Camp Counsellor Role

The Camp Counsellor role is at the heart of creating the magic at Camp Cooper. It’s a job that’s fulfilling, challenging, and incredibly fun — and it gives you the chance to be part of an amazing, supportive staff team. At camp, you’ll become much more than just a counsellor. You’ll be a friend, mentor, role model, older sibling, and everyday hero to the campers in your care. Campers will look up to you as you sing in the dining hall, dress up for evening events, and bring energy to every activity. They’ll come to you for advice, and they’ll watch how you communicate, solve problems, and show kindness and leadership. Long after summer ends, they’ll still tell stories about the magical memories you helped create.

The two main responsibilities of a Camp Counsellor are looking after a cabin group and leading elective activities.

A cabin group is made up of 8–12 campers of similar ages who live together in shared accommodation. Cabin groups eat together, do an activity before dinner, take part in evening events as a team, and form some of the closest friendships at camp. Each cabin group has two counsellors who look after them throughout the two-week session. Cabin groups give campers a true sense of belonging — a home within camp. It’s their team, their table in the dining hall, and their group of friends. As a Cabin Counsellor, you’ll help your campers build friendships and feel included, support them through homesickness or tough moments, recognise when a camper might need extra attention, run fun and engaging activities for your group, be a positive role model, and create a truly special experience for every camper.

Electives allow campers to create their own personalised activity schedule, choosing two electives per week — one in the morning and one in the afternoon, each lasting around two hours. Electives focus on skill development, creativity, and personal growth. As a counsellor, you’ll lead one (or sometimes more) electives during your time at camp. You’ll need the skills, enthusiasm, and confidence to lead your chosen activity — sometimes alongside another counsellor, and sometimes on your own.

Elective options include:

• Outdoor Adventure
• Film-Making & Journalism
• English Language
• Tennis
• Sports
• Football
• Creative Superstar
• Art
• Rockstar! (Piano/Keyboard, Drums, or Guitar – Crieff only)
• Performing Arts
• Dance

You can find full details of each elective on our Electives Page.

Job Summary:

Under the guidance of the Head Counsellors and Camp Directors, provide the daily leadership and pastoral welfare of a group of eight to twelve campers, helping each camper adjust to Camp life and have a positive experience at Camp Cooper. Counsellors will lead programmes that provide campers with the opportunity to enjoy, explore, make friends, learn skills and grow from their experiences with other campers at Camp Cooper.

Cabin counsellors are responsible for the safety, care and management of their cabin group. They also make sure their group have an EPIC experience! Responsibilities include:

Qualifications:

• Is at least 18 years old by the end of staff training.
• Experience working with children

Key Responsibilities:

• Adhere to all health and safety regulations.
• Lead a cabin group as a sole counsellor or co-counsellor 
• Create and lead cabin activities designed to meet the needs of camper’s interests and ages.

General Responsibilities:

• Conduct him/herself in a way that is, at all times, consistent with Camp policies.
• Be informed of all emergency procedures and contact numbers.
• Read and understand the Staff Manual.
• Be present and punctual at routine gatherings (meals, flagpole, meetings, etc.).
• Greeting campers on the first day and making them feel welcome
• Running team-building and getting to know you games
• Ensuring the cabin group are bonded as a full group
• Accept time-off as scheduled by the Camp Director – 1 day off per week
• Assume the leadership of other cabin groups if another cabin group requires supervision due to the time-off schedule.
• Work with various age groups over the summer.
• Be ready and willing to accept duties assigned by the Camp Director
• Ensure that campers practise good personal hygiene and collect medication at the appropriate times.
• Attend meetings as scheduled by the Camp Director.
• Be attentive to and concerned with the specific needs of individual campers. 
• Keep Camp Directors well informed regarding camper welfare.
• Guide campers in participation in individual and Camp-wide activities.
• Develop meaningful and varied cabin activities.
• Ensure cabin clean-up is done on a daily basis
• Camper check-in during electronic time and ensure electronics are taken back in
• Ensure campers are in cabin or in assigned place during siesta
• Managing mealtimes and keeping an eye on whether the campers eat and drink enough
• Looking after campers who are having a difficult time, for example, homesickness 
• Ensuring cabin group have a magical experience 
• Making sure bedtimes are chilled out, fun and also involve a cabin chat 
• Ensuring risks are managed and the health and safety of the campers is paramount
• Ensuring your head counsellor is informed regarding any issues in the cabin group
• Run an elective activity if required

Some duties may be reassigned & additional duties may be assigned.

Physical Demands:

• Able to assist to lead and participate in camp activities which include, but are not limited to, hiking, swimming, building campfires, physical games and activities.
• Must have the ability to physically support children when needed for safety in general camp activities (child weighing 85 kg)
• Able to walk one mile in under 14 minutes without assistance.
• Able to lift a 14” X 18” X 36” trunk/luggage weighing 18kg to a height of 48”.
• Able to climb stairs, bend, stoop, kneel, twist, reach with hands, sit, stand for an extended period of time, walk, lift and/or move up to 18 kg, have finger dexterity, grasp, perform repetitive motions, talk, hear and have visual acuity.

Work Environment:

• Able to work outside and be in a natural environment that requires sitting on the ground and being outside in the rain.
• Able to sleep and live in a cabin, with minimal privacy, with other staff members

As standard, 2 counsellors look after a cabin group of 8 - 12 campers. Each regular day, the two counsellors work opposite work schedules (either schedule A or schedule B). This means that staff have plenty of time during the day for breaks, socialise, exercise, study or rest. 

Each counsellor runs an elective activity and will deliver it either in the morning or afternoon (the counsellor's elective schedule - whether they are working the morning or afternoon elective- is independent of their A or B work schedule). 

About You

Candidates must demonstrate the following skills and characteristics:

Essential Experience:

• Experience working directly with groups of young people aged 7-17
• Must be able to solely look after a group of 8-12 campers on their own - counsellors need to be experienced and confident
• Willing to work with all age groups - 7 - 17-year-olds
• Fluent in English
• Ability to be a positive role model for young people
• Experience of working in a fast-paced and demanding environment
• Maturity to be responsible for the care, well-being and safety of young people
• Ability to facilitate friendships between campers
• Ability to run different activities such as art, sports, baking, swimming etc
• All applicants must successfully pass full background and reference checks 

Essential Personality & Skills:

• Kindness
• Caring
• Responsibility 
• Fun
• Confident
• Silly
• Patience

Beneficial:

• Experience of working in a residential youth environment 
• Experience of working with young people from a range of nationalities

Our staff packages are carefully thought out to create the very best staff team - full of energy, enthusiasm and positive role models and in return a great staff package to underline the value of your role and work.

Wages and Work Schedule

Staff are scheduled to work approximately 8.5 - 10.5 hrs per day and work schedules will be available a week in advance. Wages are paid via bank transfer and are usually paid in two instalments, one at the end of your first month (August 1) and the other shortly after the end of camp. Underneath are the gross wage amounts before taxes - National Insurance and PAYE deductions (deductions are based upon your current tax codes). The amounts below already include the government accommodation & food deduction allowance of £9.10 per day. Our 2026 Camp Counsellors will be paid the following amount for a 7-week role (this includes a 6-night residential staff training period):

• Camp Counsellor £4200

Staff who have worked a full summer before and who are working another full summer will receive a £150 bonus. However, this will come with extra responsibilities such as; having the ability to hit the ground running, be an outstanding role model and mentor to new staff, act as a solo counsellor if needed and have the ability to perform at the highest level for the entire summer.

Time Off

We know how important it is to recharge and take care of yourself.  We work hard to give staff as much time off as our programming will allow. Camp Cooper is run on two-week session schedules and staff get 2 full days off during each 2-week session. Staff also get a day off at the end of each 2-week session. We will try to accommodate as many time-off requests as possible and we always accommodate special time-off requests such as for weddings and graduations. 

Staff also get an assigned work schedule of approximately 11 hours per day. When you are not working, this is your own time to do as you please - to chill, exercise, make phone calls home or explore the local area, whether that be a beach walk at Edinburgh or exploring the vast woodlands in Crieff. 

We encourage staff to make the most out of their summer working by going on as many adventures as possible on their time off. We can point you in the right direction regarding places to explore or adventures to be had in the local area.

Dates

Summer Contract Dates (For Crieff and Edinburgh)

Start Date: Monday June 29, 2026. Arrival time 10am

End Date: Saturday August 15, 2026. Departure time 4pm 

These dates include our mandatory staff training period

Unfortunately, we are unable to hire any new staff who are unable to start on Monday, June 29 for staff training. 

Professional Development

From the interview process to staff training, all the way to end-of-session feedback, the skills you learn while working at Camp Cooper are invaluable. Staff not only learn how to work with children in a professional capacity, but also increase their communication, time management, organisation, and conflict resolution skills. 

We are also happy to write references and letters of recommendation upon request.

Good Food

We provide three meals a day, seven days a week for our staff, and we are able to accommodate most food allergies and vegetarian diets. Our food is home-cooked with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. We pride ourselves on having healthy, nutritious, and delicious food for our campers and staff.

A Place to Live

Don’t worry about having to pay rent this summer! All staff are provided with a clean, comfortable room to sleep in while they are employed. Rooms, more often referred to as cabins are usually made up of 3 to 6 counsellors. We, unfortunately, cannot accommodate couples sharing accommodation or guarantee anyone having their own room.

Staff Training 

Our 6-day intensive staff training week is a critical part of Camp Cooper. We set the tone for the summer and learn how to create a fun and positive atmosphere, how to run creative activities and how to ensure the campers are safe.

Staff training will be based in central Scotland, and the location details will be made available in due course. Staff from both Edinburgh and Crieff will come together for an epic training week

Staff training is fully residential, and by the end of the 5-day period, staff will have made firm friends with each other and will be confident in being an EPIC Camp Cooper Counsellor.

Apply Now For Summer 2026

(opens Dec 1, 2025)