Free To Be Kids

Who we are

Free to Be Kids is an award winning children's adventure and mental health charity supporting some of the most disadvantaged children in London to transform the building blocks of mental health via joy, adventure and the outdoors. 

We help children who've never left their area of London before lead nightwalks through the woods, kayak down rivers and camp out under the stars for the first time. And then use these experiences to help children rebuild confidence, self-esteem, resilience, key social skills, and belief in what they can achieve. Children whose lives have left them feeling different, unwanted, alone or failing, instead experience themselves as proud, brave, included, resourceful and successful. Ultimately our work helps particularly disadvantaged children change their stories about who they are, and who they can be.

Our main "Thrive Outside" programme takes particularly disadvantaged children on immersive, joy-filled week-long countryside breaks, helping them to feel wanted, valued, talented and special. For those most in need, we provide follow-on support through further programmes of small group residentials, one to one mentoring and our youth leadership programme.

Free to Be is a charity built around the core idea that people coming together with passion and commitment can achieve incredible things for vulnerable children. We are proud of our determination and can-do approach - our staff and volunteers go the extra mile, whether it's sticking with a young person through the wind and rain as they figure out a problem or learning new skills ourselves to respond to challenges as they arise. If this approach resonates with you too, we'd love to hear from you.

Our culture and values

Our core values - Joy, Commitment, Adventure, Change and Belonging are at the heart of all we do.  We believe in a hands-on approach, that small is mighty, and that impact and change for vulnerable children comes through the atmosphere of love, care, joy and possibility that we intentionally create on our projects. That atmosphere comes from our tight knit staff and volunteer community – we talk about ‘the Free to Be family’, and it’s crucial to all we do.

We’re looking for someone who wants to dive into the heart of that - who deeply values being part of something small, special and powerful. 

We believe in rewarding and supporting staff for their hard work. We’re flexible in working hours; management leads in ensuring staff take back any time owed; we close over Xmas to rest (and for Project delivery facing staff for 2 weeks in September too); we have great morale, rapport and culture across the team and we believe that’s absolutely central to our success.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We work hard to promote diversity, inclusion and equality in all forms. We have great team morale which is driven by our atmosphere of belonging, celebrating difference, inclusion and respect for all. We believe difference creates richness, and that this is fundamental to impactful work with young people who often percieve themselves as different too.