Romsey Young Carers

08 September 2025

We were delighted to once again sponsor Romsey Young Carers to spend time in nature, away from their daily responsibilities. Young Carers are young people whose lives are affected by caring for a family member who has a long-term illness or disability. Romsey Young Carers provides safe spaces for their young carers to discuss concerns, get support and have fun.  

The first group consisted of 15-18 year olds who enjoyed their stay at Cameron’s Cottage, immersed in nature, walking, pond dipping and participating in team building games as well as a bat walk and a BBQ around the camp fire.  The bat walk was definitely a highlight.

"During my stay at Cameron’s cottage I was able to decompress around the sounds, sights and smells of nature. We had the opportunity to explore the wildlife that surrounded Cameron’s cottage and we even got to create our own fires to make hot chocolate where we used the natural resources around us.  

"Overall I had the most amazing time being able to catch up with friends and my brother expressing the love of nature and the lovely cottage stay " - Gracie 

"At Cameron's cottage I enjoyed seeing my friends and having the opportunity to relax, enjoy nature and create stronger bonds with other people. I feel it was very beneficial as I am very busy working a full-time job and dealing with lots of adult responsibilities so having the time to just not worry was great. My favourite activity was going to the lake and finding bugs and eating lots of food. I also enjoyed late night uno and playing pranks on everyone". -- Ella

"Thank you so much to everyone at the Cameron Bespolka trust for enabling us to stay at the cottage and experience its surroundings, to be immersed in nature whilst learning new skills. We felt truly enriched and recharged by the end of our stay.”

We were also so pleased to sponsor their Family Fun Day at Cameron’s Cottage. The group consisted of the parents as well as the young carers and provided a perfect place for them to spend time outside together with their parents. A highlight was the campfire where they could play games. 

"Our family day at Cameron’s Cottage was an amazing opportunity that enabled all of us to spend quality time together in a supportive environment, away from the pressures of daily life. The activities – from exploring local insect life to learning practical skills like fire-making – were good fun and encouraged enjoyment of nature. For my daughter, who has caring responsibilities, the day offered both respite and the chance to simply enjoy being a child. Experiences like this have a significant positive impact on her wellbeing, family relationships, and confidence, and I am very grateful that Young Carers had the support from Cameron’s Cottage to make it possible" - Alison

A huge thank you to the RSPB for organising such amazing activities as well as giving these young people some down time to enjoy their surroundings and friends.  

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Spending time in nature helps the young carers decompress

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Enjoying a campfire BBQ

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Team building games are integral to the exprience

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Building a makeshift shelter

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Learning how to safely build a fire at the family day

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It was a chance for the young carers to explore nature

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Romsey Young carers spend time at Cameron’s Cottage

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It was a chance to put drawing skills to the test

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Making use of the outdoor classroom

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The family day was a chance to spend quality time together

Young Writers Camp

31 August 2025

Another group of enthusiastic and creative young people arrived for the 2nd Young Writers Camp.  It was such an honour to create a space for them where they can share an interest in nature and writing.  

They were able to forge friendships with like-minded individuals, learn from experts and have time to write in the beautiful New Forest. Hosted by Emily Hunt and Andrew Millham, the weekend was a unique experience and enjoyed by all. 

"A fabulous weekend. Refreshing to spend time in nature and learn useful tips for writing. I feel much more confident about writing now, especially with so many helpful workshops."

The aim of the camp was to provide young people with the opportunity to connect with nature and enter a space where they can focus on writing and nature. This was achieved by Emily and Andrew inviting a group of inspirational authors.  They talked about the various options you had as a creative writer: do you want to become an author, a blogger, a journalist, a communicator to the public or to write government wildlife policies.  

"It has been a huge help and has given me loads more ideas and tips which will definitely help develop my writing for exams and also my future career...also getting to meet so many young, like-minded people has been the highlight of my time here."

Writing and communicating about nature, wildlife and our environment is hugely important as well as meeting like-minded young people and having the unique opportunity to speak to such experienced writers. 

Thank you to Andrew and Emily for organising and thank you to all the amazing speakers:

• Roger Morgan-Granville,
• Andrew Millham
• Stephen Moss
• Jeni
• Alicia Hayden
• Emily Hunt
• Kabir Kaul

Cameron’s Cottage has a perfect outdoor classroom.  The Cottage can sleep 19 and is a perfect place for young people to come together.

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Class in progress

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Outdoor Classroom

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Dining room, kitchen and hang-out area

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Why do you write?

Leaside Trust’s Youth Club

27 August 2025

The trip to Cameron’s Cottage is a highlight of the year for the Leaside Trust’s Youth Club. This year was no exception, with 8 young people booking their places to attend the camp.

They arrived and were greeted by the staff from RSPB and had a wonderful afternoon taking part in problem-solving games. The young people were split into pairs and one of them was blindfolded while the other had to lead them through an obstacle course or through the woods. This was a new challenge for many of the young people and some of them took to it incredibly well and very quickly while others had to think about things a little bit more and figure out that that their partner couldn't see gestures while they were blindfolded. 

"It has become apparent that the annual trip to Cameron's cottage is one of the favourites of our youth club members.”

The next activity included the spiders’ webs and a slack line and set challenges for the entire group. This really helped them to bond and gel together, and it was great to see how inclusive they were with everybody having a role to play in solving the problems. 

After an excited evening and an early night, they got up the next day and the first food team prepared breakfast before they headed out into the woods for a morning of den building. There were many different styles on display some of which were almost effective at keeping the water that the staff were pouring over the top of the dent on the outside! We left the dens up for a couple of days and over the free time the young people went and added to them or took some branches down to scavenge the materials to extend other dens and they ended up almost with a village of small houses where they played in quite happily. 

After lunch they went outside and learned how to light fires with a Flint and steel and the youngsters then used Kelly kettles to boil up water and make themselves some hot chocolate this was one of the favourite things that they did so far. 

While we still have some daylight, we headed over into the SSI to plant some camera traps in the hope of catching footage of some of the exciting and interesting animals that live in the woods around the cottage. We left them there until the final day... Unfortunately, the only thing that we caught a glimpse of was a little rat scurrying around in the undergrowth, but we did get to see some footage that other visitors had caught, and it was great to see the variety of wildlife in the area. 

This was a very busy day it turns out as once it got dark, we headed off into the forest again for a long nighttime walk with bat detectors. We managed to locate several different sites where bats were active and even caught a glimpse of 1 hunting and catching a moth in our torchlight. On the walk back they found some amazing beetles before enjoying some marshmallows by the fire. 

The next day was also equally busy, and they spent the first half until lunchtime bracken bashing in the woods. Bracken is a problem for native Woodlands as it carpets the floor and stops lights from getting through and other plants from growing. The youngsters took great delight in bashing it with sticks and breaking it down so that other things had a chance to grow. 

They spent an afternoon enjoying craft making activities using natural materials, leaves and sticks. And finally a poetry session where everyone's thoughts were put together to make a story that was read out to the whole group. 

This was followed by our final activity, which was a big, long walk around the perimeter of the woods. We saw ticks up close with a magnifying glass and even found the rest of Mr stinky (a skeleton of a deer who died there last year the skull had already been recovered and we brought most of the rest of the bones back to be reunited and put him all together again!) 

"To have the opportunity to bring our young people here and expose them to a world that many of them simply wouldn't have access to will have an ongoing and positive impact on them for many years to come.”

Over the course of the week, about half of the kids kept a journal with sketches and phrases of things that they've been up to in the week, and they even drew a map of our nature walk so they could find their way home if they got lost. 

As we have come to expect from spending time in Cameron's cottage, the activities were fantastic, and each child had an amazing time. For one or two this was the first trip away from their parents outside of a school trip, for others it was the first time being in such an environment and interacting so closely with nature. There was a noticeable difference in their willingness to help each other, work together and avoid skiving as the week progressed - testament to the benefits that they got from the activities they took part in. 

The facilities, activities, location, staff and benefits of spending time in Cameron's cottage are phenomenal. We are lucky at Leaside that we are surrounded by open space, however it is very different to being in the middle of the woods where you can hear the creatures in the nighttime and the sounds of nature drifting on the breeze. 

BTO Bird Camp 2025

02 July 2025

We've worked with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) for quite a few years now.  In fact they were our very first partner when we sponsored the first young birders camp they organised in Thetford, back in 2015.  

Today they run multiple camps throughout the UK.  These camps introduce young people to more in-depth knowledge as well as learning new skills in conservation.  Most of the participants are already keen ornithologists and conservationists and these camps are perfect for meeting other like-minded friends.  

We were therefore thrilled to sponsor the first camp to Cameron’s Cottage for 14 participants aged 13-16 years old.  BTO felt that Cameron's Cottage gave a holistic approach to connecting young people with nature, based in the heart of the New Forest.  

The young naturalists explored surveys such as Garden BirdWatch, WeBS, and BBS, and used BirdTrack to record their daily sightings. A Bioblitz – complete with pond dipping – introduced them to the diversity of taxa around the site and encouraged hands-on discovery.

Two ringing demonstrations with the New Forest Ringing Group gave the participants the rare chance to see birds up close. Licensed ringers shared their expertise, adding rich context to these unforgettable encounters.

They were thrilled to be inspired by local organisations: Wild New Forest brought extensive ringing knowledge, while Thomas and Eleanor opened up the fascinating world of Nightjars and Laura from the RSPB Cameron’s Cottage team brought invaluable insight during the Bat Walk and Bioblitz, helping to deepen everyone's understanding of the site.

They also learned about nurturing creative connections to nature. Jane from the RSPB team led a nature art and writing session that encouraged participants to reflect on their experiences, explore different ways of engaging with the natural world, and prioritise their mental wellbeing.

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Photo: Rachael Griffiths/BTO

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Photo: Rachael Griffiths/BTO

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Photo: Rachael Griffiths/BTO

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Photo: Rachael Griffiths/BTO

Spring-boarding into the busy season!

11 June 2025

Hello again! I’m Laura, I work for the RSPB and I run Cameron’s Cottage. I started working here last year and in the Autumn decided to write a seasonal update of all of my goings-on. This is edition 3, Spring!

The Cottage Chronicles will be a seasonal update, written by me, of what we’ve been up to at Cameron’s Cottage. I’ll try to include the highlights, some stories from recent groups and my general musings of what the last few months have been like.

The weather has definitely picked up since I wrote the last blog. Feb/March brought us our first residential groups of the year and since then it’s been a whirlwind of great weather and happy young people. Spring arrived in full force and it was wonderful to see the cottage and surrounding woodland come alive with wild flowers – seeing the bluebells was a particular highlight! With wall-to-wall sunshine for most of April and May, our busy season kicked off with a bang. A highlight was definitely doing a reptile survey with a group of young conservationists and finding a pair of common lizards basking in the sun.

And wildlife has been all around us! From moths to toads, goshawks to buzzards and everything in between, young people have been treated to an amazing array of wildlife.

At the start of May, we also welcomed Jayne our new Visitor experience Officer who will be delivering activity sessions to groups all through the Summer and Autumn. Jayne will be with us for 6 months and has great experience of working with children and young people both in a school setting and in the outdoors.

 It was a fun and engaging, full-on day, which concluded with me achieving the Bushcraft Assessment Level Two Qualification

A highlight for me over these Spring months was to head back into the woods and complete my bushcraft training, being assessed on the topics I had learnt and trained on last Autumn. This photo below shows the shelter, fire and pot hanger I made, all using bushcraft skills and techniques and culminated in me making myself a cup of tea right there in the woods! It was a fun and engaging, full-on day, which concluded with me successfully achieving the Bushcraft Assessment Level Two Qualification. A fabulous day on all accounts!

May has been jam-packed with several groups visiting the cottage, and while I was hoping to get this blog written earlier, I am glad to have touched the lives of so many young people, hopefully starting their journey in becoming keen nature lovers and wanting to help nature thrive where they live.

June and July are looking a little bit quieter, though bookings are still coming in for our Summer season. If you, or anyone you know might be interested in booking a stay at Cameron’s Cottage, particularly for June or July, please do use the links below for more information.

Booking a stay: https://bit.ly/cameronscottage

Volunteering with us: https://bit.ly/cameronscottagevolunteering

Until next time,

Laura

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The shelter that Laura built

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A pair of common lizards basking in the sun

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A toad

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A Moth

New Forest Young Carers visit Cameron’s Cottage

23 May 2025

We were delighted to sponsor the New Forest Young Carers to enjoy a day in nature at Cameron’s Cottage.

They spent the day engaged in numerous outdoor activities, namely collecting branches and building dens, various team building activities and whittling tent pegs and mallets (which they used to make their dens).  All activities were  brilliantly led by the RSPB.

It’s always a pleasure to see groups enjoy the beautiful peaceful surroundings at Cameron’s Cottage and we are particularly pleased to work with so many Young Carer Organisations.  Young Carers look after someone in their family with a long-term health problem or disability.  It can often be isolating being a young carer and New Forest Young Carers Organisation has a supportive team who offers them support to ensure they are well looked after.  

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Fabulous den built, can you see them hiding inside?

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New Year at Cameron’s Cottage

21 February 2025

Hello again!

I’m Laura, I work for the RSPB and I run Cameron’s Cottage. I started working here last year and in the Autumn decided to write a seasonal update of all of my goings-on. This is edition 2, Winter!

The Cottage Chronicles will be a seasonal update, written by me, of what we’ve been up to at Cameron’s Cottage. I’ll try to include the highlights, some stories from recent groups and my general musings of what the last few months have been like.

Although sunny outside today as I write this, it has been a cold, windy and rainy few months since I wrote the last blog. Cameron’s Cottage doesn’t host many groups of young people over the Winter, so it’s been strange to see the Cottage so quiet after a full-on summer! But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. With less of my time spent on planning bespoke activities for groups and delivering sessions, I can bring my focus to improving current systems and devising new plans for an improved 2025 season. In addition to many other things, I have worked on finding new volunteers to help out at Cameron’s Cottage, started planning for a sensory trail around the woodlands of Cameron’s Cottage and begun research for an interpretation wall inside the Cottage to display information around how the renewable energy powers the cottage.

My other important task this season has been to create and implement a new marketing strategy, to encourage new and repeat bookings to the cottage. This has been in the form of creating a new promotional leaflet, contacting local group leaders and organisations, visiting local careers and volunteer fairs and working with other RSPB colleagues internally for a range of media and press opportunities. Keep an eye out for a Cameron’s Cottage social media page, hopefully coming soon!

I have worked on finding new volunteers to help out at Cameron’s Cottage, started planning for a sensory trail around the woodlands and begun research for an interpretation wall

And the hard work is starting to pay off, new bookings and return visits are trickling in as the calendar starts filling up for March onwards.

A definite highlight for me over these winter months was an unexpected snow flurry, turning Cameron’s Cottage into a scene from a Christmas Card! I was totally unprepared, having left my coat behind, but being caught out in the snow was a small price to pay for a magical memory and some fabulous photos.

Now the days are getting longer, and the first signs of Spring are appearing, I look ahead to the first of this year’s groups visiting Cameron’s Cottage and making lasting memories in nature.

If you, or anyone you know might be interested in volunteering with us or booking a stay at Cameron’s Cottage, do use the links below for more information.

Volunteering: https://bit.ly/cameronscottagevolunteering

Booking a stay: https://bit.ly/cameronscottage

Until next time,

Laura

Laura enjoying the snow at Cameron's Cottage

Cameron's Cottage Residential from Leaside Trust

13 December 2024

Please read this excellent blog from Leaside Trust in Hackney after their visit in October.

It’s always such a pleasure to fund groups of young people from London so that they can experience a residential trip to the countryside and Cameron’s Cottage in the RSPB reserve, is a wonderful place for them to spend some time in nature.

Read blog post

Leaside Returns for another New Forest Adventure

New Beginnings at Cameron’s Cottage

19 November 2024

Hello everyone!

For those who don’t know me, I’m Laura, I work for the RSPB and I run Cameron’s Cottage. I started working here in June and it’s been a busy few months since then!

The Cottage Chronicles will be a seasonal update, written by me, of what we’ve been up to at Cameron’s Cottage. I’ll try to include the highlights, some stories from recent groups and my general musings of what the last few months have been like.

It’s looking very autumnal outside as I write this; and I love using nature to reflect on the recent times gone by. Summer is a busy time for all, Cameron’s Cottage included, but Autumn sees a quieter pace of life, a sense that nature is winding down, ready for Winter. Like the trees losing the last of their leaves, the Cottage has seen the last of its residential visitors for the year. But that doesn’t mean there’s not work to be done! Like busy squirrels, the Cameron’s Cottage Team are gearing up to use this quieter season to plant some metaphorical acorns - planning and preparing for next year.

Since I started at the end of June there have been 24 visits to Cameron’s Cottage, some part-week or full-week residentials and some day visits. That’s more than one group per week! Like I say, it’s been busy!

We’ve made natural shelters, whittled mallets, discovered wildlife, explored nature by night, brainstormed conservation issues, forest-bathed, partook in teambuilding challenges, cooked on the open fire, written nature poems, designed nature art and so much more.

It’s hard to pick one highlight, my role is incredibly rewarding – I love seeing young people coming out of their shell through the medium of nature. We teach them about conservation and wildlife, but what they take away is so much more than that, it’s a confidence in who they are, a strengthening of team building skills, an appreciation of conservation work and a new-found understanding of how nature improves our wellbeing. I find, for urban groups, this is most prominent. For some individuals this has been their first time in a woodland.

“As an inner-city youth organisation, a key goal is to enable young people to get out into more natural environments. It’s fantastic to be ‘off-grid’ and for the young people to learn so many new skills in a largely outdoor environment. Many of our group have never been in a forest type environment so it was helpful they learnt more about the area and how to respect the environment.”

A stay at Cameron’s Cottage is so much more than a visit to a nature reserve, it’s a time of firsts and of new beginnings for so many – myself included! It’s a blessing to watch so many young people take part in these ‘nature firsts’. Whether that’s their first time in a woodland or developing a desire to pursue a conservation career, this is how I know Cameron’s Cottage is quietly changing lives.

To sum up just how much fun we’ve had, let’s hear one young person’s take-away:

“One of the best weekends of my summer.”

Let’s hope there’s many more ‘best weekends ever’ to come!

Until next time,

Laura

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Cameron's Cottage in Autumn

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Laura investigating a hive of bees by torchlight

New Members for the RSPB Management Team

07 October 2024

We are delighted to welcome to new members to the RSPB's management team, Visitor Engagement Officer, Linda Ronald and Learning Officer, Laura Pringle.

We will let them introduce themselves:

Linda: Hi, my name’s Linda, and I’m the Visitor Engagement Officer at Cameron’s Cottage. My background is mostly in support work and welfare within the education system, from primary schools to sixth form colleges, and I began volunteering with the RSPB as a residential volunteer for five months at the RSPB Old Moor reserve in South Yorkshire at the start of this year. What a fantastic change of direction! I’ve always loved being out in nature, and have learned so much more this year through the RSPB. The more I learn, the more fascinated I am by the wildlife and habitats around us, and the more passionate I feel about protecting and promoting our natural world. I’m loving being part of the Cameron’s Cottage team and welcoming guests to this unique and peaceful space. It’s a privilege to lead sessions where young people can enjoy being active, exploring nature and experiencing the beauty and calm of the forest.

Laura: I am excited to have joined the team as Learning Officer for Cameron’s Cottage in June this year. I have been with the RSPB for 5 years, firstly as a volunteer then in as an employee working in a couple of different visitor facing roles since early 2020. I have spent the last 3 and a half years working for the RSPB in Dorset, with a large part of my time spent at Arne Nature Reserve. I enjoyed leading guided walks and family activities and doing all the behind the scenes planning this needed, but my favourite part of my role was definitely organising and delivering sessions to school groups visiting the reserve. Creating a space where children and young people could learn and begin to care for nature was the highlight of my role. Which is why I’m so excited to now be working at Cameron’s Cottage. This team has created an amazing facility and I can’t wait to continue to build on this work and grow Cameron’s Cottage and its ability to capture the hearts and minds of thousands of young people! I look forward to working with many of you and want to thank those of you I’ve already met for your warm welcome.

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Linda Ronald

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Laura Pringe