Section menu
TEENfest
Our residential weekend events for unaccompanied teenagers with TS aged 14-17 years old.
TEENfest 2024
We are absolutely delighted to announce the date for our fabulous TEENfest event in 2024.
Registration is open for Expressions of Interest
Please note:
- This DOES NOT guarantee you a place
- Please only apply for ONE event
- Registration closes 15 February 2024
Places are allocated in this order:
- Members from the previous year’s waiting list
- First-time participants at a TICFest with TS diagnosis
- Members with a TS diagnosis who have attended a ‘TICFest’ previously
- First-time participants at a ‘TICFest’ waiting for their formal diagnosis
All applications will receive an email on 15 of March to notify you if you have been allocated a place or not. If you are successful, the email will also provide your payment window date. A 1-month window will be given to confirm your place and to make payment. If you do not confirm your place through making a payment by the deadline, your place will be offered to others on the waiting list, and we will assume you no longer wish to attend.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST FOR TEENFEST
What is TEENfest?
TEENfest offers the chance for teens with TS to meet other teens for a weekend of making friends, mutual support and fun. Many young people with TS have never met anyone else with tics so can often feel alone, isolated and mis-understood. This is an ideal opportunity to really connect with their peers which can help build self esteem and confidence.
Venue
TEENfest Ferny Croft, 21-23 June 2024
Brockenhurst, New Forest
We return to the New Forest and the wonderful Ferny Croft Centre near Beaulieu, Dorset. The weekend will include hours of fun activities plus karaoke, campfires and a pizza-party! Open to TS youngsters aged 14-17 years. This is an unaccompanied weekend for teens only.
Our previous TEENfest events have been hugely succesful and life-changing for both attendees and their families. One parent wrote to us to say:
‘It was very emotional leaving him at the event. I could see how relaxed he felt just being himself and not trying to supress his tics. It was amazing and overwhelming seeing him with other people his own age. As a parent you just want your child to be happy and he was. These events are a lifeline in more ways than you can ever know. They provide safe fun weekends, friendships, the opportunity to try new things, the chance to be away from family, making decisions on their own. For family members it gives respite but it also gave me hope that he can be accepted into a social setting. I can't thank you enough’.
You can read what our young people take away from their weekend in these amazing blogs:
- TEENfest 2023 by Samuel Boyes
- Charley Matthews talks about her empowering experience at TeenFest, and why her tics volunteered her to do the washing up!
Read this summary from TEENfest 2018 by Pippa, who hosted the event with her colleague, Emma:
Please note that these events are for unnacompanied teenagers. Staff from Tourettes Action will facilitate the weekend event, and on-site activities will be fully supervised by venue instructors.
Terms and conditions
All participants must have a diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome and be aged between 14 - 17 years old.
The cost of attending a TEENfest event is £50 per teen, and will include accomodation, activities and all meals during the weekend.
Please contact us if you have concerns regarding payment as we want to make these events as inclusive as possible.
If you are not successful in obtaining a place your name will be put on the waiting list for your chosen event.
We understand that participants may wish to keep in contact through social media. We encourage continued friendship and support networks, and advise that both young people and parents read our Top Tips for maintaining safety and wellbeing on social media (right hand side).