Inside Out Bushcraft & Adventure

Even with the weather we have had this week, being out in the woods at the moment is breathtaking. Working year-round in this job teaches you a lot, but if there is one takeaway above all else, it’s to celebrate every kind of weather.

Yesterday we were sitting in the kitchen as a massive storm rolled right over the top of us. It rained, it hailed, and it absolutely cracked with thunder. The timing was perfect; South Wootton Junior School had just left, leaving us to simply enjoy a coffee and some very well-earned custard creams.

It’s a great reminder for when life politics, life stresses, and the general busy-ness of life kick in - that actually, none of those things matter; nor are they permanent. Everything recovers, everything heals, and nature always leads by example.

Okay... that's us feeling very spiritual and connected. Hope you're all enjoying your week.

~ Photo's courtesy of Inside Out's Laura 😉

It's back... 💦

While so much of what we do is focused on traditional bushcraft and comfortable woodland living, we love it when that deep, hands-on crafting mixes with pure adventure.

From the adrenaline rushes of our February expeditions to the thrills of our onsite Slackline Challenge, Archery, paddle sports, and beach trips - we love keeping things moving.

But while those are all staples of our camps, there is one massive highlight that only returns between May and August for school residentials and our Summer Camps (we still have some spaces left for weeks One, Two and Three - but week four is all sold out).

Our in-house assault course: 4 💥

Refurbished and ready to roll for another summer, 4 (Wet & Wild) returns for its first outing this weekend, giving our Outcrafters the very first bash at setting the leaderboard times for 2026.

The challenge? A four-part course (as the name suggests! 😂) giving everyone three opportunities to nail their best run:

💥 1. The Camo Tunnel: A 15-metre-long crawl built like an old mine shaft. The higher you go, the narrower it gets - definitely not the place for disco hips.

💥 2. The Soup Swing: An imbalanced rope swing over a delicious, murky woodland "soup".

💥 3. The Slippery Pole: If you're still dry by this point, it won't last. A 3-metre crawl where hands and knees are a must, featuring brutal time penalties depending on exactly where you fall off!

💥 4. The Slide & Rope Climb: It’s actually a benefit to be soaked by this stage, as you throw yourself down the water slide, scramble to your feet on the flat sheet, and haul yourself up our newest addition - the slippery rope climb to the finish line.

Stop the clock by ringing the bell! 🔔

This course is always absolute chaos and brilliant fun. With the leader board (4 Board) officially active from this weekend, the game is on. The top ten times on the board at the end of August will all win a prize; but every run of the course is designed to be great fun!

As for what those prizes are? Comment with '4' and we'll let you know... 😉

Recognising the power differences...

Staging a rebellion as the algorithms are going to try and shut this down, as the social media gods are going to see these as posters, rather than heartfelt and masterful pieces of work by young people - so let's break the algorithms tonight and celebrate the differences in how we all share information 💪🤪

We absolutely love the variety in how both Bushcraft and learning can be shown in young people. Each person brings a different approach, different ideas and a different way of learning; it forces us to adapt, to seek out variety and to constantly deepen our understanding as instructors and as learners!

We've intentionally left these un-named tonight; but each young person took it upon themselves to share what last week's Trailblazer meant to them. And each is a celebration; from the young person who took complete charge of two and a half pages of writing, and still then came up to us and said - "I wanted to write more, but ran out of time"; to the thought-provoking mind map of words that captures the incredibly deep meaning of the expedition to them. For some, pages of writing is completely intimidating - but a handful of perfectly chosen words can carry just as much power, grit, and raw emotion.

Then we have the vibrant poster proudly shouting about the incredible £10,000 raised for Winston's Wish and Cancer Research UK; and in a very 'true to character' style, made 'Thank you!' a core part of the message.

And finally, we have those who simply took the time to find us on Friday night to express in their own spoken words how much it meant! All these are valued and appreciated, all of these are huge - and to see young people embracing it, is brilliant.

The footprint of Trailblazer is still so hugely powerful, and we know it is going to empower us for months, if not years to come.

Let's get these incredible creations seen!!

A different kind of celebration tonight... And a different kind of pride! 💪

These are just some of the faces, that in one way or another, have dedicated time to Inside Out. This isn't time they have to give, they have chosen to give it... out of passion, pride and love for their craft.

They're of course not the only ones that do this, nor are they by any distance the youngest. But these faces, in one capacity or another, are some of the faces that make up the voluntary team here... whether they joined us for a week's work experience, a Duke of Edinburgh placement, or as part of a structured progression toward joining our staff team, they all have a huge impact that we are so grateful for.

We are incredibly proud to offer a route into employment for young people that have shown the passion, the skills and truly understand the mission behind Inside Out; but of course, working in an educational and adventure industry means that young people cannot take responsibiity until 17. Instead, they they volunteer for the first year, gaining skills, training and experience that only a volunteer sometimes can - seeing the reality behind wearing the shirt - before truly ever taking it on board.

It is a scheme we are incredibly proud of - but only because of the inspirational young people that embody it and always, without fail, bring it to life.

So tonight we join many others this week in celebrating our volunteers - both the ones we can find photos of and the ones that we celebrate, picture or not 😂 (note, we have noticed the lack of photos, and we're now on a mission!)

Our family open days are not only a great chance for some hands on bushcraft experience, but also to try out some of our more 'adventure' based activities too🔥

Our Slackline challenge is an ever-evolving course, packed with a monkey bridge, tree net, and a zip line to finish. With the time trials reset ahead of the Summer season, our family open day on the 20th of June is the perfect time to come and have a go; and maybe even set the time record to beat👀⏳

Please see the comments for further information ⬇

Okay... we promise we will stop harping on about last week... but tonight is not that night! 😂

It might sound a bit confident, but these adventures are what we do. Admittedly, not usually on this kind of scale or over this kind of distance; with DofE, expeditions, and the bushcraft itself, so much of last week was right up our street!

But there was a social mission behind the camp: to raise awareness in young people about the relationships with one another. These photos are living proof of that. They show amazing examples where age gaps were simply forgotten, and children as young as 10 and as old as 15 just got on as friends, teammates, and equals.

Each night saw a challenge built around social and emotional development. If we're completely honest, it was the bit we were most nervous about. Whilst it is woven into the fabric of what we do, we normally deliver it naturally as part of a wider programme rather than as discrete, standalone focus areas. But with a genuinely personal drive behind this mission, we planned for some activities and just hoped they'd work 🤞

Night One: A challenge about trust, where children blindly chose and followed the advice of a trusted advisor to navigate a minefield. Touch a mine, and their protector had to leap into action to defuse it. Some mines, however, had a dead man's switch, meaning the saviour took the penalty instead (which, in this case, meant a bucket of ice-cold water 💦 ).

Night Two: We looked at respect, and how both trust and respect can be so easily lost. This time, they lost the ability to speak. Teams had to put up tarps in total silence, relying on each other to be the pegs and anchors. Whilst the message was deep, it was absolutely hilarious to watch!

Night Three: Wednesday night was where discussion took centre stage. The children discussed the things they wanted to say, but sometimes just didn't or couldn't (let's face it, we all have those moments). It was a hugely powerful and empowering evening that saw so much personal growth in every single child on camp.

Night Four: Harping back to Wednesday's discussions, this gave campers the chance to craft something to gift. It didn't cost anything. Instead, we looked at how little gestures, checking in with someone, making a cup of tea, or simply taking the time to craft and gift, can make people feel genuinely appreciated and noticed. It was beautiful to hear who they were making these for, and to see them gifting them to other children on camp too!

The feedback from the young people genuinely blew us away about these challenges. Hearing from children of all ages, including the teenagers, about how it made them really think and how much they took it on board was incredible 💪 we repeat again, inspirational!

Once again, we find ourselves saying it: this was a massive week, and one we are so very grateful for ❤️🏕️

You could call this... a photo dump!! Not something we can do on Instagram!

As always, a massive thank you to all the team for constantly snapping away. Admittedly, this does make going through them a treat, as the problem with 'spamming' the button, is that some are less than flattering🤣 As always, and you'll be able to tell which ones they are, thank you to Inside Out's Laura C for some beautiful photography!

But there are also some absolute gems in there. Here are nearly 80 of those now.

No other words needed tonight... we'll of course be chatting more about everything that happened over the last week, and also looking forward to some amazing adventures to come this summer... for now, we'll let you get captured in the moments that these have captured!

Including the offline funds currently being tallied up, our total has just reached an incredible £9,858! 😲🔥✨

​This is a genuinely breathtaking figure, and we are so incredibly grateful to every single one of you who has supported us.

Can we hit £10k in donations? 🤔🏕️

​With the finish line in sight, we want to give this one final push. Today saw an increased demand for our remaining summer camp spaces. So, to get us over the line: if you book a camp space this weekend, we will take £10 from your booking and donate it directly to our charities. If you've already booked a camp, and book another, we'll put £20 .... Let's see where we get!! 🤪

​(And yes, this absolutely includes the brilliant bookings we’ve already received today! 🤩🌟)

​Of course, if you just wish to donate directly without booking a camp, the donation links are still open.

​Thank you all for the amazing support. Let’s see if we can make it to that £10,000 milestone together!

​See the comments below for links 👇😍🤩

Update...
The website may have had a moment there, and the camp booking page disappeared. You were not imagining it - fastest rebuild of a product on record 🤣

A huge shout out to this amazing, amazing group!!!

We cannot possibly fit the full weight of this week into a single post. To read the reflection of what happened out there and across Norfolk this week, please head over to our website for the full reflection.

Read the full story here: www.insideouted.co.uk/trailblazer

We went into this week knowing it was going to be powerful, but the reality is that it has completely changed us all.

Before the Trailblazer Camp started, we likened it to our 10K Camp of 2024. In truth, it was nothing alike. It became a movement, a mission, and a life-changing journey across Norfolk for 27 truly inspirational people.

Through some of the hottest weather on record, they hiked 42 miles, established new camps from scratch every single evening, cooked meals, and faced deep, reflective challenges based on trust, respect, and gratitude. It should have been exhausting, but living this nomadic lifestyle for a week felt like a return to something deeply rooted in our DNA. It just felt so 'right'.

To Cameron, Barney, Alfie, Chuck, Luke, Florence, Verity, Ellie, Joshua, Finley, Lara, Lexi, Charlene, Angus, Joseph, Jacob, Dexter, William, William, and Finley - you have left an permanent footprint on our hearts and souls. Watching you support each other irrespective of age gaps (including decades 😂), and seeing you run to embrace your families at the finish line, is something we will never forget.

This mission was fuelled by something raw, deeply personal, and very close to home. To our incredible team and the parents who trusted us completely in these extreme conditions - thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We have a lot of photos and videos to share... watch this space.

Read the full story here: www.insideouted.co.uk/trailblazer