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We create safe, enjoyable
and active camps

What Makes Pied Piper Different?

Pied Piper have been delivering excellent holiday camps for over twenty years. The thing that sets us apart is the personal touch which is a vital part of our family-run and family-centred company. We’re not just a childcare service, we’re a community of fun, learning, and growth.

At Pied Piper, our mission is clear: to create wonderful childhood memories by setting the standard for quality school holiday activity camps. Our camps are places where children have safe fun, and parents have complete peace of mind. When your child steps out of our camps, they won’t just be tired – they’ll be bursting with newfound confidence, tales of new achievements and a list of new friends.

Choosing a Pied Piper camp means diving into a world of fantastic facilities, dedicated and caring staff, and a huge range of exciting activities. A week at Pied Piper is a week of incredible fun but also develops coordination, balance, teamwork, endurance, fine motor skills, creativity, knowledge, social skills and so much more. “School’s Out,” but the learning and development continues!

Our activities cover all areas of learning, following the OFSTED Early Years Foundation stage and beyond. Led by the children and tailored by our skilled Group Leaders, each day is a unique journey of growth and play. We’re proudly OFSTED Registered, regularly inspected, and committed to the highest standards of child welfare and safeguarding.

Our success is a result of personal recommendations and the anticipation of children returning each year. But we don’t rest on our laurels – we’re always on the lookout for ways to make Pied Piper even more fantastic and to craft those wonderful childhood memories.

The Pied Piper Story

Pied Piper was founded more than twenty years ago by Donald Turnbull and Victoria Lacey. With two Pied Piper alumni of their own, they’ve poured their hearts and souls into creating an experience like no other and can still be spotted popping along to camps to see what activities the children are enjoying.

Since 2018, Charlotte, James, Sam, and Tom have taken the helm of the Pied Piper family, bringing fresh ideas and boundless enthusiasm to both the “South” and the “North.” You can regularly catch them on-site, always on the lookout for ways to elevate the Pied Piper experience.

Got suggestions? Don’t hesitate to chat or drop us an email – we’re all ears!

Meet the team

Sam O’Connor
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Sam O’Connor

Hello – I’m Sam. Along with Tom (who you’ll meet in an upcoming post) I manage several of the Pied Piper Camps and am often the person behind the emails.

My main focus is making sure the children at Pied Piper have the best time possible! Whether that be through evolving our staff training, working closely with our sites or communicating with parents/carers, their enjoyment at any camp is my top priority.

During the Easter and summer weeks, I can often be found on site playing capture the flag or den building in the woods – or I’m in the sports hall for some ‘Ball of the Dodging Bench’. I’ll also be around during the beginning or end of the day to see some of you in person and to hear all about the children’s days.

Before Pied Piper, I was teaching as a Primary School teacher which has given me invaluable experience with children, but the pull of more Yellow fun and games in the school Holidays was simply too great and I feel very lucky that I get to do this for my work.

I can’t wait to see many of you in person this year and to speak to you via email before then!

Charlotte Gill
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Charlotte Gill

Hello, I’m Charlotte and along with my husband James, I manage a variety of Pied Piper sites.

When you ring us you will likely speak to me on the phone as well as being on emails to help with any questions or queries you may have.

As a company director, I really want to ensure that the children in our care have the best time possible which is why I love being part of a small, family-run and family-centred business where we get to know our parents and children as individuals and not just as booking numbers.

During the Easter and Summer, you will likely see me on camps during registration and the children will see me throughout the day checking in as well as getting involved in the activities. During the rest of the year, I work hard behind the scenes preparing equipment, staff training and all other aspects which allow us to create ‘wonderful childhood memories’ each season.

Alongside Pied Piper, I am a fully qualified teacher with experience in both primary and secondary schools.

I also have my own little ones – Freddie, who is 3 and Elsie, who is 1. For those of you who have attended before you have likely seen me with them in carriers giving them their first Pied Piper experiences.

As a parent, I know that when you bring your child(ren) to us, you are trusting us with your most prized possession and it makes me incredibly proud to see how many children return to us year-on-year because of the trust you have in us and our staff.

I hope to see many of you at camps this year and look forward to speaking with you and meeting your wonderful children.

James Gill
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James Gill

Hi, I’m James and along with Charlotte I run a number of Pied Piper camps in East and West Sussex.

I started working for Pied Piper Activities when I was just 18 years old. Now 16 years later, it brings me a lot of joy when I interview and recruit members of staff who I used to group lead for.

Throughout the year I work on the operational side of camps and during Easter and summer you will likely find me on site, running some of the bigger activities such as tag archery and zorb football.

Alongside Pied Piper, I’m also a secondary school PE teacher so I love bringing my knowledge and passion for sports to camps and getting involved in activities alongside the children.

The thing I love most about running Pied Piper is the huge variety of activities we are able to offer and coming up with new and exciting ideas for the children to take part in each season.

Looking forward to seeing many of you this year!

Tom Blandford
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Tom Blandford

My main role is to get our staff ready to make each day super special for the children on camp. This ranges from building links with local schools, colleges and universities, interviewing new staff and leading staff training. I am known to have made a few favourite games on camp, from endless dodgeball to Red Rover.

When we are up and running I’ll be driving around Sussex and Kent to make sure our camps are always full of paint, freddos and plasters!

While on camp I use the skills I have developed as a secondary teacher in London to coach our Team Captains and Group Leaders to make sure the camps always meet our (and your) extremely high standards.

I look forward to seeing you all on camp and I know our staff team are excited to get started in yellow!

Sarah Palmer
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Sarah Palmer

Hello – I’m Sarah.

I have been working with children for the last 10 years and have been very lucky to be part of the Pied Piper team for the last 5 years. My role is to ensure our early years children have the best time at Pied Piper!

As well as Pied Piper, I am a fully qualified primary school teacher with early years expertise. I love to bring my passion for play and the joy of imagination to Pied Piper.

On camp you’ll often find me joining a bear hunt, creating magical story sticks in the woods or racing on to the obstacle course!

I feel very lucky to be a part of a family centred business and always look forward to not only meeting all of the new children but welcoming back returning families each year.

I am looking forward to creating ‘wonderful childhood memories’ with your children this Easter and Summer season!

Ofsted Registration

Pied Piper is registered as a childcare provider with OFSTED and our OFSTED registration numbers can be found on each of the site pages.

"Henry has had a wonderful time. I don’t know exactly what he has been doing as he is too tired to speak!"

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