Come and join us on Facebook in our Activate At Home group, packed full of resources, ideas, challenges, games and information designed specifically for kids and parents to use at home!

We hope that this group will help parents and children during the current Coronavirus situation and continue as a regular source of activities and games when the world is back to normal.

We’d love you to take part in the activities and to tell us what you’re doing at home to stay entertained and active!

Here’s one of our recent activities inspired by our Survival Adventure Multi Activity Camps!

You can find the group here – https://www.facebook.com/groups/ActivateCampsAtHome/

Activate has been a great release from my studies and has been a enjoyable job which works perfectly around studies, social commitments and other employment, or previous jobs. 

Sophie Jancey, Camp Manager

Staff are the most important factor in a child’s experience on camp! They can have such a huge impact on a child’s life, in such a small time on camp. We are starting a series of blogs called ACTIVATE YOUR CAREER where we hear from some of Activate Camps’ seasonal staff members to find out why they love working for Activate Camps and what it has done for their career.

First up, we hear from

Sophie Jancey.

I was first introduced to Activate when I was 15 years old where I was able to be paired with a local camp and complete my Level 1 in Sports Leadership award. I thoroughly enjoyed this process and I was made to feel very welcomed by the staff on camp. This was a great start to my journey today. 

At the age of 16, I managed to complete my first Level 1’s in Netball and Swimming. This therefore gave me the stepping stones to  become a coach on camp the following Summer holidays. This was something I had been looking forward to doing, to gain experience of working with children within a sporting environment. 

After working my first summer, I had started to fall in love the job and working with more experienced people to help me develop as a person and a coach. Meanwhile, I used my initial sports leader qualification to go on and complete level 2 and 3 in sixth form which played a massive role in my career which I will explain shortly. 

I did two summers on Gymnastics, Cricket and Netball camps, and decided that I was now ready to start Camp Manager training. I then completed the training in June and completed my first summer as a Camp Manager. It is a step up from the Coaching role, but has allowed me to develop other coaches with my experience and run camps to a high level to ensure Children and Parents/Careers are fully satisfied with the delivery of them. As I have worked through positions in Activate I have been very proactive and gained a further 5 Level 2 Sports Coaching Qualifications in Netball, Hockey, Swimming, Dodgeball and Multi-Skills. Also 8 Level 1 Courses or Equivalent. 

I have now worked as Camp Manager since on summer camps of a variety of sports. This has linked in well with my career ambition of becoming a secondary school PE teacher. Whilst working at activate I have completed A-Levels, and a degree in Physical Education and Sport Studies and I’m now currently undertaking a PGCE in Secondary PE. Unfortunately my A-Level grades were not as good as expected and The only reason I go into University was through the extra 20 UCAS points from my Level 3 Sports Leadership award, which initially started the earlier steps of this qualification through Activate. So has massively impacted on my career. 

Activate has been a great release from my studies and has been a enjoyable job which works perfectly around studies, social commitments and other employment, or previous jobs. Whilst I was working at Activate the last 2 years I have worked as a Swimming Coordiantor along side and have used the skills of Camp Manager with this job. In turn, the skills and qualities it provides you with all help for future careers. 

Currently whilst doing my PGCE I play Netball, coach and umpire at my Netball club, Tutor courses for Swim England and soon to be England Netball, whilst studying and one day hopefully doing my masters degree. I’m a huge sports fan and love participating in any sport or activity and being involved in community sports projects.

Just to end on a positive note, I have listed my 10 reasons why you should apply to work for Activate this summer, so…

1) Flexible around studies and other commitments
2) Training provided to help you become the best camp coach you can be
3) Proggression and future employment opportunities available for the right candidates
4) Beautiful venue’s to work at with great sports facilities
5) The friends you make with other coaches along the way, I have attached a photo of just a small fraction of all of the coaches I am still in contact with today. 
6) The pay offered is reflective of your experience, expertise and is very competitive.
7) Head office staff are only a phone call away if you have any worries, concerns or problems throughout your employment, or recruitment process.
8) The opportunity to work in different area’s of the country with accommodation and travel expenses paid for.
9) Coaching hundreds of brilliant and talented children every summer is so rewarding, and often if you work at the same venue the summer after, the same children attend and remember you, which can make your day! 
10) It’s GREAT FUN!  Especially the final day, when children come dressed in country colours, they face paint themselves…and sometimes you, and use all their skills they have learned during the week to show off to you as their coaches and sometimes parents, it’s honestly great fun, so rewarding!