On the 9th-11th June 2023 we ran our first ever weekend campover.
The weekend had been very long in the making, but thwarted by the pandemic, and a struggle to find dates that worked for enough people. The idea was for therapists (or other interested people) with experience of, or interest in, working outdoors with children to be able to come together. We wanted the weekend to be one for sharing skills and experience as well as an opportunity to spend time in nature and develop personal practice and relationship with the natural world. After a few nail-biting months of watching to see if we got enough bookings for a viable camp, we excitedly got going with the planning.
We were lucky enough to be able to use Path Hill Outdoor’s site in south oxfordshire for the weekend which turned out to be an excellent location. Path Hill Outdoors is an outdoor based Alternative Provision (with a new developing play therapy option as well!). The site has flat space for camping, fully stocked indoor and outdoor kitchens and some beautiful woodland fire spots so it had everything we needed. A beautiful stretch of rural River Thames is also only a short walk away, which was ideal given the powerful heatwave weather.
The weekend started on the Friday evening with around half of the group arriving to put up tents and have a simple baked potato dinner, before a relaxed evening getting to know each other better- even some of the steering group had mostly only met online before!

In the morning we started things off with some practical skills. We had a whittling station, a fire lighting station and a natural cordage station and the participants spent a bit of time with each skill, getting to grips with the basics. This gave time for everyone to be able to try something new and focus on something practical, but being busy with your hands can also be a great way of freeing up the mind and stimulate the interesting conversations that continued throughout the weekend. Once everyone had brushed up their firelighting skills we used the fire to make ‘campfire pizzas’ for lunch as well as trying out elderflower fritters.
Later in the day another participant showed us how to make flower crowns which was apt for our (close to) midsummer weekend, and the value that bringing attention to the seasons can bring to our work. With this in mind we laid out and explored the ‘wheel of the year’, and how it can inform both our personal journeys and our professional practice on a range of scales, from an hour of play therapy all the way through to a way of viewing our whole lives!

Later that day we shared a walk through the woodlands, learning a bit about trees along the way, followed by a swim, which after a very hot and sweaty day was a lovely relief before dinner. In the evening we chatted around a campfire before retreating to tents and vans for the night.

The next morning after breakfast, April, our steering group member who came all the way from Ireland to join us, lead us in a wonderful meditation in the woodland, followed by a collective natural mandala creation. It was wonderful at this point in the weekend to see how, as a group, we were able to share at a deeper level and trust the safe space we had created together. Finally, before lunch and goodbyes and journeys home, we played some nature connection focused games and activities, before holding a closing reflective circle.


Throughout the weekend there was a lovely balance between information and skill sharing, making space for quiet reflection, discussions about practice, and fun social time. It really felt like the beginning of a closer community of outdoor therapists, and we all hope that this is something we can do again…yearly?! We’ll see!!