making new ones,” she says.

Elena says the camp helps kids feel like they’re part of a bigger group of kids that are “like them”, and that it has been life-changing for Marko.

“He’s learned that it can be empowering to share our stories, and one day he said: ‘I want to share my story with the kids at school and do a presentation’,” she says. 

Marko, whose dad Jono died unexpectedly at the age of 36, has now been to five camps in total and Elena says there’s been great benefit in attending more than once. 

“Each time he goes to camp he gets a new surge of information. This is valuable, strong information that helps, but they’re kids. They forget,” she says. 

“They need the support to continue.”

Donate at magicride.org.au