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Camp Crusoe Activity Leader 2

Cambridge, United Kingdom

In partnership with

Host partner: Camp Crusoe is a traditional British Summer Camp experience, where campers feel connected, valued, challenged and supported. The host wants every camper to have a fun experience and is passionate about “making the most of every moment”. Camp Crusoe is a fun and adventurous camp and not a summer school. Camp Crusoe pride themselves on being a small camp that cares, there are no more than 80 campers per week stay; the host is passionate that community bonds are formed at camp and friendships that remain long after camp has finished.

The extensive programme of activities from water sports to drama, archery and photography, appeals to every type of child, offering the opportunity for each camper to grow in confidence, improve their decision-making skills and maybe discover a new lifelong hobby. They allow just the right amount of time for campers to hangout, make new friends and play together. Camp Crusoe is a small, independent camp run by a close-knit team of friends and family who are committed to enriching children’s lives. The core group have many years’ experience working with children both on summer camps and in the classroom and are supported by a highly trained and motivated team of camp activity leaders, many of whom have worked at camp before and are planning a career working with children.


Description of the Work

Volunteer work: There is a range of dates available for this project from 2-5 weeks. Volunteers will be part of an amazing Camp Activity Team where they will help shadow and enjoy a role of leadership. Volunteers will help run games and activities with the young campers, making sure that they have a fun and memorable experience. Volunteers will also help to ensure that the camp is kept clean, tidy and safe by taking turns in cleaning the communal areas and making sure everything is running smoothly. Volunteers will also have training and support information prior to the start of the camp to prepare for the role.


Accommodation & Food

Accommodation and food: An essential element of Summer Camp is the cabin experience. Campers sleep in a number of secure and modern cabins, separated into cabin glades by gender. Each cabin has 5 beds, with volunteer cabins integrated throughout each glade – staff will not be sharing with campers, but with other volunteers. There is outdoor block with toilets and hot showers, but also facilities in the main house. All meals are provided by kitchen staff, if you have any dietary requirements please let Concordia know in advance.


Location & Leisure

Location and leisure: As well as the purpose built main house and the cabin glades, there is a vast number of exciting activities on site such as the climbing wall, zip line, archery range, challenge zone and caving system, plus areas to chill out such as the yurt, log barns and hammock sanctuary. There are many bike trails and easy river access for swimming, canoeing and Kayaking.

Camp Crusoe’s home for the summer is the absolutely fantastic Thorpe Woodlands Adventure Centre in East Anglia, Norfolk near historic Cambridge. It is set in private woodland with views of the rolling landscape, large fields and forest.


Host Organization

Concordia is a charity that began after the Second World War. Our aim is to bring people from different countries and cultures to work together towards a common goal. In turn it is hoped this will help break down cultural stereotypes and lead to greater international understanding and peace. There are two ways in which we do this. The first is the long running farm scheme. This enables students from other countries to come to the UK to undertake seasonal paid work and participate in our educational training programme. The second is the volunteer programme which works on an exchange basis; sending UK volunteers abroad and receiving international volunteers to work on volunteer projects in the UK. The volunteer programme began in 1993 when we hosted our first international volunteer project with the Countryside Service of Brighton. The project involved undertaking environmental work in the beautiful South Downs. Since hosting this project Concordia joined a network of other similar organisations known as the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations and it is though this network that we exchange volunteers. Today we send around 250 volunteers a year and place over 250 volunteers from abroad on short term projects in the UK. We also offer longer term opportunities for individual volunteers to assist our host organisations for several months called our Medium Term Volunteer Programme (MTV) and have a funded scheme which sponsors a small number of volunteers from the South (Africa, Asia and Latin America) to participate in a UK programme which usually runs for a month this is the Richard O�Brien Bursary Scheme (ROBBS). Our projects in the UK are all community based and can involve either environmental work, working with children or people with special needs or setting up events which need support from volunteers for example helping to run festivals. There are usually between 5 and 15 volunteers placed on a project and when necessary we place 1 or 2 co-ordinators to help the group outside the work programme.