volunteer with us

Programme Volunteers: Volunteer on our Core Programme and you’ll sign up for 2 mid-week adventure trips a year, where you’ll support 12-13 year olds to find self-belief, resilience and a new sense of what’s possible for them, through adventure.
Videography Volunteers: Do you have a camera, time to give or even experience to gain? We’re looking for a Videography Volunteer who can attend some of our attend trips and capture the amazing things our young people get up to, so we can play it back to them at their graduation and celebrate their journey with their friends and family around.

You don’t need any outdoor or youth work qualifications for any of our volunteering roles, just a spirit of adventure and a readiness to try new experiences and meet new people. See below for more details on each Volunteer role.

Why volunteer?

We are a people-oriented organisation and our staff & volunteers are the backbone of what we do. We want staff and volunteers to feel seen, heard and valued for the work they do. As a result of volunteering with us, you could:

Make a real difference to the lives of young people
Experience new activities and adventures
Meet new likeminded people and make new friends, on Adventure Trip and at our Staff & Volunteer Adventure Socials
Develop confidence from pushing yourself out of your comfort zone (yes, what we do applies to adults to!)
Gain access to high-quality training in the industry, such as Restorative Practice and Coaching & Mentoring, which provides professional development & experience for other areas of your career
Develop skills in a wide-range of areas, such as facilitating group sessions, bushcraft and social emotional self-awareness
Improve your physical and mental wellbeing

“Volunteering with Basecamp is honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I show up ready to give it my all, yet I come away with so much more than I ever anticipated. Walking alongside the young people as they take on the great outdoors - the highs, the challenges, the moments of doubt and the bursts of confidence - has been incredible. I’ve seen so much vulnerability, courage and resilience in all the young people taking part and learnt so much from them.”

Gilly, Programme Volunteer

programme volunteers

Programme Volunteers attend our 3-day adventure trips, working directly alongside the young people. Our adventure trips take place in the Lake District between October and June and last for 3 days, mid-week, in term-time.
The 3-days are jam-packed with activities, adventure and reflection. It's very immersive and you'll come home exhausted, but hopefully in all the right ways. Alongside the young people, you'll push yourself out of your comfort zone, experience new things and discover confidence and a sense of aliveness along the way.
These are some of the things you might get up to as a Programme Volunteer on an Adventure Trip:
- Working directly with one of our Adventure Youth Coaches to support a ‘Huddle’ of 10 young people
- Offering pastoral support such as making sure everyone has a packed lunch, tying shoelaces, checking young people have everything they need
- Taking part in outdoor adventures (hiking, kayaking, gorge scrambling etc) alongside our young people to chat to them, offer support, and celebrate their achievements
- Creating Basecamp ‘magic moments’ e.g. setting up a hot chocolate station at the end of a gorge scramble.
- Supporting/facilitating downtime activities e.g. games of football, craft activities, board games. If you have an idea for an activity you could run, we’d love to hear it!
- Help support ‘Huddle’ Check-in/Check-up/Check-out sessions and encourage young people to reflect on their achievements
- Support our evening activities (sometimes outside and sometimes inside) and bedtime routine.
- Generally provide an amazing, supportive, empathetic, positive experience that leave our young people feeling seen, safe and heard
We want to make volunteers feel a part of the Basecamp Team, which means getting your own Basecamp top and access to high-quality professional training. As a result, we’re asking all volunteers to sign up to support us on a minimum of two Adventure Trips per year, but if you can help with more, that’s great!
Are you...
- Interested in getting to know and understanding young people and their perspectives, even the ones who 'act out' or 'disrupt'?
- Empathetic and caring?
- Willing to get stuck into all manner of activities?
- A positive role model for young people?
- Able to represent the charity with professionalism and responsibility?
- Committed to keeping young people safe?
If so, it sounds like you'd make a fantastic Programme Volunteer.
Essential requirements for the role:
You must:
- Be aged 18 or over
- Obtain (via Basecamp) a satisfactory Disclosure & Barring Service check
- Provide access to satisfactory character references
- Be able to commit to 2 x Adventure Trips
We are currently finalising programme dates for the 2026-27 academic year, but provisional dates are available upon request. As soon as the programme dates are finalised, we will update this page.

Apply here

videography volunteers

We're looking for 2-3 Videography Volunteers to attend our 3-day adventure trips and capture footage from the whole trip, including activities, huddle sessions, downtime activities and informal interviews. Our adventure trips take place in the Lake District between October and June and last for 3 days, mid-week, in term-time.
At the end of the year, this is edited together into a film showcasing what they've been upto, what they've achieved and the places they've been, ready to be shown to friends and family at their Graduation Celebration. It is a hugely important aspect of our work; having young people be able to watch themselves back and see how far they've come is integral to the process of our programme.
You'd be working directly alongside the young people and (if you're new and gaining experience) will have the opportunity to shoot in a variety of locations, get to know the young people and be an integral member of the team.
End-of-programme editing can be done by ourselves or the Videography Volunteer. This would be a discussion (we know that's the lengthy bit!)
We want to make all volunteers feel a part of the Basecamp Team, which means getting your own Basecamp top and access to high-quality professional training. As a result, we’re asking all volunteers to sign up to support us on a minimum of 2 x Adventure Trips per year, but if you can help with more, that’s great!
Perhaps you're...
- Just starting out in Videography and have a camera, but want to develop your skills, gain experience and add to your portfolio
- Already an experienced Videographer but want to try something different or do something that gives back to the community
- Retired or a student and either of the above, looking for a bit of a project?
Essential requirements for the role:
You must:
- Be aged 18 or over
- Obtain (via Basecamp) a satisfactory Disclosure & Barring Service check
- Provide access to satisfactory character references
- Be able to commit to 2 x Adventure Trips
We are currently finalising programme dates for the 2026-27 academic year, but provisional dates are available upon request. As soon as the programme dates are finalised, we will update this page.

Apply here

application process

Feel free to get in touch with Anna, our Volunteer Coordinator by phone on 07498 415838 or email at anna@basecamp.org.uk to chat about the role further or ask any questions. If you have all the information you need, you can apply using the buttons above.
We’ll review your application and if we think you’d be a great fit, we’ll organise an (informal!) interview on Zoom.
If you meet the requirements of the role, we’ll ask for character references, process a DBS check and sign you up to 2 x Adventure Trips.
If all this goes through smoothly, you’ll be invited to our Training & Induction Day in Leeds, added to our WhatsApp Group and receive your Basecamp hoodie. There’ll also be some key policies to sign and agree too. Then it’s on to the good part!

FAQ’s

No, not necessarily. Obviously any experience is better but we want the role to be open to all and not restricted by experience. Plus, we'll give you lots of training and support .
With the exception of lunch on the first day and any snack you want to bring, all meals are included. Accommodation is also provided, and will either be shared dorm rooms or tipi/tent camping. This will always be same-sex.
Yes, we offer to make a contribution towards the cost of mileage for all volunteers. Here's a few guidelines taken from our policy:
- Claims may be made for journeys from home to our residentials and volunteer training. Mileage can be reclaimed at a rate of 25p per mile.
- Only the driver is eligible to claim for the journey.
- Claiming mileage expenses is optional.
To ensure the cost effectiveness of our programmes we undertake to staff our residential trips with locally based volunteers as far as is possible. We do however want to ensure our residentials are staffed with the right number of volunteers with the right mix of skills, so volunteers do not strictly need to be based in the Leeds area. For the avoidance of confusion, the maximum claim for a residential or volunteer training is £50 for a return journey.
These upper limits cover travel on public transport, car hire costs (inclusive of fuel) and mileage claims.
Yes, of course. You are under no obligation to keep volunteering for an organisation if you don’t like it. But it is always worth talking to somebody before stopping. You can discuss why you feel unhappy and what you feel would improve your time as a volunteer.
We ask volunteers to commit to 2 Adventure Trips a year. They take place between October and June and last for 3 days, mid-week, in term-time. Some people work part-time and arrange their hours to fit this, others get volunteering leave, take annual leave or are retired/studying.