Camp America Reviews 

Thank you to everyone involved at Camp America. My daughter had a brilliant summer there and made lasting memories 🙂

Hi I would like to reach out to employees and parents that have had terrible experiences with working at camp, my son was treated disgracefully, we are in the process of taking things further and other people's experiences would help in this and I could help them go forward with what can be done, we've been getting alot off advice and I could share that with you.

My son has not had a great experience, he started 2 weeks ago, first week was training and 2nd week was with the kids. During that week he was shocked at the the hours he needed to work 7am until 10pm with 1 hour off ( not what was agreed at interview) and also needing to get up through the night with the kids. Most of the staff were unhappy. He was made to sign a contract and never issued a copy. The camp was for foster kids and sadly they were very badly behaved and he had to get in the middle of many fights. Despite best efforts no instructions were being followed and at times it felt out of control. He was not well equipped to deal with this level of stress and the hours he was working were intense. He decided to speak with his manager and he decided to leave. He was told he would not be paid for the week he worked in training. So he will be paid for one week only. This week the entire camp has been closed. This feels like exploration of young adults with little to no rights for the worker. It has cost us a fortune now to fly him home and hotel accommodation while waiting for flights. Very disappointing experience and honestly one we will not be recommending to any of our friends. Shocking a business like Camp America would exploit people in this way! Hoping it’s just a rogue camp but cost us a fortune, wrecked summer plans and caused a lot of anxiety all round!

Lucy really helped me a lot along the way even though I had lots of problems that came up! She was calm, kind and helpful!

Подорожували разом, проблем начебто не було. Рекомендую!

1 star is generous, I would have gave 0 had it been an option. This place is truly disgusting, how on earth it is legal is beyond my comprehension. My 18 year old younger sister left for Camp Birchwood from Britain this summer, where she was treated incredibly poorly, with nothing but disrespect and manipulation. She had been working very 7am til 10pm 7 days a week, as well as through the night when children were sick with next to no time for herself, she worked very hard with strong morale. She had lots of issues working here, very little training and couldn’t believe this camp met any health and safety regulations. Despite her discomfort she was made to teach 7 year olds how to shoot rifle guns with little knowledge on either end, which she found so unsafe and unsettling. They messed up dietary requirements most days, my sister is severely lactose intolerant and it brings eczema out in her skin as well as stomach issues, they labelled all her food ‘dairy free’, and later realised they messed it up- causing her to be very unwell on camp. The way the directors spoke to the my sister and the other councillors on a daily basis was vile. They complained to her and other councillors that they had over hired. One by one her friends kept disappearing, she would wake up and her friends and their luggage was gone. A few days ago she got pulled into a room and was told she didn’t quite meet their expectations, they fired her with little to no explanation. They told her she had 20 minutes to pack her stuff and they would drop her off in a town. My sister, now in tears absolutely distraught, shocked, little funding, had to book and pay for a hotel in a random town in America. Due to her low funds, she stayed in a dingy, old hotel in a random town, having not been able to say goodbye to anyone, or to even process her emotions or the injustice. They clearly just needed to get rid of workers so they didn’t have to pay them after over hiring. To drop an 18 year old girl in the middle of a random town in America with no support or help, leaving her to fend for herself, the other side of the world from her family is absolutely disgraceful and unethical. The worker in the hotel was very sweet and supportive, as she said so many girls the same age had come in crying in absolute states not knowing how to get home, she said the last girl was Australian and was stuck in the hotel for 6 days before she could successfully contact a family member and sort flights out. On top of this, my sister uses small doses of daily anti depressants, when she got fired she asked for her medication back (which they took at the start of camp for regulation), in which they refused to give it her and said it was not their problem. Due to her being stuck in the hotel and travelling home, she has now gone days without her medication in which she has been dizzy, her vision has been blurred and she has been vomiting (which has been awful as she has been on flights), as the withdrawal symptoms from anti depressants are not nice. I cannot for the life of me believe that there are no laws regarding ethics being violated here, manipulating and gaslighting an 18 year old girl from England, stuck in America, leaving her to feel so distraught and disorientated, with the worry that she had done something wrong, followed by the fear of being somewhere unknown with no idea, help or plan of how to get home, when they immediately just dropped her a 30 min drive away from camp. It is truly disgusting, immoral and unethical. Our mother hasn’t slept in days hectically trying to plan her a route home from somewhere completely unknown to us. If Camp America wants to allow employers to drop international employees as and when they please (without good cause), they need to establish a route which ensures their safety. My younger sister is currently sat on an airport floor, completely disheartened, worried sick, guilty and completely ran down. She says it feels like a fever dream now, as she had felt so manipulated, isolated and dehumanised. This whole thing is unsafe and a complete and utter scam.

I went to a special needs camp in Pennsylvania for 5 summers and had the best experience with Camp America. I highly recommend the agency and had the support needed when I was in the US. Camp was the best decision and I made friends for life. Thank you for the best 5 summer at camp!

I spent two summers at Camp America and it was the best two summers of my life. The Camp America process was super easy and I ended up meeting around 40 other people going to my camp at the airport, all on the same CA flight!

My time at camp really helped me come out of my shell and try something new! I got to meet new friends, have new experiences, make a difference in children's lives and also travel places I never thought I would be able to see! I was so scared before I went but so glad that I went through with it!

The agency makes sure you’re confident and know what you’re doing throughout the whole process! Used it 2 summers & I wouldn’t change it because even while you’re away they help you if you need it!

what a shambles. they knew when I signed up i wouldn't have time to get visas as already booked a holiday, but still charged over £400. apparently its my fault as joe public, apparently, knows as much as they do about working visas for a company started in 1969 i find it pitiful. I have to defer until next year but not sure how this will work.

I got in contact with Katie for my visa process and she was extremely helpful, she reached out to me and made my process go 10x quicker and i was ready on time with all the documents thanks to her!! She was very attentive and kind. Great experience!

This will be my second year in Camp America. It changed a lot in my life. Now I'm feeling closer to my dreams thanks to Camp America and the people that I meet in America :)

My 18 year old daughter who lives in Manchester has been given an early morning flight from Heathrow to Zurich and then Zurich to Boston which is going to take all day, and there are direct flights available from Heathrow or Manchester to Boston. She is now having to pay for a train to london and hotel

Its so easy to install 100% wireless. With the integrated solar panel, yo dont need an extra panel. The LED spot light is really strong. I have

Camp America provided me with the best summer of my life, and I’ll forever be grateful to them for that. Throughout the process of searching for camps, interviews with both CA staff and specific camps, visas, flights etc - all of the organisation of this was immaculate. This was particularly helpful for myself, as it was the first time I had travelled abroad completely independently. My flight was all sorted, and I had staff waiting for me on the other side!

As for the camp itself, I cannot speak highly enough of it. The summer is a perfect memory for me, the comradery, the spirit, and of course the traditional stunning camp lake. Yes, working at the camp was not a walk in the park, the hours were long and it was hard work. However, I wouldn’t have changed a single thing - smores, campfires, camp wide games of capture of the flag…I simply cannot recommend Camp America enough.

2024 will be my second summer working at camp, i used Camp America last year and they where amazing helped answer any questions that i had about working at a America summer camp and they where and still are really affordable and i'm glad to be using Camp America again this summer. Last summer i had the most unforgettable experience while working away in America at a summer camp and i'm glad to be going back this summer for another unforgettable experience.

I had an online interview with the company and then went to one of the camp America fairs and got hired by one of the camps. A few days later I got rejected even though I got accepted by a camp. I emailed them about this and they rescinded the rejection and accepted me. I started doing my references and my enhanced DBS application for the camp until I got an email from the camp director saying that my offer was rejected. Honestly I was very confused by this but looking back camp America must have told my camp something that led to this. After this I asked for a refund but only got a partial refund for the online interview not me applying for the enhanced dbs. I think it was the worst experience I’ve ever had. It’s like the company actively didn’t want me.

I feel like the company doesn’t value diversity. Thinking back to the fair there was almost zero POC there. Their interviewers are all white. It feels like the experience is mostly catered to white people who are their target audiences

The best experience of my LIFE! 10 years on and I still speak and think about it every day. Camp America are an amazing company with top customer service and communication. I felt hand-held through the process and prepared for the best adventure of my life :) Would recommend it to anyone who is looking to grow as a person and push themselves outside their comfort zone.

As a parent I want to share mine and my daughter’s negative experience with Camp America. She applied very early and had her interview with someone from Camo America’s team in the UK. Two camps contacted her, and also arrange interviews with her. She waited several weeks and heard nothing. When she followed up with the camps she was told the spaces had been filled. We then went to the Camp Fair in Birmingham, which was a 7 hour round trip. Prior to going, we were inundated with emails, advertising the event and encouraging her to go. The adverts make it sound like it will be easy to find a camp space at the event. This is not the case, when we arrived There were hundreds of other kids there, parents or carers are not allowed to go into the venue with the kids and apparently it was absolutely jampacked full of young people. My first warning, if you have an anxious young person, this is not the place for them to go. Camp America should be forewarning attendees about this. my daughter spent two hours going around all the camps and came out quite distressed. It was her first real experience of sexual discrimination. She observed the camps were only choosing stereotypical boys and girls. She experienced one camp, give her a visual appraisal and then wave her on, they refused to even speak to her. A second camp, pulled her out the line, made her stand at the side and then offered the spaces they had left to the kids they put in front of her. After this experience, she decided that as a ‘gay’ girl, Camp America is not for her. I emailed Camp America over a week ago requesting a refund for all deposits, apart from the first one, which we understand is non refundable and as yet I have not even had an email acknowledgement to say my email has been received. I have reached out to camp America on several further occasions through the Facebook messenger system and they have assured me they will be in touch, but they have not been yet. However, they’re still bombarding my daughter with emails trying to get her to pay for her police checks which obviously she doesn’t need now. Asa parent, I would be very concerned about sending any young into the care of one of these camps after what we have experienced. Our experience has not been a great one, and the admin team seems fantastic at taking your money but appalling when you no longer decide it’s the right fit for you and you want a refund. I would be cautious if any young person does not fit the normal stereotype of boy/girl. Obviously this has been my daughter’s personal experience, but I thought it worth sharing as I wouldn’t any anyone else to have their confidence and self esteem knocked in the way my daughter’s has been.

Camp America markets on selling a dream. The real experience couldn’t have been further from a dream. We worked 6am-10:30pm (sometimes later if we couldn’t get the kids to sleep) with no breaks in the hot Florida summer heat on barely any food because the canteen served both children AND COUNSELLORS kid sized portions so by the end of the summer all of us counsellors had lost a significant amount of weight. Our days off weren’t really days off because they were 1pm-1pm so you could never really ‘see America’ like the marketing had claimed. The management of the camp were a bunch of narcissistic abusers of power who used the fact that our visas were tied to them as a threat to fire us if we didn’t do exactly what they said. In one of my cabins I had a very trouble child that I had regularly confiscated pills, knives, razor blades etc off, threatening anyone who would hear that she was going to kill me in my sleep because she hated me and my co-counsellor. We approached the camp management about how I did not feel safe sleeping in the same cabin as this child after these threats were made. The camp director proceeded to escort me into the forest surrounding the camp and yell at me about how out of order I was and how I wouldn’t tell him how things would be at his camp, and that I should pack my bags there and then and get the hell off his property if I didn’t like it. Additionally us international staff got paid $800 for the entire summer whereas they paid the domestic staff $5k. I WOULD NEVER GO BACK.