XUK Camps Turns 30: 30 Years of Summer Camps, Friendships and Memories
30 years. It is a rather amazing thing to write.
In January 1996, Richard Bernstein ran his first Cross Keys Activities camp for just 12 children and 5 staff.
Thirty years later, XUK Camps is still going strong, with thousands of children and staff having been part of our story along the way.
But when we look back over 30 years, it is not really the numbers, the buildings or even the camps themselves that stand out most.
It is the people.
The children who arrived not knowing anyone and left with new friends. The staff who came back summer after summer. The campers who eventually became members of staff themselves. The friendships that lasted long after the summer ended. And, occasionally, the relationships that became something rather more.
So, as XUK celebrates its 30th birthday, here is a little of the story behind where it all began.
It started with a school holiday job
Long before XUK existed, Richard was a schoolboy looking for a way to earn some money during the holidays. He loved playing sport and captained the football and cricket teams at school, already showing an interest in leadership and organisation.
His school PE teacher, who was also Richard’s hero and mentor, ran holiday camps, and Richard got a part-time job helping out. He mainly coached sport, but also did a bit of everything. He loved it.
He loved the atmosphere, working with other like-minded people, helping children have a great time and, of course, earning some money at the same time.
That role left a lasting impression on him and helped develop the skills he still relies on today.
From poor A-level results to M&S
After leaving school, things did not immediately go to plan.
Richard's A-level results were not good enough to get him into university, and university applications were unsuccessful over the following two years.
Then an opportunity came along at Marks & Spencer. After a competitive selection process, Richard was accepted onto a six-month gap-year scheme as a trainee manager. At the end of the six months, M&S told him they would like him to stay. There was just one problem.
Richard realised that working within a large company's rules and policies was not really for him. Even something as simple as being expected to sit with the other managers during meals in the canteen made him realise that he wanted to do things differently. So Richard decided that he did not want to work for somebody else ever again.
He would start his own business.
And with his experience of working on those school holiday camps, children's camps seemed like a pretty good place to start.
Thirty years later, here we are.
The first Cross Keys camp
In January 1996, Richard ran the first Cross Keys Activities day camp for 12 children and 5 staff.
It started small, but the idea was simple: create a great holiday for children, surround them with enthusiastic people, encourage them to try new things and make sure they had fun.
"That first staff team at Cross Keys was amongst the most qualified we have ever had!"
Cross Keys grew slowly at Christ's College School. Richard focused mainly on the operations and, although financial management was never his greatest strength, he was determined to make the business work. Within a few years, numbers had grown to more than 100 campers in a week.
Lawrence joins the story
Richard's brother Lawrence was an important part of the early years.
Lawrence had (and still has) a real talent for marketing and relationships. He had lots of good ideas and was responsible for our leaflets, website and much of the marketing.
While Richard concentrated on running the camps, Lawrence helped XUK find its voice and reach more families.
In 1998, Cross Keys took over Mini Minors, a local day camp with a similar philosophy, at Brooklands, just next door. Lawrence also joined the business as a Director.
The following year, Cross Keys and Mini Minors were running in tandem, and the brothers took over Experience UK, the provider of a day and residential camp. That was the beginning of the XUK name becoming a much bigger part of the story.
Read the full XUK history and timeline
Nick joins the family business
As Lawrence's own business became increasingly successful, he had less time available to devote to XUK.
Richard found himself carrying more and more of the responsibility and began thinking about what the future should look like.
That led to discussions with another brother, Nick. Nick was an accountant and could see potential in XUK. After some discussion, Nick took over Lawrence's share and joined Richard in the business.
Richard and Nick have now worked together for around 15 years. Nick brought fresh ideas and a different skill set to the business.
For the day camps, that included much more local marketing, school fairs and leaflet drops.
The residential camps grew too. Working with Sean at New Eccles Hall School, XUK increased capacity by introducing teepees and then bell tents.
Numbers grew quickly. Opening XUK English followed at St Joseph's College, and XUK Excel was launched in Monmouth.
15 years at New Eccles Hall School
New Eccles Hall became an important part of the XUK story.
For 15 years, it was the home of XUK Activity, and many children and staff have memories of summers spent there.
In 2017, we were told that New Eccles Hall School was being taken over, Sean was leaving and that its future plans meant XUK would not be able to run there in the future.
2017 would be our final summer at New Eccles Hall. It was difficult to leave a school we knew inside out, staff we had become close friends with and memories we will never forget.
We wanted to mark the occasion properly, so we made a special video celebrating 15 years (2002 - 2017) at the school, including some fantastic footage and interviews with people from both the school and XUK.
Watch our 15 years of XUK at New Eccles Hall School
It remains a lovely reminder of an important chapter in XUK's history.
Abberley Hall and another new chapter
In 2018, XUK Activity moved to Abberley Hall School.
The two years there were amazing, and once again we built a strong community of campers and staff around the camp.
Then everything changed.
COVID and two very difficult summers
In 2020 and 2021 XUK was unable to run its residential camps. Government guidance and lack of international travel made it impossible to run.
Two years without residential camps was an enormous challenge for Richard and Nick.
Our day camps continued, operating at capacity with all the restrictions that came with the pandemic. There were bubbles, testing and constant uncertainty about whether camps would be able to run.
We were incredibly grateful that we could continue to give children some sort of camp experience, but it was a very different world from the one we had known and wanted.
Finding Dauntsey's
After two years without residential camps, Abberley Hall wanted to move in a different direction. Once again, XUK needed a new home.
We found that home at Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire where we first ran in summer 2022.
It was another major change for the business. The three residential camp programmes that XUK had been running in 2019 were now brought together at one site.
We developed a great relationship with the school, and Dauntsey's has since become the home of XUK's residential camps.
Find out more about XUK's residential camps
But 30 years of XUK is really about people
For all the changes over the years, the most special part of XUK has always been the people.
Children arrive at camp and meet people they would probably never have met at home. They might come from a different part of the UK, or from the other side of the world.
And sometimes those friendships become something much bigger than anyone could have imagined on that first day.
Children who arrived as strangers have gone home as close friends. Some have stayed friends for years. They have travelled together, visited each other and continued to be part of each other's lives long after their summers at XUK were over.
Friendships have stretched across the world, from Italy to Australia and many places in between.
That is one of the things that makes XUK so special. A child can arrive at camp knowing nobody and, within days, find themselves part of a group of friends from completely different backgrounds and countries.
And those friendships do not necessarily end when the summer does.
For some, XUK has been the beginning of lifelong friendships, international adventures and relationships that have lasted for decades.
When campers become staff
One of the loveliest things about running XUK for 30 years is seeing children grow up.
Some campers have enjoyed XUK so much that they eventually came back to work here:
- Sarah
- Sam
- Jamie
- Josh
- Dave
- Antonio
- Reece
- Cesar
- Paolo
- Lex
- Riccardo
- Alvaro
- James
- Amber
- Elliot
And many many more.
They arrived as campers and, years later, returned as adults to help give the next generation the same sort of experience they had enjoyed themselves. That is something we are incredibly proud of.
And then there is Alberto
Alberto’s story perhaps captures what 30 years of XUK is all about better than anything else can.
- He first came to XUK as a camper.
- He later returned as a member of staff.
- And eventually, he sent his own children to XUK.
From camper, to staff member, to XUK parent.
When camp friendships become something more
Of course, not every XUK relationship stays simply a friendship.
Over the years, relationships have developed between people who met through XUK, worked together at camp or simply shared the experience of being part of the XUK family.
Among them are Sarah and Mark, Pete and George, Tom and Lizzie, Sam and Georgina, Ian and Hazel, John and Gemma, and others.
Some of those relationships have led to marriage and families of their own.
It is a lovely reminder that a summer job can sometimes become much more and just a few weeks shape your life forever.
So what does 30 years of XUK really mean?
It means:
- Thousands of first days.
- Thousands of new friendships.
- Thousands of games, activities, performances, meals, laughs and stories.
- Children who arrived with anxiety and went home with confidence.
- Campers who became staff.
- Staff who returned summer after summer.
- Friendships that lasted long after camp finished.
- Friends travelling to see each other on the other side of the world.
- People who met at XUK and built their lives together.
And it means an enormous number of children who, somewhere along the way, made memories that they will carry with them for years to come.
And we are still here
When Richard started Cross Keys in 1996, he could not have known where that first camp would lead.
He certainly could not have imagined that 30 years later he would still be doing the same basic job: bringing people together and creating great experiences for children.
Today, Richard and Nick are still at the heart of XUK. They are still involved in the camps, still working with staff, still talking to parents and still thinking about how to make each summer better.
"Some of my best friends are those who have worked and still work at XUK."
A lot has changed since 1996.
The camps are bigger. The programmes have developed. The locations have changed. Technology has transformed the way we communicate. Safeguarding was not a term used in 1996.
But the things that matter most have not changed.
- Children still arrive as strangers and leave as friends.
- Some friendships cross borders, oceans and decades.
- Campers still come back as staff.
- Staff friendships still become lifelong friendships.
- And sometimes, those friendships become families.
Richard started XUK because he wanted to build something of his own, work with people he liked and create the sort of atmosphere he had experienced on those school holiday camps.
Thirty years later, he is still doing exactly that.
Thank you to every camper, parent, member of staff, family and friend who has been part of XUK over the past 30 years. Whether you joined us in 1996 or are discovering XUK for the first time today, you are part of the story.
