About Us
Grafham Water Centre has over 50 years experience of providing high quality tuition in a wide range of adventure sports for all ages and abilities.
We strive to inspire all of our customers to try something new, develop existing skills and reach their full potential whilst having fun in the great outdoors!
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.
ABOUT US
Grafham Water Centre (GWC) is an AALA licensed residential outdoor activity centre, set against the backdrop of Grafham Water Reservoir run by Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) with recognised external accreditation of AHOEC Gold Standard and CLOTC. As a Local Authority Service, we wholly subscribe to the Council's ambition of creating a greener, fairer and more caring Cambridgeshire and express its behaviours in all we do: Lives over Services, Collaborative, Creative and Aspirational, and Accountable. The centre is based in Cambridgeshire near to Huntingdon, in the small village of Perry within a quiet residential area. The site is private, enclosed, and secure and is only open to those who have booked with us.
The centre offers a fully inclusive outdoor learning experiences for schools, youth groups, individuals, and other organisations, with a 160 bed residential capacity in fully accessible dormitory style rooms; a number of our rooms and bathrooms are fully equipped to accommodate those with more significant physical disabilities and provide a sanctuary for individual escape should it be required.
As part of the residential, we provide high quality 5 star rated catering facilities, providing breakfast, lunch and dinner to meet all dietary needs.
OUR OFFER
We offer a wide variety of land and water based activities including keel boating, power boating, bush craft, problem solving, raft build, sailing, kayaking, canoeing, climbing, archery, mountain biking, and high ropes. In all this, we make links to the wellbeing and therapeutic benefits of challenging yourself in a safe and inclusive outdoor environment.
Each group is provided with a fully accessible lounge from which they are based for the duration of their stay - this is where they meet as a group during breaks, and receive briefings from their course directors and dedicated members of our instructor team.
The centre also has a fully heated sports hall with capacity for over 150 people, two large marquees and a variety of other spaces for groups to use around site.
Thank you so much to Ed but also the catering team for looking after us so well, our expectations were exceeded and the customer service was better than I have received before in high end hotels, at a fraction of the cost. I would highly recommend Grafham Water as a venue for team meetings and events.
I have been attending Grafham Jazz course since 2008, and have kept coming back to pretty much every course since. What I love most about Grafham Jazz is the friendly, welcoming atmosphere; I have made friends for life there. It is also a really safe space to try new things; after attending for many years as an experienced jazz saxophonist, I’ve recently taken up jazz singing there and have felt so supported in this new endeavour by the tutors and my fellow students! The location of the course…
We have had a wonderful time at Grafham Water Centre staying in their bell tent village! We brought a group of year 3s to 6s and all ages loved the freedom camping in the tents allowed them. They particularly enjoyed setting up their beds and belongings in the tents. They were able to move around freely, gaining lots of independence. The pods for the teachers were great and being in a more open space made looking after the children easier. Facilities such as toilets and showers were easy to…
I have been bringing groups of ladies to Grafham Water Centre for over ten years, 6 times a year to sew, knit, bead, spin and do scrapbooking. This place is heaven on earth... a place where you are warmly welcomed and looked after so well. The food is superb and plentiful and the staff are very accommodating to any dietary requests. The food is freshly served canteen style with a delicious buffet lunch with homemade soup in the winter to keep you warm. The breakfasts are legendary...better,…
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…