Before we know it, our Week 1 Campers will be on their way to summer camp. Arrivals day can be nerve racking for some of our campers who are coming to camp for the first time. Whether you are coming directly to our summer camps or meeting us at one of our pickup points, you are bound to be wondering what the process will look like...
When you arrive at camp, you will be welcomed by a friendly face who will point you in the direction of our check in desk. Here we will sign you in, give you the option to hand in your pocket money, hand in your medication to the Health Team and give us any ID documents or plane tickets you would like us to store safely.
Once you are signed in, one of our ‘Meeters & Greeters’ will take campers and their families to their dormitories to have a quick look around and drop their bags off. We will then head back to the welcome desk and once we have a couple more campers check in, it’s time to say goodbye to your family and join in with some activities! Let the summer of a lifetime begin...
Our staff team will be in the arrivals area waiting, often alongside the barrier, where arrivals come out into the main airport terminal. Sometimes it can be quite busy with other summer camps, summer schools and taxi drivers waiting too. Look out for our ‘XUK Camps’ sign and our staff wearing either a yellow branded ‘XUK Camps’ t-shirt or a burgundy branded ‘XUK Camps’ hoodie or jumper. It will be much easier for you to spot them, than them spot you, so once you see them, please go over and say hello and tell them your name.
Once our friendly staff team have ticked you off their list, you will either wait with them for other campers, or be taken to another member of staff in a seating area. It is a good idea to have a snack and drink with you to have during this time – we will have dinner during the early evening. After the other campers on your transfer have arrived, we will head to the coach and make our way to camp. Your new friends are eager to meet you!
On the coach, our staff will collect your passports/ID & plane tickets from you, along with medication. You also have the option to hand in your pocket money for safe keeping.
If you are finding it difficult locating our staff, please call the camp office where you will be attending, and we can call the staff at the airport to get their exact location to help you find each other.
St Pancras is quite a busy station so we will have a large team there (they will all be wearing ‘XUK Camps’ uniform – either a yellow branded t-shirt or a burgundy branded hoodie or jumper). Our campers will either be meeting us at the station or arriving on trains coming from Paris or Brussels. You will be able to find a couple of our staff waiting in front of the sliding doors where the Eurostar arrivals come out. Once you have told our staff your name, they will point you in the direction of the staff you need to stand by for the camp you are attending. Remember, we have three different camps – XUK Activity, XUK English & XUK Excel.
After all the campers on our list are with us, it is essential that you are on time, we will make our way to the coach and begin the journey to summer camp! We recommend bringing a drink and snack to have on the coach, it will be a couple of hours until dinner time.
During the journey, our staff will ask campers to hand in their ID documents and medication. You can also hand in your pocket money if you would like us to keep it safe during your stay.