Work for The Outdoors People
We are currently recruiting Freelance and Seasonal Camp Instructors for our 2025 camps.
These roles involve working on our 24 hour camps that take place on school grounds throughout England.
The Outdoors People is a non-profit and works hard to be an ethical employer. We are the largest provider of in-school residentials in the UK.
Everyone who attends a Selection and Training day is entitled to a £20 allowance to help towards travel costs.
See below for more information, rates of pay, and how to apply.
ONLINE INTERVIEWS ARE AVAILABLE. IDEALLY, YOU WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ATTEND ONE OF OUR IN PERSON SELECTION AND TRAINING DAYS:
Monday, 17th February 2025 – Bamford, Peak District
Tuesday, 18th February 2025 – Oxford, South East
Lift shares or collection from nearby train stations may be available.
If you cannot attend online training or a Selection and Training this year, then you can subscribe to our recruitment mailing list to stay informed about our future employment opportunities.
FREELANCE CAMP INSTRUCTORS
Our camps take place on school grounds nationwide.
A selection of our camp locations. We will work at around 100 schools next year.
Ideally, you will be available to attend one of our Selection and Training days, but we are also interviewing online.
Lift shares or collection from nearby train stations may be available:
SELECTION AND TRAINING DAY 1
Monday, 17th February 2025 – Bamford, Peak District
SELECTION AND TRAINING DAY 2
Tuesday, 18th February 2025 – Oxford, South East
We are recruiting Freelance Camp Instructors for the coming 2025 season. Seasonal and part season roles are also available and are described further down this page.
We will have around 400 days of work available this year. Most of our camps are on Monday to Tuesday, or Thursday to Friday in May, June, July and September. You certainly don't need to be available every week, but we suggest only applying if you think you might be able to work some of those days for us in 2024.
We value all levels of experience in our staff team and we are much more interested in your approach and attitude as a professional and fun instructor, than we are in your technical knowledge.
Due to our unusual venues, we are uniquely suited to supporting instructors with disabilities, or who are recovering from injury or illness. Please get in touch if this might describe you.
ESSENTIAL
Comfortable working with large groups of primary school children following our training (activity ratios are 1:15)
Maintain a fun learning atmosphere on sessions
Work to pre-defined learning outcomes
Arrive on time and ready to work
Be able to travel. We lift-share where possible but will often need our instructors to make their way to trunk routes to keep journey times reasonable.
A current DBS (CRB) check. We can provide one at a discount through an umbrella organisation if required.
DESIRABLE
Able to attend one of our three Selection and Training days or:
Able to attend online Selection and Training followed by our “mock client” day in March
Experience of taking part in, or delivering bushcraft activities
Experience working with primary school children
16 hour first aid
Have your own transport with work-use insurance
A professional approach
A good attention to detail
Most of our camps are described as “24 hours.” Instructors are not on call or working overnight, making the effective working time on a 24 hour camp one long-day and one short-day with an hour at the beginning and end of the camp for set-up and take-down.
RATES
Camp Instructors:
For our 24 hour Classic Camp £235, or a day rate of £163
Plus the mileage, allowances, and benefits described below
You are not on-call or working overnight
Probationary Camp Instructors:
Probational periods generally last 1 to 7 camps depending on experience, after which you move to Camp Instructor rates
Attending the Optional Mock Client Day entitles you to full pay from your first camp, rather than starting on the reduced Probationary Period rates. It is not otherwise a paid day, but is optional and our full travel allowances will be available as normal for this day. It will take place on Wednesday, 20th March 2024 – York, North Yorkshire
For our 24 hour Classic Camp £210 or a day rate of £150
Plus the mileage and allowances described below
Plus the benefits described below
You are not on-call or working overnight
Mileage and Allowances:
Mileage 55p per mile minus the first 100 miles (approximate average payment of £65 per camp)
For longer journeys, we provide a meals or coffee breaks allowance
For jobs which would otherwise require early starts or late finishes, we provide a hotel room that isn’t usually shared, or a campsite for instructors who prefer to stay in their vans
BENEFITS
STAFF TRAINING BUDGET
We have an annual staff training budget that is divided amongst all staff who apply for it based on how many camps they work for us. This budget is to allow our team to develop their bushcraft skills and qualifications by undertaking NCFE accredited courses with Survival School, for other continuing professional development that’s related to our work, or to give less experienced instructors the option to “shadow” instructors or members of our management team at one third pay.
STAFF HARDSHIP FUND
We maintain a fixed pot of money which we use to help support our staff team.
If you cancel work with us on the grounds of the physical or mental health of you or a dependant, we will attempt to pay you one third of the base income you would have expected to receive for that contract.
Where possible, we will also help with the costs of private mental health care, physical therapy, or other therapies in instances where the NHS is overstretched. This is regardless of whether the injury was received “on the job,” or is affecting your work with us and is in addition to our obligations as an employer to provide a safe working environment.
Because we are a small, non-profit company and this is not a normal feature of freelance work, the Staff Hardship Fund is a fixed pot of money each year. Once the fund is exhausted, we will not be able to make any further payments.
DISCOUNTS
We have a number of corporate discounts which we make available to our team. These include Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Soul Pad tents, Kelly Kettle, Base Camp Food, and DD Hammocks.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Click here for more information on our camps what our camps involve
Click here to download the full Freelance Camp Instructor Job Description
Click here for our Equal Opportunities Policy
HOW TO APPLY
You must do both of the following:
Email us with a short covering letter and CV
And complete our very short Application Form (Google Forms, opens in a new window)
Seasonal Roles
Ideally, you will be available to attend one of our Selection and Training days, but we are also interviewing online.
Lift shares or collection from nearby train stations may be available:
Ideally, you will be available to attend one of our Selection and Training days, but we are also interviewing online.
Lift shares or collection from nearby train stations may be available:
SELECTION AND TRAINING DAY 1
Monday, 17th February 2025 – Bamford, Peak District
SELECTION AND TRAINING DAY 2
Tuesday, 18th February 2025 – Oxford, South East
We are recruiting Seasonal Instructors and Seasonal Lead Instructors for all or part of the upcoming 2025 season. Freelance roles are also available and are described further up this page.
Seasonal roles are 5 days per-week. On Mondays to Tuesdays and Thursdays to Fridays, seasonal staff are involved in the delivery of our in-school camps, as well as transporting our equipment to and from venues. A rolling rota of Wednesdays or Saturdays are worked at our stores in York – these days can be flexible around your availability.
Stores days are usually a half day and involve restocking consumables used during camps, and repairing and manufacturing equipment. Occasionally, longer days are required – usually to dry equipment and tents – though we obviously avoid this whenever possible!
We value all levels of experience in our staff team and we are much more interested in your approach and attitude as a professional and fun instructor, than we are in your technical knowledge.
Experienced instructors can expect to be promoted – and receive the applicable pay increase – during the season as they gain more experience with our camps.
ESSENTIAL
Able to attend one of our three Selection and Training days
Able to attend one of our five Selection and Training days
Maintain a fun learning atmosphere on sessions
Physically able to move equipment around our storage site, and load and unload vans
A current, valid driving licence
A current DBS (CRB) check. We can provide one at no cost to you through an umbrella organisation if required.
DESIRABLE
Experience of taking part in, or delivering bushcraft activities
Experience working with primary school children
Comfortable working with large groups of primary school children following our training (activity ratios are 1:15)
16 hour first aid
Experience working with hand tools and simple power tools
A professional approach
An excellent attention to detail and ability to follow written instructions
Rates
Seasonal Instructor:
Based in York, UK
5 days a week
£689 total per week (approx £35,000 per annum)
Plus the mileage, allowances, and benefits described below
You are not on-call or working overnight
Seasonal Lead Instructor:
Based in York, UK
5 days a week
£734 total per week (approx £38,000 per annum)
Plus the mileage, allowances, and benefits described below
You are not on-call or working overnight
Mileage and Allowances:
Mileage 55p per mile minus the first 100 miles (approximate average payment of £65 per camp)
For longer journeys, we provide a meals or coffee breaks allowance
For jobs which would otherwise require early starts or late finishes, we provide a hotel room that isn’t usually shared, or a campsite for instructors who prefer to stay in their vans
All quoted seasonal rates are inclusive of a holiday allowance and a 3% pension contribution, both of which are calculated and paid at the end of your contract.
These roles include an sick pay allowance of 6 to 15 days absence at full pay. The number of days of allowance is based on the duration of your agreed contract.
BENEFITS
STAFF TRAINING BUDGET
We have an annual staff training budget that is divided amongst all staff who apply for it based on how many camps they work for us. This budget is to allow our team to develop their bushcraft skills and qualifications by undertaking NCFE accredited courses with Survival School or to give less experienced instructors the option to “shadow” instructors or members of our management team at one third pay.
STAFF HARDSHIP FUND
In addition to the sick pay allowance for seasonal staff, we maintain a fixed pot of money which we use to help support all of our staff team.
Where possible, we will help with the costs of private mental health care, physical therapy, or other therapies in instances where the NHS is overstretched. This is regardless of whether the injury was received “on the job,” or is affecting your work with us and is in addition to our obligations as an employer to provide a safe working environment.
The Staff Hardship Fund is now being made available to provide full pay for staff who miss work with us due to COVID19 quarantine/self-isolation, or vaccination appointments.
Because we are a small, non-profit company and this is not a normal feature of freelance work, the Staff Hardship Fund is a fixed pot of money each year. Once the fund is exhausted, we will not be able to make any further payments.
DISCOUNTS
We have a number of corporate discounts which we make available to our team. These include Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Soul Pad tents, Kelly Kettle, Base Camp Food, and DD Hammocks.
Duration
You can sign up for all of the season, or for blocks of 3 or 6 weeks.
Summer 2024: Approximately Monday, 21st April to Saturday, 26th of July 2025 – minus the half term break. The summer season is 13 weeks, but blocks of 3 or 6 weeks are also available.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Click here for more information on our camps what our camps involve
Click here to download our Seasonal Camp Instructor Job Description
Click here to download our Seasonal Camp Instructor Pay, Hours and Benefits document
Click here for our Equal Opportunities Policy
HOW TO APPLY
You must do both of the following:
Email us with a short covering letter and CV
And complete our very short Application Form (Google Forms, opens in a new window)
We welcome applications from groups or pairs of people who prefer to travel and work together, but ask that you submit separate applications.
Please feel free to ask someone else to complete your application on your behalf but you will need to ensure that the information provided is correct.
