Oakley members attending the Summer 2008 holiday supported 7 charities through a variety of activities raising over £800. Four of the charities which members had suggested were supported through a collection taken during one of the evening services, each of which received £175.

The first of these charities was suggested by Ed Nussey who could not be at the Summer holiday as he was working in India. Ed had sent an account of his travels which was read during a talk about "Making a difference" and through this Oakley members learnt about the charity he suggested, St Luke's Leprosarium . Beccy Buck also explained about her experiences on an educational exchange in India. She showed members the difference between private and state run schools and suggested supporting one state school, the Jalandhar Goverment school, as our second charity.

Those at the Summer holiday heard from Lianne Fox about a challenge her brother Chris, who could not be at the holiday, was planning in support of Macmillan Cancer Support . Chris will be cycling as part of a team of 8 Royal Navy colleagues from John O'Groats to Lands End and members supported this as the fourth charity. The final charity to benefit from the collection was the Essex Air Ambulance. Andrew Marshall explained how the service had saved his friend's life and this story formed the basis for his talk to the leaders on the importance of friendship.

50 pence from each garment sale from the Oakley merchandise range and savings from photograph printing costs raised £100 towards the The Vine Trust, which provides medical boats in the Amazon. Members also donated spare 5 pence pieces in collection boxes at tuck shop to raise £15.50 for the Leprosy Mission.

The five members who were leaders for the first time celebrated their new role at Oakley by choosing gifts for communities in developing countries from the Oxfam Unwrapped catalogue worth £60.

The holiday also saw the continuation of the 2008 Oakley "Making a Difference" theme. In addition to the charity activities described above, members previewed the developing website directory of ideas to make a difference, learnt about fairtrade chocolate, heard Hayden Cole's environmental Porpoise song amongst several other activities. Additionally each evening, one dormitory in turn made a small contribution to preventing global warming by turning off their mains electricity lighting and lighting their room by use of Solartek lamp (introduced on the Easter 2007 holiday) which had been charged up by solar panels during the day.