Joel's story
Joel has been volunteering with Over The Wall Camp for 11 years, and as well as giving so much, he’s gained a lot too.
In his early twenties, Joel worked several light-hearted jobs, including as a children’s actor. Later, he joined the ambulance service, building a career as a paramedic, then specialist paramedic, and now as an Advanced Critical Care Practitioner with the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Far from the fun work he did as a young adult, as Joel’s career progressed, he found himself in a very different environment. In 2013, Joel was working as a medic in Basra, Iraq.
“While I was in the Middle East, I came across a video on Twitter that somebody had made about Over The Wall Camp, a children’s charity back home in the UK. It looked incredible… so fun! It was a stark contrast from my environment at that point.”
“It was then that I realised I’d forgotten how to play, because I’d grown up a bit too much. Being able to play was a skill I no longer had; I hated that I’d lost it.”
When Joel returned home from Iraq, he applied to volunteer at Over The Wall Camp:
“I remember saying in my volunteer interview that I wanted to rediscover that playfulness in myself and that this charity seemed like a great place to do it. And then I worried that sounded selfish… maybe not a good enough reason to volunteer. But Zoe, Head of Volunteering at the time, told me, “Volunteering isn’t entirely selfless; you have to get something out of it too.”
Joel's first time at camp
That August, Joel volunteered at his first Over The Wall Camp as part of the ‘Media Crew’, engaging with the campers and capturing photos and videos of camp. After a couple of years of returning for more mischief and magic, conversations with the team opened up another opportunity. At the time, Over The Wall Camp’s clinical team consisted of doctors and nurses, but Joel showed the value of expanding the team to include paramedics.
In 2017, Joel was the first paramedic to join Over The Wall Camp’s volunteer clinical team.
Gemma, Head of Nursing at Over The Wall Camp explains the value that Joel and his fellow paramedics bring to camp:
“Having paramedics as part of our team brings a really valuable perspective to camp. They’re used to assessing situations quickly, adapting to whatever is in front of them, and caring for people in environments that aren’t traditional healthcare settings – all of which translates incredibly well to camp.
We particularly value the breadth of experience they bring to an already versatile team. Our nurses, doctors and paramedics all come with different skills and experiences, and being able to draw on that collective expertise means we can provide really safe, responsive care without the clinical side of camp getting in the way of what our campers are actually here to do – have fun, try new things and just be kids.”
Caring for campers
Paramedics are just some of the people who make camp special and enable children with health challenges to stay away from home safely.
Joel explains, “We genuinely have a multidisciplinary team at camp. And it’s all planned very carefully; if we know we’re going to have a child with a particular clinical need, we’ll make sure we have clinicians who can manage it.”
Knowing that their child’s medical needs will be taken care of gives important reassurance to parents. But that reassurance also needs to go beyond the medical things… Joel explains that despite parents providing the camp team with lots of information during their application and ahead of camp, the clinical team always check in with children and parents when they arrive: “I always ask if there’s anything else we can do to help them feel safe and comfortable at camp. It might be that they need to be tucked in at bedtime, or that they start their morning routine with a cup of tea and a chat… Whatever we can do to make everyone feel settled.”
All of this helps each camper to feel like they belong at camp, and that it’s a safe and supportive place. Every volunteer at camp contributes to that environment and the experience children have at camp. A diverse group of campers needs a diverse group of volunteers, and that’s exactly what you’ll find at camp! Joel explains, “We talk about the clinical team being multidisciplinary, but we see that across all the other volunteers as well. There are lots of different personalities and skills. We’ll have someone who can start a game of five-a-side, someone quiet and calming who’s great at talking to a kid who’s upset, someone else who can make a great friendship bracelet… It’s brilliant!”
Seeing the growth
Joel loves a lot about camp, but something that keeps him coming back is seeing the changes in the children and young people that he spends time with. “The best thing about camp is watching the changes happen in the kids. Some of those changes are in minutes, some in days, and some over years if they come back to camp several times. You‘ll see a shy kid laughing with a new friend they didn’t have half an hour ago. You might see a kid who has struggled with taking their medications come into the clinical room and glug them down straight away, then go off smiling to have more fun. The growth in these young people at camp is phenomenal. It’s very special and an incredible privilege to see and be part of it.”
Far-reaching impact
Joel’s professional life is intense. His job involves dealing with critically ill patients and some of the most serious emergencies imaginable. Having rediscovered the fun side of himself at camp, Joel now seeks out more opportunities to embrace it and feel some relief from the demands of his job; “Outside of camp, I play in a samba band in Edinburgh, and I also play sim racing and video games with my 18-year-old. So, I do have opportunities to be playful, but camp is a very different kind of environment. It’s unique… I’ve not found anywhere or anything else like it.”
The benefits of camp are even more impactful for Joel than rediscovering play and fun;
“I’ve made lifelong friends through volunteering at camp. I’m a better person because I’m involved in Over The Wall Camp. I’m happier, warmer, more smiley, more patient, and more relaxed because of the work that I get to do with this charity.”
“Volunteering at camp has been phenomenal for my clinical development too. There are things I’ve learned at camp that I simply didn’t routinely encounter in my day-to-day work as a paramedic. That includes caring for children with feeding tubes and supporting children with really complex health challenges.
It’s also gave me a deeper insight into the experience of being a patient.
Camp has made me much better at connecting with children quickly. Kids recognise play as a language, and at camp I’ve learned how to communicate in that way. Being able to develop that skill and put it into practice in my work as a paramedic has been so beneficial.
As an example, I remember a day at work when our ambulance was called out to a boy who had crashed his scooter. Instead of immediately launching into a clinical interaction, I introduced myself in a playful way. It helped me connect with him, made him and his mum relax and ultimately made it much easier to provide the emergency care he needed.”
Looking to the future
Having volunteered for 11 years, you could understand if Joel felt he needed a break, especially given the pressures of his job. But he doesn’t plan on going anywhere! Joel still sees volunteering at camp as a valuable way to spend some of his time off work; “Camp fills my soul. It’s where I rediscovered how to play. I’ll keep coming back for as long as I can.”
Joel is also excited to be part of a new chapter Over The Wall Camp, with our first-ever permanent site having opened in summer 2026. There will be new camp traditions, friendships to be made, laughter and memories to be shared, and endless amounts of mischief and magic to enjoy! Joel doesn’t intend to miss out on any of it!
“I’m really excited for the future and everything that’s still to come at Over The Wall Camp. It’s a privilege that I’m able to be part of it!”