Tuesday 24 March 2009

Over the Wall

As part of Capita Symonds’ commitment to promoting and delivering a Sustainable and Responsible Business, a team from the Procter Street office is currently supporting the Over the Wall charity by undertaking a preliminary cost review, environmental assessment and design development on a pro bono basis to assess the feasibility of a permanent camp for the charity in the UK.

Over The Wall is a UK charity providing residential activity camps for children and young people affected by serious and terminal illness. It is the only residential camp provider in the UK and is modelled on Paul Newman's renowned ‘Hole in the Wall Gang Camp’ that operates in North America.

The Oscar-winning star of films such as ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ and ‘The Sting’, Newman created the camps as places where kids could escape the fear, pain and isolation of their daily lives and, according to the man himself, “….kick back and raise a little hell.”

Over The Wall provides a facility for children aged 8-17 to use during Easter and Summer Holidays. The children are all at different stages of their illness and the charity aims to give them a chance to have fun among others with similar experiences. The Charity aims to provide places for as many children as possible and already runs a number of camps each year at venues in Dorset, Shropshire and Perthshire.

The charity is now entering its tenth year of operation in the UK and has been renting facilities for its week-long camps, mainly via public schools during non-term times. However, as the demands for its services continue to grow, the charity has decided that it’s time to look at building their own base camp, similar to the ‘Hole in the Wall’ camps built in North America.

Capita Symonds’ Managing Director, Jonathan Goring, has also recently become a trustee for the charity.


Find out more about Capita Symonds' Sustainable Responsible Business (SRB) strategy