Working Life At Brathay: Imogen in the Ambleside Delivery Team
At Brathay, every role plays a vital part in empowering young people to meet challenges and unlock their potential. Whether you're working directly with individuals or behind the scenes, our mission is the same: to inspire young people build their brighter futures. The diverse skills, experiences, and passion of our employees create a lasting impact.
Imogen shares her experience as a member of Brathay’s residential team, reflecting on the variety and challenge of her role and the powerful impact of seeing young people grow in confidence. She highlights the value of teamwork, curiosity, and the opportunities Brathay provides her to learn, develop, and take on meaningful responsibility early in her career.
Hi Imogen, thanks for taking the time to tell us more about your experience of working at Brathay. What inspired you to join us?
I had always asked people about Brathay. I had just finished my traineeship, and I wanted to find a full-time job at an outdoor centre - Brathay was always in the back of my mind.
Learning about how long Brathay has been an established outdoor institution really intrigued me, and made me want to work here. Also, during the interview process, I learned and understood more about how many different types of groups we get to work with here and have a positive impact upon.
What do you find most rewarding about your role?
Seeing the positive impact in-person and watching someone grow in confidence and self-esteem over the period you’re working with them. It’s really powerful to see them realise their potential and it makes you want to do it over and over again. The young people leave feeling super proud of themselves!
I enjoy getting to work with the different teams at Brathay. The wealth of knowledge and experience you gain by talking to different people in different teams is really helpful. Whether it’s people who have worked here for decades, or freelancers who work for Brathay, they all have something you can learn from. Everyone is really nice, and they create a welcoming and open environment!
I like the range of things I get to do within my role and responsibilities - it’s much more than just delivering outdoor activities. Even though this may be more of a challenge than I was expecting at this stage of my career, I really appreciate the opportunity to have a go at designing programmes; being a client’s main contact and everything that comes along with being a course director.
What skills would you say set you up for success in your role?
Curiosity is an important skill. Listening to what an individual is telling you, showing you or sharing with you and accepting that is important. I need to be able to put myself in their shoes and not push anyone to do something they don’t want to do – the challenge by choice ethos is great!
Empathy helps me to understand as much as possible about an individual or a group and wanting to make it the best experience for them. Without curiosity you wouldn’t ask the questions that need to be asked.
I think flexibility (big one!), people skills and organisation are also really important for my role!
What is the biggest challenge in your role, and how do you overcome it?
For me, it's putting on so many different hats and moving between them seamlessly – often within a day! But most importantly, if I’m with a group, I need to be present and focus on giving them the best experience, even if that means putting everything else down for a moment.
I’m still learning, but communicating with my team is how we support each other and share responsibilities during busy periods.
What advice would you give to someone considering a role at Brathay, in the community team?
Do it! Come and join us, we’re a great team. The work we do is really exciting and the team are fun, supportive and enjoyable to work with. Being at Brathay has given me the chance to grow as an outdoor practitioner through the responsibility I’ve been entrusted with, the range of activities we deliver and the diverse young people we work with.
I feel like I’m going to keep developing because I’m constantly learning something new. Brathay as an organisation has given me so much in terms of training, upskilling and support and it’s not going to slow down anytime soon!
Interested in working with Brathay? Check out our current job vacancies and see if there's a role for you.
What's the role of a Learning and Development Consultant?
A Youth Tutor at Brathay is an outdoor and experiential learning specialist, delivering high‑quality residential and day programmes for young people from our centre at Brathay Hall in Ambleside and across the Lake District National Park.
It focuses on promoting wellbeing and developing participants’ skills, attitudes and behaviours through creative, inclusive and impactful learning experiences. Key responsibilities include programme planning and delivery, safeguarding, health and safety, equipment preparation and ongoing programme evaluation. Youth Tutors work collaboratively with colleagues and visiting staff, models professional best practice, and contributes to continuous improvement of resources and delivery approaches. It requires strong youth work experience, trauma‑informed practice, and a range of outdoor leadership and safety qualifications.
Most importantly it is about making genuine connections with young people and inspiring them to be their best selves and thrive in their communities.
Read Freya's story to see Imogen's work in action!
Learn more about our work with Schools and Youth Groups.
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