To implement the settlement project, the Mission wanted to set up three work camps for families and one for single men. Due to lack of funding, only two were established: Svanviken work camp for families, established in 1907, and Bergfløtt work camp for single men, established in 1911.

The settlement process was based on a period of trial and learning, where the “vagrants” got accustomed to a calm lifestyle and regular work (Møystad 2015 and 2016).

Svanviken, which opened on 13 September 1908, represented an education in permanent settlement. Each family was given a small house that it had to take care of under strict rules. In 1908, the mandatory stay lasted 18 months, increasing to as much as five years in 1929. The families had to adhere to a strict regime, or the parents risked losing their children.

Following a set time schedule was important. The men learned forestry and farm work and later had the opportunity to learn a craft. The women learned to take care of the house and home and be housewives. Both were exposed to Christianity through frequent church services. If the “vagrants” were to be saved, they had to learn what the Mission called society’s triad: “loving your home, your work and your God”!

While Svanviken work camp was reserved for “vagrants”, any homeless man could be admitted to Bergfløtt work camp.

Bergfløtt was the first work camp, or work colony, for homeless men in the Nordic countries. It comprised a large farm, horticultural fields, and seven workshops. The purpose of the institution was to make each “colonist” able to compete in the labour market by giving him training in labour suited to him.

In his report to the Norwegian parliament in 1896, Walnum wrote that there were 500 single homeless men in the country, but he later arrived at the conclusion that there were at least 1500, and that the number was rising. These were men who had “fallen out of beat with life”. With Bergfløtt and Svanviken in operation, Walnum thought that the Mission had the institutions required to conduct their work of making “vagrants” settle down.

For a long time, the camp’s results were measured by reference to “settlement success”. After their stay ended, the Mission made sure the families could rent or buy a house, on the condition that they promised not to peddle (travel about to trade) or receive visits from family members. In essence, the latter requirement meant that they had to end their contact with the extended family.

During its existence, Sandviken went from being initially an institution where the inhabitants were trained to become permanent residents, to later becoming a rehabilitation project for disadvantaged Traveller families. Svanviken functioned as an institution for Romani people until 1988. In 1986, the Mission became a foundation called the Church’s Social Service. Its stated goals and tasks changed in 1989. The foundation’s name has now been changed to Crux, and it still owns Svanviken.