School Brochure UAE

We started with a small camp on the Kenyan Coast in 2002

Kenya

We now have more than 20 permanent camps in Africa, Asia and the Americas

The lessons we learned in our first camp provided us with a model, which we have now expanded through our network of camps across Tanzania, Uganda, Borneo, Cambodia, Nepal, Peru, Ecuador and Costa Rica. Projects are specific to the local need but our model remains unchanged.

In 2008 we started the Camps Foundation in order to raise the additional funds needed to support our huge range of project commitments. 100% of all donations raised are spent on projects - this is our 100% guarantee.

Our

We support rural and indigenous communities around the world to improve their living standards. Our community projects focus on improving access to proper education, training and healthcare. We also work to secure fresh clean water and shelter for those most in need.

We have positively impacted on the lives of over 120,000 people

We’ve vaccinated and treated more than 20,000 livestock to improve animal welfare

Our reforestation efforts have established at least 1.1 MILLION extra trees since 2003

We’ve provided homes for more than 60 of the poorest families

conservation projects have helped protect 100,000 hectares of wilderness in 7 of the world’s biodiversity hotspots

Be part of a social movement

When we started our journey back in 2002, there wasn’t a title for what we do and if I’m perfectly honest, I wasn’t entirely sure how we were going to achieve our vision.

We wanted to build a great social enterprise, make a significant difference to the world around us and have a great time while we did it.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d be where we are today - with a fantastic culturally-diverse team and thousands of students travelling with us every year, delivering extraordinary benefits to the communities, environments and wildlife we work with across the globe.

You’ll see first-hand that travelling with us is a truly life-changing experience and that one person, working as part of an amazing team, can make an incredible impact. We hope you’ll choose to make your mark on the world with us.

STEP 01

STEP 02

LISTEN TO THE LOCALS

The community explain the challenges they face. We create projects they believe are needed.

BUILD LOCAL, EMPLOY LOCAL

Our camps are on community land, built in the local style. A home for you in the hands of the community.

STEP 03 COMMIT

CREATE REAL IMPACT

You work with incredible people. Real solutions for the real world.

STEP 04

Stuart Rees Jones Founder & CEO

365 days per year, every year, since 2002.

Stuart and family

One journey, multiple camps

Nothing you see in this brochure, our website or the films we produce will prepare you for the sensation of travelling with us.

Our camps are built in the heart of the communities and wildlife reserves with whom we work and are staffed by the local people who have grown up there.

We build locally, employ locally and buy whatever resources we can locally.

Before a camp is established we agree objectives with the community to enhance their way of life, protect their environment and conserve the local wildlife. This process defines the purpose for each camp and the experiences that you, as a traveller, will immerse yourself in.

You’ll get to stay at a number of our Camps during your trip, experiencing a true variety of accommodation styles.

Accommodation ranges from traditional thatched buildings and longhouses to a simple dome tent or even a hammock in the jungle or on the beach.

Our locally employed kitchen teams will provide you with three delicious meals a day. There’s unlimited fresh clean drinking water and a real mix of local cuisine with some western classics to fill you up after a day of project work.

Our kitchens always act as the heart of any camp and our staff work extremely hard to consistently create a great standard of food for most dietary requirements, regardless of power cuts, monsoon rains and supply trucks breaking down.

There are clean toilets and private washing facilities at all of our camps. Not all camps have hot water, but you won’t mind, it’s refreshing.

There’s nothing like chilling out at the end of the day around the camp fire, under the stars. All of our programmes offer you the perfect mix of community, wildlife, environment and adventure so you don’t have to choose between community projects or conservation work – you’ll be involved in everything we do.

We have British Leadership permanently based in every region. We employ locally and we estimate each salary we pay supports an average of 10 people.

You’ll get to stay at a number of our camps during your trip, experiencing a true variety of accommodation styles.

WE BUILD

LOCALLY EMPLOY LOCALLY AND BUY WHATEVER RESOURCES WE CAN LOCALLY

Africa Director Simon Englefield

Simon swapped his career as a commercial diver in the North Sea for managing a scuba diving operation in Kenya over 30 years ago. He’s never looked back and continues to enjoy life in Kenya with his wife and two children. Simon has been with Camps right from the start, developing our very first Kenya camps in 2003 and now overseeing our entire Africa operation.

Camp Legend

Meet Eric Kivuva. Since 2005 Eric has been safely transferring thousands of volunteers in our trucks and Land Cruisers, covering millions of miles. Apart from keeping it safe and slow, Eric is also famous for maintaining his onboard “Party Truck” sound system, banging out classic Kenyan tunes, such as the unforgettable “Jambo (Bwana)” to the delight of our travellers onboard.

Africa

The real home of Safari and the land of the Maasai warriors, you won’t have ever seen soil so red, beaches so white or smiles so big. The dust will wash out of your clothes but the memories of Africa will last a lifetime!

Climbing Mt Kenya, Mt Meru or Kilimanjaro – serious life achievement!

Going on a big game safari – lions, elephants, giraffes, the list goes on….

Playing football with the local children – you will lose! You’ve never seen so much energy.

Diving into the tropical warm waterof the Indian Ocean after a day of dusty project work.

REGIONAL ISSUES

• East Africa was home to our first camp nearly fifteen years ago. With around 51% of the population living in absolute poverty, it is clear that our work in East Africa is absolutely essential to bettering the lives of the communities we work with.

• The communities you will be working with have little income other than subsistence farming, with drought, infertile soils and crop sabotage from wildlife rife, it is no wonder there often isn’t enough food to go round.

• Average life expectancy in East Africa is 50 years of age, a frighteningly low number.

CAMPS PROJECT SOLUTIONS

• Building desks for school children who would otherwise be sat on the floor to learn.

• Building classrooms to provide children with safe places to learn.

• Digging elephant watering holes, helping the elephants to survive the dry season.

• Making ethical elephant deterrents to protect local crops. This reduces elephant poaching and increases crop production for the villagers to eat.

• Rhino Sanctuary maintenance work. Rhinos are hugely endangered and poaching is rife in East Africa.

• Goat de-worming – hold on to these guys tight, they love to wriggle!

• Installing fresh water tanks at schools and in villages. It’s amazing to see the local villagers accessing clean, safe water.

LOCAL DELICACY... Chapattis! You’ll get a cooking class from the local women on how to cook these delicious flatbreads, they’re insanely tasty and just what’s needed after a day of project work.

Asia

You’ll find the gentlest of people in South East Asia, the kindness and generosity of the poorest communities is overwhelming. There’s history and culture at every turn, it’s a real voyage of discovery. From the ancient jungles to the tropical beaches you’ll struggle to find more tantalising food anywhere on the planet. You might want to avoid the fried tarantula though!

Highlights

Visiting Angkor Wat – arguably the most famous temple in the world, amazing doesn’t even cover it!

Dive into warm tropical waters - whilst keeping your eyes peeled for turtles and fish of all shapes and colours within the coral reefs.

Jungle boat cruise - there’s 9 species of primate to spot swinging from the trees.

Jungle trekking - discover hidden temples, sleep in hammocks and take in the most breathtaking views.

Asia Director Rory Hall

After a long, and relatively undistinguished career in the British Army, Rory went on to lead expeditions across the globe before putting down roots in Malaysian Borneo for a few years. He joined Camps in 2008 and set up the whole of the Asia operation from scratch before starting Camps in Australia. When he’s not travelling at 40,000ft on the way to one of our many locations, he is exploring what the great outdoors has to offer in Australia as well as now becoming an AFL (Aussie rules football) fanatic.

Camp Legend

Han is your man that can in Cambodia. Extremely well respected by our volunteers and the local community, we have him pegged as the future chief of the village. Green fingered Han can grow anything anywhere, he’s very passionate about our reforestation programmes. On top of all this he supports nine children from the local village, Han will stay in your heart long after you leave camp.

REGIONAL ISSUES CAMPS PROJECT SOLUTIONS

• South East Asia has had a difficult and colourful history. Now at peace there are still struggles with corruption at all levels of the government, preventing people from rising out of the poverty they live in.

• Attendance of secondary school is frighteningly low, with children working to assist their families rather than furthering their education.

• Deforestation across the region to make way for palm oil plantations is not only contributing to global warming, but destroying the habitat for the endangered orangutan among other species.

• Building school kitchens – we work to provide schools with facilities such as teacher accommodation and kitchens; the welfare of teachers and students is important to us, with the kitchen often providing the only meal a child will eat that day.

• Buil ding kindergartens – improving early years education reduces the amount of children falling behind. Many children will leave school during the harvest to help their parents farm the land.

• Reforestation programmes - aimed at replenishing forests ravaged by commercial deforestation as well as providing communities with crops of their own.

• Community toilet block installations - many homes don’t have their own toilet facilities so we provide villages with clean and modern toilets, reducing hygiene and healthcare issues.

LOCAL DELICACY... Tuck into beef with soy sauce accompanied with pumpkin in coconut milk and finish it off with some freshly baked banana cake (you might even help pick the bananas yourself!)

• Building bridges - enabling children far easier and safer river crossings to access school.

• Beach clean ups - an unimaginable amount of plastics and waste ends up on island shores, we collect the rubbish for women’s groups who turn it into beautiful jewellery that they can then sell. The crisp packet bracelets are amazing.

Latin America

Rainforests, Inca ruins, Andean peaks, sparkling turquoise seas and the unique Galapagos Islands - Latin America sets the scene for some serious adventure. The local culture is rich in history and the region is home to some of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots where you’ll have the chance to get involved in tropical environmental conservation.

Wetland national park– see if you can spot caiman basking on the banks of the water in the morning.

Machu Picchu – trek the Salkantay Trail and tick it off your bucket list.

The Galapagos Islands – sunbathe with a Sea Lion, no really!

The Amazon Rainforest – live amongst the lungs of the world.

Camp Legend

As our longest serving employee in Latin America, Andrea is a legend in her own right. She might be little and lovely, but she is one large bundle of energy who has even climbed Cotopaxi, the second highest summit in Ecuador. You will always find Andrea smiling and ready to get stuck in alongside our volunteers as her love for what she does in infectious.

Latin America Director

Damian Scott-Masson

Having worked in outdoor and academic education for many years, Damian left mainstream education to set up and run Camps’ Latin America operation. Joined by his wife, children and dog, he is now enjoying the ‘pura vida’ way of life in Costa Rica, when he’s not travelling between our offices in Quito and Cusco and promoting our operation throughout the major Latin American cities.

REGIONAL ISSUES

• With a huge disparity between wealth and poverty, rural areas are being left behind the developing cities leading to over 50% of rural communities living below the poverty line.

• A lack of education and poor vegetable growing conditions contribute to the chronic malnutrition problem in the highlands.

• Deforestation of the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon, is contributing to global warming (trees take in harmful CO2 gas emitted by burning fossil fuels and release lovely oxygen back into the air).

CAMPS PROJECT SOLUTIONS

• Tree nurseries growing native plants to reforest the Amazon Rainforest. The local community gain an income from selling saplings to other local communities.

• Building seed greenhouses through which the children can grow plants to learn about nutrition.

• Building greenhouses for families so they can grow their own vegetables.

• Building kitchens and dining rooms in nearby schools. Mothers in Peru and Ecuador take it in turn to cook lunch at the local school – no dinner ladies here!

• Building toilets in local homes to improve health and hygiene problems.

LOCAL DELICACY... No trip to Ecuador or Peru is complete without chowing down on some grilled cuy! If that’s not up your street, then you have to sample the world famous ceviche, an unbelievable taste sensation!

Community

Fostering long-term partnerships with local communities across the world is the key to our success. Our camps become part of each community and allow us to work together and build strong and enduring partnerships based on mutual respect and cooperation.

Projects are developed with the community based on their needs and priorities at each location. Activities may vary in scale and duration, from small short term projects, to large ambitious initiatives that may take several years to complete.

Everything we do is designed to improve living standards for communities in an ecologically sensitive and sustainable way. Our projects include housing and welfare, food and water security, education and training, and supporting sustainable livelihoods.

On expedition you will get the chance to live and work as part of the local team, giving you a unique insight into the challenges faced by rural communities.

You could be

• Building classrooms to improve access to education

• Installing a clean water supply for an entire village

• Constructing marketplaces for communities to generate income

• Building new homes for vulnerable families

• Supporting micro-finance initiatives with local women’s groups

“It was by far the most astounding experience of my life... I had the privilege of actually knowing the locals, rather than merely being a tourist.” Treena - Camp Borneo, 2019

Louise Doyle Global Schools Team Manager

Wildlife

As many as 50 percent of all species on Earth are heading towards extinction by 2050 due to human activities.

We concentrate our conservation projects in 7 of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots in order to help protect those animals most at risk.

Our main conservation efforts focus on protecting and enhancing ecosystems for the benefit of wildlife. This includes providing water, food and shelter for endangered animals, as well as supporting anti-poaching patrols and the work of wildlife rangers and conservationists.

We also look for ways of mitigating human-wildlife conflict by working directly with local communities that have been negatively affected by wildlife, providing them with a range of solutions so that they can co-exist peacefully alongside wildlife and become guardians of their natural heritage.

By working in the field, you’ll will learn about the importance of habitat management and conservation, hopefully becoming an ambassador for wildlife protection once you return home.

You could be

We created this beautiful sculpture out of elephant snares we removed

• Digging watering holes for elephants

• Planting food trees for orangutans

• Assisting with sea turtle conservation

• Planning environmental education workshops for local schools

• Making beautiful elephant dung paper art that can be sold

Our aim is to turn you into a global ambassador for wildlife conservation

Environment 15

OUR VOLUNTEERS HAVE CLEARED OVER FRAGILE COASTLINES

OF MARINE REFUSE FROM TONNES

We collect rubbish from beaches and recycle this into eco-art to raise awareness as well as funds for the local community.

The health of our oceans, rivers and forests is crucial to our survival and wellbeing, yet unsustainable human activities are putting increasing pressure on our planet.

Our projects tackle critical environmental issues such as deforestation, pollution and over-harvesting of wildlife.

With many of our camps located in coastal regions, we have a strong focus on marine conservation, carrying out beach clean-ups and protecting the important ecosystems in our oceans.

By learning about the root causes of environmental damage and what can be done to prevent it, students learn to think creatively about sustainable solutions which are becoming increasingly crucial for our future.

You could be

• Planting seedlings in a rainforest tree nursery

• Collecting discarded flip-flops to recycle into eco-art

• Supporting sustainable agrofisheries development

• Recycling plastic waste into eco-friendly building materials

• Cleaning beaches to protect turtle nesting sites

Mountain trekking

We pride ourselves on a summit success rate that is rare to find in our industry. The rewards of any trek are incredible and we won’t even try to describe the extraordinary sense of achievement that comes from standing on a summit and watching the sun rise over Africa, Asia or Latin America.

Jungle trekking

Nothing prepares you for the sights and sounds of the jungle. Local guides full of knowledge will lead you. You’ll take breathers at the most amazing viewpoints. You might even come across a waterfall to cool off in. Crashing for the night in your hammock, you will certainly be at one with nature.

Scuba courses

Get wet with some of the world’s most stunning marine life. Dive amongst rays, turtles, seals and of course plenty of tropical fish. Photos never do the underwater world justice, submerge yourself in the world’s most beautiful oceans and experience it up-close and personal.

Wildlife watching

Most of our programmes include truly spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities as standard. Just check out the photos in here and on our website.

Galapagos Islands

A two island adventure in one of the world’s most iconic and bio-diverse destinations. Our trip gives a taste of the vast array of animals, tropical beaches and volcanoes that characterise this incredible place.

Machu Picchu trek

No trip to Peru is complete without trekking the Salkantay Trail up to the UNESCO world heritage site of Machu Picchu. Ancient, spiritual, breath taking and an absolute bucket list ‘must do’.

Adventure

Will it be easy? Nope. Worth it? Absolutely! Push yourself outside your comfort zone with one of our awesome adventures.

‘’Such a huge sense of achievement. To reach the summit was so emotional but an amazing once in a lifetime feeling –completely awe inspiring.’’ Holly - climbed Mount Meru, 2019

Our specialist expeditions give you the chance to focus on specific expedition elements – from all-out adventures to curriculum-focused research.

Adventures by Camps is our specialist expedition brand, offering adventure-based expeditions in some of the world’s most spectacular locations. Discover the diverse landscapes and cultures of Asia in Nepal, China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India or Thailand, experience the wonders of Iceland or challenge yourself with a trip up Mount Kilimanjaro.

We can also support schools in the delivery of the Adventurous Journey section of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.

Each specially designed itinerary is developed in line with the principles of adventure psychology, empowering students and enabling them to grow in a way that cannot be replicated in the classroom. They give students the opportunity to put life skills into practice in an environment that is exhilarating and fully supported.

CAMPS international ADVENTURES

The experiences gained through an Adventures by Camps expedition are a fantastic addition to students’ academic record and further enhance their educational achievements.

Your expedition helps protect our planet

For every AbC expedition we run, we commit to restoring 5 square meters of forest in areas affected by deforestation

Adventures by Camps Week Without Walls

Our Week Without Walls experiences are specifically designed to promote experiential learning in a global classroom. Our selection of itineraries range from service learning programmes to curriculum based tours and adventure challenges.

All programmes lend themselves to community collaboration and cultural immersion which gives you the unique opportunity to see the world through the eyes of the less fortunate. These experiences outside of the classroom are invaluable in developing empathy and a greater level of cultural awareness, shaping you into a truly global citizen.

Our programmes also promote the development of:

• Innovation

• Communication

• Resilience

• Global Citizenship

• Environmental Stewardship

• Ethical Consciousness

CAMPS international Real World StudieS

Real World Studies

Our Real World Studies portfolio is a selection of specialised field study programmes, based at our permanent locations throughout South East Asia, Latin America and East Africa.

On each of our programmes, you will contribute to vital research and gain a deeper understanding of some of the critical challenges facing our planet today. From scientific exploration on a beautiful and biodiverse island in Borneo to ecology studies within a secondary rainforest in Costa Rica or a conservation study within an African Savannah in Kenya, our programmes promote a dynamic and diverse range of learning goals and objectives.

Your findings will form part of a collaborative effort to understand how our world is changing and you have an opportunity to design and develop strategies to protect and conserve our most threatened ecosystems. You will also contribute to our existing project solutions, deepening your understanding of prevalent issues and enabling a platform for enhanced learning through hands on experience.

Our Real World Studies programmes are aligned to core subject areas including Science, Geography, Biology and Languages and all are linked to global curriculums including UK, IB, US and Australia.

Your chosen programme can be used for:

• Syllabus support

• Coursework data collection

• Exam support and preparation

• Scientific method experience

What makes us different?

We’re not like other school expedition providers. As a social enterprise, we are driven by our strong sense of purpose, which forms our foundation and determines every aspect of the way we operate.

We invest in building permanent camps in the heart of the places we care about. We commit to the highest standards of responsible tourism throughout all our operations. We work in partnership with local communities and employ a fantastically diverse team of passionate staff around the globe.

Most importantly, we put purpose before profit, always. We call this the Camps Effect and it is the engine the drives our positive impact - for the young people who travel with us and for the planet.

At Camps, we believe that good business should be good for the planet. Our growth as a business is inextricably tied to the amount of support we can give our communities. Simply put, the more successful we are, the greater the positive impact we can make.

We are a member of the UN Global Compact, demonstrating our commitment to sustainable and responsible business practices. This ensures we are consistently aligning our operations – from our projects on the ground to our wider business strategies - with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption and taking action in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To read more about the UN Global Compact, visit their website: www.unglobalcompact.org

Where does the money go?

As the leading school expedition provider, we invest 41% of our money in delivering premium quality expeditions with the highest standards of safety, delivered by experienced and passionate staff. Approximately 21% of our funds go towards the general costs of running the business, from office costs to IT, as well as a small profit which enables us to grow and expand our impact.

We invest a significant portion of our money - 38% - directly where it will have the most impact, in the communities we work with. This includes the wages we pay our local cooks, cleaners and camp managers, as well as our sustainable community, wildlife and environmental projects.

We are proud to be a social enterprise – a successful business with philanthropic aims at our heart

Chief Operating Officer Matt Lacey

Matt has been with Camps from the beginning and runs the UK operation as well as overseeing the company’s global sales, operations, finance and strategy. A keen traveller, he regularly visits all of our regions and loves engaging with the diverse cultures and personalities that make up our global family. When he’s not working, Matt is an accomplished guitarist, martial artist and enjoys exploring the great outdoors with his wife and three dogs. Matt is based in the heart of the New Forest, a stone’s throw from our UK Head Office.

Finance Director

Carl Palmer

Carl is our Group Finance Director and joined Camps International in June 2010. He frequently travels across all our locations and is responsible for all financial and fiscal management aspects of the group’s operations.

Keeping you safe

Chairman

James Gallagher

James is one of a number of founder shareholders of Camps. As chairman, he is now responsible for the corporate governance, leadership and accountability of the board.

To us, this is the most important aspect of your trip and something we take very seriously. Unlike most other expedition companies, our

150

STAFF

ARE WITH YOU EVERY STEP OF THE JOURNEY

and our Operations Team are permanently based in these amazing countries, as well as our central team office teams located in the UK, UAE and Australia. This means we are on hand, on location, to prevent and deal with incidents rather than just react to them from afar.

We choose our camps carefully to ensure that they are strategically located close to approved medical facilities. We carefully plan and rehearse comprehensive medical and emergency procedures to ensure you receive the best standard of care possible should you need it.

Camps Crew

Parents handbook

“’It made me a stronger person and made me more enthusiastic to fight for my mark in the world.’’ Ryan - Camp Ecuador, 2019

Personal development

What will my child get out of this?

Unique experiences

The benefits of an expedition with us are immense and place your young explorer in situations that cannot be replicated at home or in the classroom.

An enhanced CV

Employers and universities look favourably on this type of experience as it gives your child the chance to build up their CV with unique skills and experiences to set them apart from the rest of the crowd.

New skills and life experiences

Whether it be at a university, college or job interview, they will have stories to tell and life skills to demonstrate to make their interview memorable.

Contribution to their DofE award

Taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme? Tell us and we can often incorporate their adventure into achieving their Gold DofE Award.

Experience of new cultures

Your young adventurer will be immersed in new cultures, becoming more understanding and appreciative of the rich diversity in far away lands.

Teamwork and leadership skills

Teamwork and leadership skills will be established whilst on expedition, working together with different types of people will encourage patience and communication skills to develop too.

Fitness and wellbeing

Expeditions are physically demanding and it’s important that everyone is physically fit and prepared for the challenge. We don’t expect Olympic athletes, but it’s important to be fit and ready for expedition so that everyone can enjoy the challenges and get the most out of the activities.

Between now and the time of travel, there’s so much that can be done to improve fitness levels – jogging, walking to school rather than getting a lift, even just choosing to take the stairs every time instead of the escalator.

Sharon Cruse Group Operations Manager (Expeditions)

Health & safety

We are a fully inspected member of the Expedition Providers Association (EPA), hold the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge and British Standard BS8848.

Our safety procedures are unrivalled and we use a 3-stage traffic light response system.

Our emergency assistance providers are world leaders in dealing with overseas incidents. They have doctors on call 24/7 to assist in diagnosis and treatment as well as being available for parents to speak to, if necessary.

1 On site support

BRITISH LEADERSHIP IN EVERY REGION

The Expedition Leader will be with the group throughout the expedition. All Camps Expedition Leaders are fully vetted and complete a rigorous selection process. They are qualified in outdoor first aid and equipped with a comprehensive medical kit. They can deal with all typical first aid incidents and minor illnesses. We also ask that all volunteers bring their own first aid kit.

2 Medical facilities

3 Emergency support

In the event a volunteer needs additional medical treatment that can’t be provided by the Expedition Leader, will be taken to a medical facility. All camps are located within a reasonable distance of an approved medical facility with which we have built a close working relationship.

In the highly unlikely event that a volunteer needs repatriation this will in most circumstances be done in conjunction with the Emergency Assistance Provider (EAP), provided through the travel insurance policy.

Communication whilst on expedition

An expedition is an amazing chance for your son or daughter to truly ‘unplug’ and experience life without all the instant digital technology they are used to – a rare opportunity for their generation! We try to encourage students to embrace this aspect of the expedition and leave their smartphones at home.

We appreciate that a lack of updates can be frustrating but please rest assured that they are experiencing a newfound independence in an extremely safe and structured environment. We operate a ‘no news is good news policy’ but we promise that if any traveller has been prescribed medication or admitted to a health clinic whilst on expedition, their emergency contacts will be informed.

Our operations team receive a simple daily update from our team in every country, so we always know where the teams are and what they have been up to that day. They don’t go into detail about each individual but please feel free to call us if you’d like an update on the team.

In addition, you can check out our country Twitter accounts. Whilst social media updates are intermittent and can never be guaranteed for every team, the posts come directly from our in-country staff so it is a great way to get a general insight into what life is like on expedition.

Abi Betteridge Customer & Logistics Manager

“It can be difficult for us parents to go without regular communication – but my advice is please don’t worry. My daughter said she actually enjoyed not being able to access social media and even when wifi was available she would rather be making memories with her new friends. She has come back much more confident and outgoing with lots of stories to tell and photos to look at!”

- Melanie Cain, Parent of past traveller

We operate a 24/7 emergency phone when we have anyone in country, managed through our Operations Team. Should either you, or your son or daughter, be in an emergency situation we will be able to provide regular communication at any time of day or night.

Meet some leaders

You’ll struggle to find a more energetic and enthusiastic bunch than our Expedition Leaders. Many of our Leaders work in other roles as permanent members of our team throughout the year, so they are familiar with the entire Camps journey.

Our Leaders have all undergone the relevant child safety checks, hold advanced First Aid qualifications and are highly experienced in working with young people in a residential setting.

Lainey Starkey

I was bitten by the travel bug back whilst studying Outdoor Education at University and since then have been lucky enough to lead expeditions across 3 continents. When I’m not leading, I work at Camps HQ, recruiting more awesome leaders for our team and making sure our expeditions run smoothly all over the world.

If I could sum up what young people gain from a Camps expedition, it would be a life-changing journey that they will never, ever forget.

Jonny Lloyd

I’m incredibly privileged to assist with every aspect of our expeditions, from supporting students and schools in my role as Expedition Coordinator to leading the teams in-country as an Expedition Leader.

My role is as challenging as it is rewarding and supports students through a plethora of new experiences. It is through this role I have been fortunate enough to guide students in experiencing building a new home for a local family in rural Tanzania, seeing sea lions on the Galapagos, sharks in Costa Rica, Orangutans in Borneo among endless other life changing experiences.

Dean Bates

When I’m not leading, my day to day role with Camps International is as a Senior Expedition Coordinator, inspiring students to embark on our amazing expeditions. As an Expedition Leader, I also get to immerse in the whole travel experience as well.

I love to see the personal development and increased self-confidence of the students that choose to travel with us. I also see the incredible impact they all have on the communities we work alongside, not only through their hard work on projects, but also in the way that they interact with the local people.

Amy McEvoy

I have been involved with Camps since 2010 and have had some amazing opportunities to guide students and teachers through Africa, Asia and South America.

My role as a leader is as positive and varied as you can get; from teaching everyone about our projects to getting stuck in with the work myself, trekking through the jungle to scuba diving in some of the most spectacular locations in the world. However, the best part has to be watching everyone get involved and seeing the amazing impact they are making across the globe.

Our expeditions aren’t just for schools

If you’re feeling envious of this exciting opportunity for your child and want to hop on the plane yourself – we’ve got something for you too.

Our vast experience creating positive impact within rural locations has allowed us to identify specific needs within communities and develop our Independent Volunteering programmes which combine vocational interestbased volunteering with exceptional travel experiences, for groups and individual travellers.

These trips offer you the unique chance to get away from the tourist crowds and explore some of the world’s most incredible destinations whilst using your skills to help make a real and lasting difference to people who need it most.

Medical Volunteering

Our dedicated healthcare volunteering programmes provide medical professionals with an incredible opportunity to bring knowledge and expertise to rural communities. To date our medical programmes have benefitted more than 30,000 people. Suitable for healthcare professionals from a wide range of backgrounds as well as some support roles for those without medical qualifications.

Sports Development Expedition

Develop your sports coaching and leadership skills whilst inspiring young people through sport in rural Kenya. No particular experience or skill level is required to join the expedition, just a real passion for sharing your love of sport and making a difference.

To find out more about how you can get involved, get in touch with our team via email at gap@campsinternational.co.uk

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails.