Grafham Water Outdoor Activity Centre Cambridgeshire

Based on the picturesque Grafham Water Reservoir in Perry, Cambridgeshire, Grafham Water Centre (GWC) has over 50 years of experience in delivering adventurous outdoor activities to primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities.

Visitors can choose from 24 activities, all lead by our team of experienced and qualified instructors. With both water-based and land-based activities, there is something for everyone!

Every year we host over 15,000 children onto our site; schools come back year after year because of the excellent experiences we provide.

Grafham Water Outdoor Activity Centre Cambridgeshire
watersports activity centre Cambridgeshire
watersports centre Cambridgeshire
outdoor activity centre Cambridgeshire

Based on the shore of the UK’s finest inland sailing venue, the Centre offers an exciting but safe environment to learn in, highlighted by the stunning natural backdrop of the 80-hectare Grafham Water Nature Reserve. The area is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Whether it’s specialised adventure sports tuition, a conference or training venue, a fun family day out or a residential or day experience for a school or youth group, we have it all, and have a proven track record of delivering successfully for over 50 years.

• AALA Licensed
• AHOEC Gold Standard
• AAIAC Adventure Mark
• Brilliant Residentials
• British Canoeing Delivery Centre
• RYA Training Centre
• Institute for Outdoor Learning
• Mountain Training
• LOtC Quality Badge

We currently offer a ‘Rocks, Soils and Fossils’ theme and a ‘Habitat Adventure’ themed visit. The visits have been designed using the National Curriculum across Key Stages 1 and 2 to create an educational experience for your learners.

We can tailor these visits to be specific to your learning objectives and include adventurous activities during your visit to combine learning with new experiences.

Furthermore, all of our activities can be linked to the national curriculum and can be built into your visit as you desire – more information about individual activities and their curriculum links can be found on our website here.

We ask that groups bring a minimum of 10 in order to make their visit feasible – the majority of our activities are acceptable for children aged 8 and upwards but we are happy to welcome younger children too for day visits and will design programs accordingly.

Depending on the nature of the visit, we do provide materials to take away.

We use NOLA (National Outdoor Learning Award) to support the development of students’ personal skills during their time with us. This is a certificate that recognises the skills they naturally develop with us. You can select this as the basis for your day with us if you wish. The certificate and log book which students are provided with can then be further worked through with us or another centre which delivers the award on a later visit.

Photography and filming is permitted – we also ask groups for photograph permission when you book with us.

We have risk assessment and insurance policy information available on our website here.

Booking enquiries should be sent to gwcbookings@cambridgeshire.gov.uk. A member of our dedicated Business Support Team will then pick it up.

Please inquire about the prices using the following email address:  gwcbookings@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Kit list for wet activities:

• Set of clothes to wear on the water, not jeans or cords, old clothing; fleeces are good
• Pair of old trainers that you don’t mind getting wet
• A swimsuit
• Suntan cream in the summer along with a hat
• No jewellery
• You will need to bring a complete change of clothing with a towel and a bin liner to put your wet clothes inside

Kit list for dry activities:

• Old warm clothing, legs and arms need to be covered
• Pair of old trainers.  You may be getting muddy
• If the weather is inclement you will need to bring along waterproof jacket and trousers
• You may get wet, so a complete change of clothes is recommended
• Hat and gloves in the winter

N.B. During some of the activities your clothes may get wet, therefore you will need at least 1 full change of clothes.  You may get wet and muddy so please pack old clothes; it is also better to bring too much warm kit rather than not enough.

All of our staff are fully first aid trained.

• Canteen
• Indoor and outdoor spaces for eating packed lunches
• Free Wi-Fi
• Changing areas
• Toilets
• Wet rooms
• Free Wi-Fi
• Kiosk for buying souvenirs
• Tea and coffee station

Our site is completely accessible, with ramps, stairlifts, bathrooms, bedrooms, and wheelchair friendly paths. We have accessible kit, enabling all of our activities to be carried out by people with varying disabilities. We have instructors with experience of working with SEN students and groups.

We are open 7 days a week given we also operate as a residential centre.

https://www.grafham-water-centre.co.uk/about-us/testimonials

“Having visited Grafham Water in a previous school, I knew when we were looking for something new for our Y6 it was the place to go to. The children love the freedom of the Bell Tent village, which offers a real camping experience (very early mornings are a must). There is a constant flow of conversation between ourselves and the centre which ensures that we always build a trip that suits our pupils’ needs. The instructors bring professionalism, enthusiasm and encouragement to all the tasks ensuring every pupil succeeds at their level. We always promise a good trip but it is the children’s reactions to the various water and land based activities that make it the most rewarding. This is always the highlight of our children’s year and quite often their school journey so far.”

Olivia Petherick, The King’s School, Ely, June 2023

“Another successful trip to Grafham Water Centre. The children enjoy working alongside such enthusiastic and knowledgeable instructors, who take into account the aims and objectives of our visit, ensuring the children are challenged to go push themselves a little bit more, whilst also having fun with their friends and trying out many new activities. The willingness to work alongside school staff and adapt to our needs, both before the trip and during, is very much appreciated.”

Andrew Hastings, Colville Primary School, January 2024

We have a Build Your Visit process, meaning that group leaders have full autonomy over the activities they would like us to deliver – we are also fully adaptable and can work with you to design a program which best suits your group, should you wish to theme it, build in revision etc.

We look forward to welcoming you to GWC!