Why Barracudas?

Holiday camps are a lot of fun for kids and the staff at camp are a huge part of this.

Barracudas is committed to providing you and your child with an amazing experience and have the highest recruiting standards for all our camps. Get to know some of the camp staff who inspire your kids and help them grow at Barracudas activity camps.

Hi My Name is Josh, I predominantly have a background in rugby but love all sports if I'm being honest. I played for a team in the Welsh Premiership after moving to Wales for University. On the completion of my Masters I started working for the Welsh Rugby Union and have been there for the past 5 years.

I originally Started working at Wokingham Barracudas 6 years ago whilst I was at Uni. This was meant to be a summer job but enjoyed the camp and kids so much and loved the people I worked with that I’ve come back every year since. I’ve grown lasting relationships with the staff at Barracudas.

I love working at Barracudas because we have so much fun with the kids, new and old. When you have the team we have you know you can all have fun but the camp is still held to a high and safe standard. The expertise and professionalism we have with returning red shirts and our cracking blue shirt team and Camp Manager Alex all work together to make it a fantastic season every time.

My name is Claire, and I’m the Camp Manager for Barracudas Twickenham St Catherine’s camp. I’ve been a primary school teacher for 8 years, working with children from nursery up to KS2.

Barracudas started off as a summer job to earn some extra money and gain valuable experience whilst I began my journey into teacher training. Well...12 years later and I’m still here and still loving it!

The most rewarding experience working on camp has given me is watching the children grow over the years, seeing them start camp as little minnows and growing to teenage barracudas, they really do love coming to camp every year and building the relationships with both the children and their parents is a huge perk of the job!

A Camp Managers’ role varies hugely, from ensuring the safety of everyone at camp and making sure all the children are having an amazing time. Being a camp manager is definitely a challenge...but a good one, one that has enabled to me gain so much confidence, both as a person and a team leader.

Hi, I’m Ashleigh, the Sports Leader at Barracudas Chelmsford. Out of camp I'm studying a Journalism degree at Nottingham Trent University.

My brother had worked for Barracudas before me and absolutely loved it so I decided to apply and also found it an amazing way to spend my summer and earn some money whilst doing it. I love sports and have played basketball for East of England as well as football for Southend United Ladies.

This will be my 2nd year at Barracudas. I started as a Group Assistant and became a Group Coordinator last summer. I love being able to teach the kids all that I know in these areas and seeing them enjoy sport and other creative activities as much as I do. Not only that, I get to see all of them grow in confidence and make friends along the way.

For me Barracudas is a great company to gain work experience, learn new things and meet new people.

My name is Thomas Alsop, also known as “Silly Tom” here at Barracudas. I’ve been working as a Dance and Drama instructor at the Wokingham Camp for the past 3 years and I’m currently studying Musical Theatre at Guildford School of Acting.

I love working at Barracudas as I really enjoy working alongside the children, building their basic performing skills and confidence through my sessions.  I find it so rewarding watching the kids confidence grow throughout the week. I also love to hear the parents comment on how much we've impacted their child and how they can’t wait to come back to Barracudas because of “How cool Silly Tom is!”. 

What I also love about working at Barracudas is the staff and I've made so many friends during the years. The support you get from the senior members of staff is amazing and this all is what brings me back every year. I have seriously made some friends for life.

I'm Karen and am the Arts and Crafts Instructor at Romford camp.

I’ve worked for Barracudas for 6 years as an Arts and Crafts Instructor but have also taken on other roles during this time such as Early Years Coordinator. I went to Barracudas when I was a child and remembered how much I enjoyed it. I didn’t think I could have as much fun there being a staff member but I love it!

When I’m not at Barracudas I’m an Art Teacher in a secondary school. In my free time I’m always doing something arty; a painting, a drawing or trying a new craft project. This is useful when it comes to camp as I can introduce new activities and also means I have examples ready for new exciting crafts especially for the older children that come back year after year and can try new things!

Meeting all the children and new staff every year as well as old friends coming back is lovely. It’s such a rewarding job, seeing the children smile, watching them try new things and talk, chat and laugh with each other. It’s great when the children leave at the end of the day and say they want to come back tomorrow. Seeing the parents happy that their child has had a great day also makes you feel good.

Hi, I’m Stirling and work as a Lifeguard at Croydon camp. This summer will be my 4th year working at Barracudas. I’m now in my final year of Sport and Exercise Science at Sheffield Hallam and I work as a Strength and conditioning coach and a swim instructor for the University teams.

I’ve been a Lifeguard for around 6 years and a swim instructor for 5 years (since I was at school). I’ve always loved swimming ever since primary school and loved taking part in swimming galas. 

For a lot of kids at camp, swimming is the highlight of their day. The Lifeguards and staff provide a safe yet fun and engaging environment for the kids to progress their skills in the water as well as increase their confidence. I’ve lost count of the amount of times a child has been clinging to side on day 1 but are then carefree and dunking their head by day 4. 

Barracudas is a fun place to work, the atmosphere is great, and everyone’s there to ensure the kids have the best time possible. Working at camp has helped me increase leadership, team-working and communication skills which I can use elsewhere in other jobs and study.

Hi! My name is Aoífe and I’m a Fencing Instructor at the Hutton Manor camp.

I started working for Barracudas in 2019 after hearing how much my small cousins loved being there in the holidays. I’m currently studying History at Cardiff University. When I’m not reading mountains of books, I work as a barista and assist teaching History and Archaeology lessons at various schools around Cardiff. I play netball for the Girls' History team and I am a keen dancer too.

I absolutely love being around people and being able to teach new skills to children who wouldn't have otherwise learnt how to fence is incredibly rewarding and an absolute tonne of fun!My favourite memory of working at camp was last summer was when I taught fencing to the Minnows. I had a small handful of tiny people who were so excited to learn about fencing and its French background. They perfected the fencing etiquette and every time I saw them around camp for the rest of the summer they would always jump, pose, and shout 'En Guard!'. It always made me smile!

The Hutton camp is always full of games, music, and constant laughter. I have never worked somewhere so fulfilling and I am always looking forward to being back. I get to see the children develop into amazing, enthusiastic, confident young people and I learn new things every day too!