Robinwood Activity Centres

Started in 1994, Robinwood Activity Centres provide three day, two night residential courses for 7-11 year olds. Focussed on making a really positive difffference developing children through adventurous and themed activities. Typically 15 across the three days - the ultimate timetable.

Group Leading is more than being an outdoor activity instructor. Our Group Leaders use themed and adventurous activities to develop children over a three-day course. Incorporating the 12 qualities we develop into sessions whilst delivering a fun and safe experience.

In short, you’ll be giving children memories that could last a lifetime and developing skills to help them at the KS2 level and beyond. As you invest in the children, we invest in you. Developing your skills through an industry-leading training and development programme. Whether staying as a Group Leader, moving up to senior positions or moving into a different career. Being a Robinwood Group Leader will provide you with skills that will last you a lifetime.

Best Pay

We offer all our staff, regardless of age, a real living wage. Everyone contributes equally towards the success of our courses, and therefore, we do not discriminate based on age or offer apprenticeship schemes. Our starting pay for 2024 is £12 per hour (£22,464 per annum*) and £12.40 at Barhaugh Hall (£23,213 per annum*).

Making a commitment to our staff by being a Living Wage Employer is something we feel passionate about. The whole team do an incredible job developing children and deserves the fairest pair possible. *based on 36 hour per week contracts.

We are proud to be an accredited Living Wage Foundation employer and to have been in the Best Companies ‘Top 100 Companies to Work For’ since 2014.

Best Benefits

Free meals, a house purchase assistance scheme, paid-for qualifications, profit related bonuses, pensions, uniform and staff discounts are just some of the amazing benefits that we provide to all staff at Robinwood.

For staff joining us at our Barhaugh Hall centre in Alston, we offer a relocation allowance of £1500 to help our staff get set up there due to the rural location of this site. We give our team a pro t bonus each year, which amounted to an average of just over £1,000 each in 2023, based on the profit we achieved in 2022.

Best Training

You do not need any prior qualifications to become a Group Leader although we ideally look for people with previous experience working with children. Our values-based appointment process means you have what it takes to be a great Robinwood Group Leader, we’ll teach you the rest.

At Robinwood, you can expand your skill set by obtaining paid-for nationally recognised qualifications in archery, paddle sports, and climbing, among other areas. These qualifications may be necessary if you want to advance into more specialised positions with us

Best Wellbeing

We take the wellbeing of our staff¬ team seriously. We strive to make a difference to our team by making sure they feel listened to, supported and have a workload that works. Through a consultation with the staff¬ at the centres, we found out the things that make a difference to them at work.

We have pledged a Wellbeing Commitment that covers 12 key areas. These include timetable shift patterns, at least two consecutive days off a week, line manager support, holidays and communication.

Best Lifestyle

One of the things that makes us stand out in this industry is that we only offer permanent year-round contracts. We balance your hours across the year meaning that you get paid every month, even when we’re on holiday.
It is important to us that, where possible, your timetable supports your hobbies and commitments outside of Robinwood. To do this we will offer you a fixed timetable with the same days of each week and twelve weeks' holiday a year.

Best Team

For many people who work with us, the friends they have made here are a headline reason why they love the job so much.

Outdoor sports, bushcraft, board games, you name it, someone will be interested in it too. Our staff team come from so many different backgrounds that you will be sure of finding some common ground. This creates a welcoming, understanding and fun staff¬ team that we are sure you will love being part of.

If you are enthusiastic, positive and have some experience working with children (either paid or voluntary) and want to make a really positive difference developing children. We'd love to hear from you.