Working for Angloville in Poland

Having recently finished my tenth programme with Angloville in Poland, I feel I am now suitably experienced to write representatively about my experiences with the company. Since completing my first programme in 2019 I have worked as both a volunteer and as a member of the paid team; I have worked on junior, adult and family programmes and been based in seven separate hotels around Poland.

I have made many friends across this period whilst working for Angloville, many of whom still play a role in the organisation. The programmes have also allowed me to build a network of many contacts, both within Poland and all over the world having met people from every continent.

I recall when I first came across Angloville back in 2019 through a Facebook advert and I doubted its legitimacy. The opportunity was to stay in a three-star hotel, with all food included and the only expense to me being the costs of getting to the programme in the first place. With my summer already filled with other summer camp commitments in the UK and Romania I only had one week spare and decided to give it a chance. Worst case scenario, if it had been a scam, was that I would have had a week to explore Poland alone.

That did not turn out to be the case and in fact I enjoyed the camp enough that I have returned at least once every year since, including working as a member of the paid staff during the summer of 2020.

The fact that I have returned so many times should be telling enough and clearly I enjoy working with Angloville. Indeed, it really is a fantastic opportunity to meet a lot of new and interesting people and experience a new country and its cultures simultaneously, all whilst spending very little money.

The days can be intense for some, particularly on understaffed weeks - which this year I found to be increasingly common - with volunteers involved in up to eight separate conversation sessions per day and also expected to join in games and evening entertainment when not involved in these one-to-two speaking sessions.

I have always been of the opinion that if you come out of the end of a summer camp - any camp, not just Angloville - not feeling at least a little bit exhausted, then you probably didn’t make the most of the experience. Sure, the days are long, but the more you engage, the more you take away at the end of the camp. That being said, if you are not mentally prepared for the intensity of a camp then it can come as a bit of a shock to the system.

One thing that helps you get through the long days is often the people you work with. I have already mentioned how many great people I met over the years with Angloville and by building strong teams of like-minded people you get through the experience together. Often, in fact, despite the long days, once the children have gone to bed many a night is spent talking or playing cards into the early hours, despite the sensible choice being to go and rest.

Some teams are better than others and sometimes you - naturally - just don’t connect as well with some people compared to others. The best teams feel like family, others - although never terrible in my experience - are more like cordial work acquaintances.

A similar spectrum can be found with the hotels. None are bad - and people have differing favourites - but you will fall in love with some locations far more than others. A lot of this depends on what features you prioritise; for example, Niegocin is a hugely popular choice of hotel for its stunning location sat on a beautiful lake in the famous Mazury region, however the food is amongst the worst of the hotels I visited. If you can live with basic food - particularly at dinner times - then it offers an incredible experience. I have overall enjoyed every hotel I have been based at, for a variety of reasons ranging from food, location, the hotel rooms or the outdoor spaces available.

On the topic of locations it is important to note that during and between programmes there is very little opportunity to actually see Poland itself, despite the websites claim to ‘discover’ new countries. During the programmes one is based in the hotels which are almost always located remotely, far from any towns or cities of any real size or significance. Between programmes there is just one evening which allows little to no time to see anything, particularly if most of that time is spent travelling between cities. If one actually wants to see the country on their trip, then I suggest leaving time before or after the programmes to do this, as whilst volunteering you will see very little.

For me, the biggest negative of working for Angloville, in my experience, is the bureaucratic and impersonal nature of those who organise the camps. Firstly, I know multiple people who work in the main office and they are wonderful, friendly and incredibly dedicated people and it is not about those I refer to. Rather, it is the people you find on the end of the phone when calling the company.

To give an example, this year I had the opportunity to come back to work in a paid role but was unable to commit enough time for it to work out. Instead I chose to return as a volunteer for a few weeks anyway, since I have always enjoyed the camps. At this point it was insisted that I pay a deposit and more ridiculously, provide a reference! I avoided being petty and the temptation to suggest that they send a reference to themselves about my past employment, but it was just one of multiple times I felt the impersonal nature of those involved in the organisation of the camps. Whereas in Romania, for comparison, the owner of the camp there made all the staff feel like family - myself and Ailin even stayed in her house at one point - here I was made to feel like no more than a commodity or a number on a spreadsheet.

However, I do not want to end this post on a negative note as I do think Angloville offers a great opportunity and would recommend it to the right person. Fortunately, one interacts little with these people and those who work more hands-on with the camps are almost always fantastic people. The staff, the other volunteers, and especially the Polish participants - children, teenagers and adults alike - are almost always wonderful to work with and I have enjoyed the vast majority of my time working with Angloville in Poland.

Whilst I might well have finished my last programme, since I feel I have taken everything I can from the experience, I would suggest any adventurous and sociable person to consider giving it a go. Whilst you're at it, you can also find the time to explore a beautiful and interesting country.

Posted: 20/07/2022

Written by: Tom Taylor (@tomtayloor)