October WildWise Day Camps - Age 9-13

This October half term, we are offering 2 WildWise Project day camps for older children.

We have a number of children who have 'grown up' within Go Wild, and who are now older and ready to move on to finding their own Wild Wisdom. With age and experience also comes responsibility and change, so we want to offer our WildWise participants space to grow and learn whilst connecting and having fun together outdoors.

Each session will be about doing practical tasks which enable participants to go more deeply into the skills they have already watched or learnt with us. In this way, they will work towards having their own unique, transferrable skills which will stand them in good stead for later life. They will lead their own experience as our facilitators stay true to the child led ethos which makes Go Wild such a special place to be.

Connection with other 'safe' adults is especially important as they get older, and we are lucky to have session leaders who are qualified and experienced youth workers with the skills to support transitions into adolescence alongside the various outdoor skills they also facilitate.

Every session will lead towards a 'Waymarker' of competency, such as 'fire by friction', 'hand tool training', 'knife work', 'navigation', 'knots', 'shelter building', 'leadership', 'group facilitation' and 'camp fire cooking' among others. Once each Waymarker is reached, the young person will have confidence and demonstrable competency in a variety of outdoor skills. This could even lead to becoming a young volunteer with Go Wild once they reach 14, and who knows, even a paid job in the future!

The young people will decide together if they have reached competency, and over the year ahead, we plan to present various useful gifts as each Waymarker is reached.

Over the 2 days this October, the WildWise group will be working on their campfire area, building a deadhedge and a swing, and perfecting their Winter fire lighting skills. Skills we will be working on will include site clearance, using hand tools, friction fire lighting and knots.

WildWise is open Saturday 25th and Monday 27th October.

Booking in advance is essential and we need a signed and completed consent form for every child taking part as we will have duty of care for your precious ones while they are with us. This will be sent out once booked, a couple of weeks prior to the event.

Lunch Options

Food From home - Please send your children with a large packed lunch, enough food for 2 snack times, plenty to drink, spare clothing, waterproofs and wearing robust footwear.

Food provided by us - We offer toast and s'mores as a supplement to their home brought food, plus a hot chocolate of hot squash in the winter months. If your child has dietary requirements, you can let us know on their consent form.

Participants have the option to Meet and Eat with the younger participants on the Kids Wild Adventure Camp whenever they like, or to remain separate as they choose.

About us...

We think that if everyone could spend a bit more time outside in nature, then the world would be a better place.

Suzy is the founder and director of Go Wild With Us UK Community Interest Company (established in 2016) and has been successfully reconnecting children, young people, adults and families with nature since 2008.

She has a deep connection to nature and is passionate about supporting others to rebuild their own connections with the Wild.

Suzy is a level 3 qualified Forest Schools Leader, a qualified yoga practitioner, holds a BA Hons in English Literature, a Post Graduate Certificate in Youth and Community and a PTLLS level 3. Suzy is a very experienced practitioner, having worked with children, young people, adults and families from a variety of backgrounds and with different abilities since 2001.

Find out more about our staff team by vising our website here: https://gowildwithusuk.wixsite.com/gowild/us

As well as being great at working with people, they have a wide range of skills and qualifications. Some are Forest School leader trained, and most have specialist experience in working with children and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities. All have trained with Suzy and the Go Wild Team over years to discover their own skills and individual place within our Wild Family.

We are incredibly lucky that all of our amazing team remain loyal and dedicated volunteers, some of whom were part of our 'Forest Project' for many years as young people, and who now help us out on a regular basis. Our community offerings would not happen without them.All our facilitators have enhanced DBS checks, are First Aid qualified and have attended relevant safeguarding training.