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“To hear my children talk about all that they discovered, to see the life in their eyes as they relive their experience and to notice the depth of feeling is to know that I have given them something as a parent to treasure forever.”
Get ready for an unforgettable summer at the Forest Outlaws bushcraft nature camp! Located in the stunning landscapes of Devon, our camp is designed for adventurous teens aged 13-16 years, offering a unique opportunity to learn or hone essential survival skills, connect with nature, and make lifelong friends.
Why choose Forest Outlaws?
There are plenty of studies evidencing the well being benefits of nature connection e.g. increased resilience, more regulated emotion and the ability to relax, reduced depression, anxiety, and stress however according to new research from the RSPB and the University of Essex as children get older and move into teenage years their connectedness with nature drops away and in particular mid teenagers feel less connected to nature than any other group.
WildWise aims to instill a love of nature from an early age and to sustain and nurture that interest over the years by offering fun and challenging programmes that support that connection into adulthood and beyond. Our Forest Rangers camp is our ever popular nature immersion camp on Dartmoor for 8-12 year olds. This new Forest Outlaws programme aims to continue that journey offering activities, skills and challenges and a depth of experience geared towards older children.
What will the children gain?
Participants will:
Camp Highlights
How will the camp be?
Our team will create a supportive, friendly and nurturing environment in which children can learn new skills and develop existing ones to a deeper level; learn about wildlife, flora & fauna and the natural wonders around them; play outdoor team games and have fun. The children are generally active and lively but the pace is relaxed and without too much pressure. We aim to strike the right balance between slower paced relaxing activities and challenges that may push their boundaries but give them the opportunity to grow. There will always be the option to sit out and take a break when needed.
See details on the practicalities in the Essentials section below including how to reserve a place.
Elena Harris: Elena was the co-founder of Wildlings; an outdoor based home education setting in the Chilterns. She participated in WildWise’s outdoor leadership programme Call of the Wild 2017, and since then continued to train and volunteer with WildWise until being given an instructor position in 2020. She is a qualified level 3 Forest School leader and has also trained in bushcraft with Ray Mears’ company Woodlore. She home educated her 2 children focusing on nature connection, consent-based education and NVC resolution. She is passionate about reconnecting people with the land, indigenous knowledge and nature-based practices and crafts.
Cameron Harris: A lifelong Dartmoor resident and lover of all that is wild and free, Cameron began working with WildWise in 2020 and since then has been involved in various projects centred around co-creating playful, wonder filled spaces for young people to connect with themselves and their natural environment. Special interests include ancestral skills/primitive skills, exploring the rhythms and techniques of how our ancestors lived and interacted with their world – crafting with wood, bone, stone, clay, leather, and copper to create tools and jewellery. Tracking is another great passion – honing our ability to notice tiny signs and read the stories written in our surroundings. Dartmoor’s stories are a huge inspiration. He is immersed in local folklore and loves to hear and tell a story around the fireside. A passion for social justice as well as the wild and natural world has led him on a journey of discovery; working extensively in home educating, learning how to facilitate consent-based communicative spaces, reframing ideas of ‘challenging behaviour’ and working in a therapeutic and trauma informed way.
Kael Atterton: Kael is passionate about ancestral skills and crafts and is committed to sharing the knowledge and skills that he has learnt. Through practicing natural crafts, he experiences a direct connection to our shared ‘stone-age’ past and wishes to share this potential for ancestral connection and lineage with those he teaches. He sees these skills and crafts as a way to foster beneficial and reciprocal relationships with the living natural world, as it has done so for him. Kael believes that earth skills are empowering and can help people feel connected with their bio region and feel a sense of place and belonging, he finds great joy in both teaching and practicing them himself. He runs Red Squirrel Ancestral Skills with his beloved, Cat Powell, where they run a weekly “Stone Age School” and teaches adults ancestral skills.
You will need to bring:
We use a beautiful private woodland site on Dartmoor which can be reached from the B3212 between Exeter and Moretonhampstead or the A382 between Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead. Full joining instructions will be provided on booking however the approximate location is shown below.
You can also view the What3words location slack.coast.truth online.
We provide all main meals. We can cater for most dietary requirements including vegetarian, vegan, gluten free etc. Hot and cold refreshments are also available throughout the day.
Once dates are finalised we will make online booking available.
At that point you will be able to opt to pay a £75 reservation deposit to secure your child’s place. We will send out a reminder about the balance later on (deadline for that will be 1 month before the camp).
Note that:
**BOOK NOW – free & friendly Meet the Leader / Q&A sessions**
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