Q: Please can you tell me what Girl Guiding is all about and why you are such a popular employer?
Girlguiding is the leading charity for girls and young women in the UK. Thanks to the dedication and support of 100,000 amazing volunteers, we are active in every part of the UK, giving girls and young women a space where they can be themselves, have fun, build brilliant friendships, gain valuable life skills and make a positive difference to their lives and their communities. We build girls’ confidence and raise their aspirations. We give them the chance to discover their full potential and encourage them to be a powerful force for good.
Blackland Farm in particular is a large campsite and activity centre specialising in providing great value, exciting and adventurous day and residential experiences for young people. With wide range of fun and challenging activities, and friendly knowledgeable staff, we have the experience and facilities to create a truly memorable camps, holidays and events for our customers.
Q: What are the main things that you look fro from potential staff members?
Enthusiasm, fun and a willingness to work hard and learn loads. We recruit a mixture of experienced and non-experienced staff and have a full training programme so a lack of skills is not a problem for someone who is trying to get into the outdoor industry, or any role that involves working with young people.
Teamwork is a vital part of every job role here. With such a large staff and around 40000 visitors per year, we all need to pull together in the busy times in order for everything to run smoothly.
Q: Do you offer long term employment opportunities to your staff?
Whilst most of our roles are seasonal, many staff return year on year. Staff often combine working at Blackland Farm with work abroad such as ski seasons, or travelling. Full term roles include Senior Instructors, management and administration staff.
Q: What are your favourite things about being involved with Girl Guiding?
Girlguiding is a widely respected brand which adds a mark of quality to everything it does. By working within such a large organisation you can be sure that employee benefits such as pension and health schemes are there for those that want them and the wealth of experience across the centres and main office means there is plenty of support if you need it. Above all the family atmosphere at Blackland Farm, where staff often live and work together creates a unique and diverse community of its own and knowing that you are helping to provide young people with fantastic experiences that they will remember forever is extremely rewarding.
Q: What are your centres like do you offer a wide variety of activities?
Here at Blackland Farm we offer a huge variety of activities including Climbing, Abseiling, Canoeing, Kayaking, Team Building, Bungee Trampolining, Crate Challenge, Leap of Faith, Zip Wires, Archery, Nightline and Swimming.
Q: Do you have any training programmes fro people who want to do their first season?
Yes. At the moment we recruit three different types of instructor:
* Activity Instructor – Already qualified and experienced instructors.
* Trainee Activity Instructor – People with little or no experience/outdoor qualifications. We provide full training and qualifications. Trainee Activity Instructors often return the following season as Activity Instructors.
* Apprentice Activity Instructors – People with little or no experience who wish to gain not only the training and qualifications offered to Trainee Activity Instructors, but also a Level 2 NVQ in Activity Leadership. This is equivalent to five GCSEs. This is a one-year contract so includes work in the winter season. On completion of the apprenticeship, Apprentice Activity Instructors are suitably qualified to return as Activity Instructors in subsequent seasons.
Q: If you were to describe Girl Guiding in 3 words what would you say?
Vibrant, exciting, family.
