James and Dan studied Level 3 Diploma Sport and Exercise Science at Hartpury and are now Co-founders of Atlas Camps, one of the largest children's holiday club in Gloucestershire.
James and Dan's Hartpury Experience
"Hartpury holds a very special place in both mine and Dan’s hearts – not only as somewhere that set us up for the careers that we’re proud to have today – but as the place where we had some of the best times of our (younger!) lives.
On the academic side of things, Hartpury really homed in on the passion that we both held for sport and taught us in practical terms how we could transform this into a viable career, giving us the all-important building blocks upon which Atlas Camps is formed.
On a personal note, Dan and I met at Hartpury and we’re both still very close friends with a lot of the people we studied alongside, testament to the close-knit community feel that Hartpury is somewhat unique in achieving. We’re also lucky enough to call a number of them our colleagues!"
Developing Industry Connections
After leaving Hartpury, the pair pursued careers in education – James as a PE teacher at Beaufort Academy in Gloucester, Dan as a community rugby coach for England Rugby. While working in schools and coaching settings, the pair quickly realised that whilst so many children love sport, there are many who thrive in other areas; be it creatively, in the arts or with more hands-on, kinaesthetic type activities. The entrepreneurs quickly cottoned to the fact that, whilst sport-specific preferences are well catered for when it comes to entertaining children during the holidays, there were very few childcare options on offer that gave children a choice, offering a plethora of activities to empower them to choose how they’d best like to spend their days. That’s exactly how Atlas was born – redressing this balance to give all types of children choices when it came to their school holiday fun and that’s exactly what has been achieved.
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