ISSUE #8

SOLIHULL

THE SOLIHULL town

of Smaller Earth’s USA

Summer Camp office,

lies nine miles from

Birmingham city centre

is a more tranquil setting

than the bustling city

nearby.

Notwithstanding that, it has a

pedigree and charm distinctively

all of its own with a collection of

both famous sons and daughters,

including musician and poet Nick

Drake, Tony Martin, the former

lead singer of Judas Priest,

actress Felicity Kendal and 1990s

rock band Ocean Colour Scene.

The red sandstone parish church

of St. Alphege dominates the

town landscape and dates

from 1220 and is a large and

handsome example of English

Gothic church architecture, with a

traditional 168ft spire.

Unlike Birmingham, the Industrial

Revolution largely passed Solihull

by and until the 20th century

Solihull remained a small market

town.

SOLI

HU

LLIn 1901, the population of the

town was just 7,500. However,

by the 1960s, the population had

grown to more than 100,000,

due in part to the development

of Birmingham Airport and

large housing developments

by Brummies, as they call

themselves, keen to live out of

the city.

Solihull is also the home of the

four-wheel-drive car manufacturer

Land Rover’s main production

plant and a number of other

major companies. The village of

Meriden was the famous home

of the Triumph motorbike factory

from 1942-1983.

Whilst Solihull itself has no

university, there are five

universities within 16 miles of the

town; three in Birmingham and

two in Coventry. However, Solihull

College, formerly known as the

Solihull College of Technology,

offers several foundation degree

and full degree courses. It is

this catchment which positions

Smaller Earth right at the heart of

student life.

Director Kier Bates said the USA

Summer Camp company was

set up because those involved

felt they could do the camp

experience better.

He said:

“We knew that we could offer great service, there was room in the market for us and we LOVED camp! And with a lot of hard work, late nights and stress USA Summer Camp became a success.”

The firm was thriving on its

success, when those involved

met up Chris Arnold, and as they

say, the rest is history!

“We’re very proud to be able to work in our home town, live the camp dream and offer so many great jobs for so many cool people.

As a company set up to help people go to camp and live the camp dream, we have ended up giving jobs to so many amazing

people and even better letting them re-live their camp dream whilst staying in the industry.”

The office, which is now in its

seventh year, is growing year on

year both in terms of placement

and staff.

Kier explains:

“The vibe in the office is incredible; a little bit like camp! We love having fun and we tend to never take ourselves too seriously and we obviously work hard. They are the key ingredients to making things work so well.

We’ve a happy office, fun kids and in many ways it’s like re-living my youth, well now that I’m getting on a little bit!”

Team worker Lauren Turner adds:

“I think everyone gets on so well because we hire people based a lot on personality, as well as ability. It’s great to see people socialise together as well as work in the same office. Work for me was always boring before summer camp.”

Kier adds:

We’re excited about the future. We have big plans still and growth to be made, after all realistically we’re still learning the market place and technology evolves.

The one sentence which sums up our office is that it is loud, fun and friendly, with more than a few smiles on our faces!”

MEET THE TEAM

KIERBATES

LAUREN TURNER

Director Team Member

I’m just a quiet family

man who keeps himself

to himself. I have two

amazing sons who are

too young for camp at

least for the time being!

I did all my travelling

when I was young

(younger!). I’ve been

to over 50 camps,

worked in Greece

and travelled across

Thailand, Australia, New

Zealand, Fiji and the

United States. Some of

my future plans include

wanting to go on safari

and swimming with

sharks.

A fun fact is that I am

actually titled as ‘Sir’; so

Sir Kier Bates. No need

to bow in front of me

though :-)

Prior to working for USA

Summer Camp I had a

variety of jobs working

at music venues whilst

still at university.

I graduated from

Staffordshire University

in 2012 with a degree

in music, journalism and

broadcasting. I started

with USA Summer

Camp in 2013 after

working at camp for the

first time.

I was interviewed by

Pat and by Kier and

basically talked their

ears off about camp

and what an incredible

experience I had had.

At camp I teach horse

riding, which I’ve been

doing for about ten

years.

I love my job because

talking about camp is

my favourite thing!

I’d love to experience

working in a different

country and want

to learn as many

languages as I can.

A largely unknown

fact about me is that I

was on my university’s

cheerleading team

for two years and

we competed in

competitions in the UK!

KELLYYEWER

OLIVIA SEWELL

Team Member Team Member

I have worked with USA

Summer Camp since

September 2013. Prior

to working for Smaller

Earth, I spent seven

years working at camps,

including living and

working in Minnesota

for 18 months as a

camp director with the

Girl Scouts.

My prior-to-camp years

also included working

at leisure centres and a

health club.

A fun fact about me

that not everybody

will know is that I have

two German shepherd

dogs, one of which is a

police puppy Aza that I

foster up to a year old.

Recently, I helped out

at the West Midlands

Police display team

at Crufts Dog Show,

at which, me and Aza

were featured in the

main arena! Equally,

you’ll be pleased

to know that I was

supporting USASC

apparel for the show on

the final day!

I am one of two

apprentices in the USA

Summer Camp and

I’m super excited for

my first summer camp

experience!

My aim is to see as

much of the world

as possible, things

like resort work, au

pair, summer camp,

volunteering etc., are all

things I’m interested in

experiencing.

I’m currently setting

up a blog on a whole

range of different

topics, and hopefully

it will act as a travel

diary of all my different

experiences.

I love blogging

because it contains

all my favourite things

including photography,

videography, writing,

creativity and social

media.

MEET THE TEAM

KIERAN HOWES

REBECCA FAWELL

Team Member Marketing Manager

Before I started work

at Smaller Earth I was

employed as a trainee

chef at a variety of

venues up and down

the country. And while

I really enjoyed it, I

decided to leave it

because the hours

were pretty unsociable.

I wanted to do

something new and that

is why I started working

for USA Summer Camp

- I’ve really enjoyed

right it from day one!

A not so well known

fact about me is that

I am Pat’s mentor in

business and that I can

also speak German,

very badly!

I am originally from

Cardiff and moved to

Birmingham in 2011

to start my degree in

English literature and

drama, at Birmingham

University.

While I was at university

I was part of a society

that organised a

charity music festival

call ‘Vale Festival’

(www.valefest.co.uk),

which is held on the

grounds of the student

accommodation at the

start of summer. So far

the festival has raised

more than £100,000 for

a number of different

causes including cancer

care, children and

patients with mental

health issues.

I designed the logo and

promotional images for

both 2013 and 2014. I

was also the president

of the society in my

second year and the

festival in that year

raised £16,000 for

mental health charities

Students Against

Depression and Young

Minds.

ALEX BAGNALL

DANIELLE REYNOLDS

Team Member Team Member

I studied history and

politics at Manchester

University before going

to work at USA Summer

Camp.

The best part of

university life for me

was the freedom, so

after graduating I went

to camp and worked

at Indian Head for two

summers.

My first summer I was

a swimming instructor

and in my second I was

a group leader.

A fun fact about me is

I’m planning on doing a

gap year in Canada this

summer on a working

holiday visa.

I am currently one

of the apprentices

in the office but am

getting really excited

about working my

first summer at Camp

Mariah, which is part of

the Fresh Air Fund.

One of my long-term

career goals is to work

with underprivileged

children in different

countries across Africa

and Asia.

A fact about me is that

last year I raised more

than £5,000 for Marie

Curie Cancer Care. I did

a sponsored trek across

the Sahara Desert in

which I walked up to

eight hours a day. It

was difficult but a really

overwhelming and

rewarding experience.

I also was in the top 1%

of UK fundraisers for

the year 2014.

MEET THE TEAM

SEANNASH

JORDAN HARDY

Team Leader Team Member

I first applied to go to

camp in 2009 with

Camp America. Since

then, I have worked at

Willoway Day Camp for

the past six years.

I joined USA Summer

Camp in 2011 after

completing my second

summer and wanted

to help others have

an easier and more

customer service based

journey to camp.

Before I worked for

USA Summer Camp,

I was employed at

Nando’s for nearly four

years and attended

Birmingham City

University to study

television technology

and production.

I am headed back to

camp in Michigan for

my seventh summer in

June.

I have been involved in

scouting since I was a

six-year- old and have

been volunteering

since turning 18.

My scout group was

recently awarded the

prestigious Queen’s

Award for Voluntary

Service. It is given to

only one scout group

a year, and is the

equivalent to the MBE.

It’s an achievement I am

very proud of being a

part of.

Before working for

USA Summer Camp,

I worked for Royal

Caribbean International

as on board as a

youth leader. I’ve been

working with children

for more than nine

years and I am about to

start my ninth summer

at Kenmont & Kenwood

Camps in CT.

I studied at the

University of South

Carolina for one year

in 2009. It was a big

sports school, which

was perfect for me.

I’m actually an avid fan

of the New England

Patriots but always

support South Carolina

in college football and

basketball.

Not a lot of people know that I can create really authentic animal noises, so next time, ask to hear my impression of a dolphin!

MATTOATES

LYNDON ASHWORTH

Team Member Team Member

Before starting my

employment at

Smaller Earth, I was

at university, studying

sports science. I was

the manager of a

under-11’s football team

for three years. I first

met Jordan at camp

in 2012 at Kenmont

Kenwood and we’ve

been friends ever since.

I started working for

USA Summer Camp in

September 2014 and

I’d like to progress

and one day become

a sales director of a

global company.

If I wasn’t working for

USA Summer Camp, I

would like to be either

an actor or manager of

Nottingham Forrest.

My unknown fact it

that I once went to

an open audition at

Granada Studios in

Manchester, and after

they had whittled 60

people down to the

final five which included

me, I bottled it and

didn’t return to the final

audition.

I have worked in

many roles before

starting with USASC,

these include

nursing assistant on

a psychiatric ward, a

quality controller at a

carpet company and

running the best pop

aisle supermarket

Morrisons has ever

known. In fact I was

known as ‘pop idol’. I

worked at Sherwood

Forest camp in Missouri

for nine summers and

my roles have included

head of waterfront,

village director (division

leader), program

director and assistant

director.

I spent the summer

of 2014 at Kenmont

Kenwood and helped

with the programming. I

am fluent in French and

have the gift of wit in

abundance!

Smaller Earth’s effort to impact on the lives

of up to 20m people by 2020 is picking up

apace as one of its home grown projects

Another Level helps identify future

business entrepreneurs across Merseyside.

The European match funded project is SE’s

initiative to tease out all those people with

great ideas who struggle for one reason or

another to bring them to fruition.

The project itself is being masterminded

by Mark Hodgson, who has for the past few

months been working with dozens of people

who might have a business idea whether it

be setting up a business involving a red and

white hearse for use by soccer fans to take

them to their final resting place or someone

who wants to offer beauty treatments that

are currently unavailable in and around

the city of Liverpool.

Mark explains: “The challenges we have

got in helping them set up a business are

numerous. That is the journey, and that

journey can take anything from a couple

of weeks to one year, or depending on the

complexity of the business, anything up to

ten years.

“The European Union says in the beginning

to run the start up programme, you have

to give 12 hours support and then they can

start a business. Now in reality, we have to

be careful about the messages we put out

there because some might need one hour

whereas others might need 20 hours.

“Someone might come in and say, I have

this business plan and ask if they are in the

right ball park. So we say ‘yes’ you are and

we engage them and say next time come

and have a chat and they don’t come back.

That’s it, that’s all that they needed.

“Essentially, they just needed for someone

else, not their mum not their brother, to say

okay, you have it right, just keep going.”

One of the major factors involved with any

business is for budding entrepreneurs

to figure out whether anybody really is

interested in the service they are offering

so Another Level through its experienced

business mentors can help keep those

seedling ideas in full view with a smattering

of reality thrown in.

As Mark explains: “A really big issue is

for us to make sure that this is a personal

journey. Our task is in how we inspire them

to get to the place where they can start

trading, rather than say this is business,

you are either in or you are out.

“Now we understand what doesn’t work

and we understand what might work,

so we often can hedge their bets on what

might work. It’s like a piece of theatre in

that you have to see all those different parts

and carefully play it to give them the best

l unching

Mark Hodgson, Programme Manager

chance they have of succeeding.”

Make no mistake the project has been a

major challenge for the Another Level

team, given that they were the junior

partners working alongside some of the

city’s biggest institutions, businesses and

Liverpool City Council, to help transform

the hopes and the dreams of the next

generation of aspiring business people.

“A five week campaign was started last

May and from that we had about 80 people

who came along from a huge spectrum.

And what we did at the time whether they

had a challenging idea or a fantastic idea,

we gave them the opportunity to move

forward with that through workshops.

“If it was the right place for them then we

gave them a high flying mentor to provide

support to get it going. Now, if it’s a longer

process and they are not ready for that, we

will set tasks or challenges, or as I jokingly

call it, homework, so they can go and test

that idea.

“So for example, a guy came in and wanted

to design caravans and he wanted to sell

the designs to caravan companies. Now

the first bit for me was to think, these

companies probably had a department

that do that. So I said before you set up a

company go along to caravan conventions

and speak to the head of the company

and ask if they might buy it. Because if it’s

a shutdown no way whatsoever, then do

something else.

“At the same time, I am really conscious of

people coming in with ideas that probably

won’t work and if I bluntly tell them that

then they will disengage. So you have got

to go through that process with people, let

them discover it themselves but at the same

time being honest and let them do that as

quickly as possible.”

Mark also recognises that in moving

forward on this project a more focussed

and less scattergun approach is ultimately

yielding a much higher percentage of

entrepreneurial talent to his door.

“We now do a lot of work with Liverpool

Community College and St Helen’s

College and 99 per cent of them are

undergraduates. We will work with 2,000

people to do that and they will ultimately

feed in to the start up program.

“The first year created a platform, not

necessarily in terms of results but in

allowing us to get ready for our second

year where the numbers of young people

with business start up ideas are increasing

month on month.

The current program has set its targets

high but it is expecting it will yield an

additional 500 jobs across the region by

2020.

Mark adds: “Just like with all the Smaller

Earth programs, at Another Level, if

someone has got the spark then we can

ignite it.”

Another Level launch event, Church House, Liverpool

Another Level event, Lox & Caper, Liverpool

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