The organisation was founded over 80 years ago in 1924 by Joseph Allnatt, a visionary and entrepreneur. He bought a dis-used aerodrome in St Mary's Bay, Kent and converted it into a Residential Centre for Schools during the summer and ran it as a Turkey farm during the winter! Today, the company owns two centres - the Chatsworth Centre in Swanage and East Dene on the Isle of Wight - two of the most popular destinations for school visits.
As members of the Institute for Outdoor Learning and Founder members of the British Activity Holiday Association we aspire to the highest standards of safety, tuition and fun! All our programmes are environmentally based with a strong emphasis on children and students learning to take responsibility for themselves and each other, and make informed observations about the world around them. Above all we believe that the Outdoors is a friendly, exciting and inspiring environment in which to learn and grow.
Just 5 minutes from the beach and 5 minutes from the coastal walk to Old Harry Rocks and Studland, the Chatsworth is ideally situated for both educational and recreational visits.
The Centre is comprised of a series of 5 former hotels, which have been sensitively converted to provide a safe and secure environment for group travel. Each building has self-contained accommodation with bedrooms, meeting rooms and lounge area. Most rooms are bunk bedded, ranging in size from 4 to 10, with a number of twin bedded rooms inter-mingled.
The whole Centre will accommodate 200 and it is usual to have a number of groups, of a similar age range, using separate blocks for accommodation and sharing the light, spacious dining room for nutritious, appealing meals. Within the grounds are a heated swimming pool, campfire and story telling site, skittle alley and hard court play area. Across the stream is a large grass area for football, rounders and other high energy games.
East Dene is a beautiful stone built mansion set in around 10 acres of woodland, gardens and play areas, with superb sea views and direct access to Monks Bay. From the first view of the sea, the space and ambience of East Dene create an atmosphere which is special memorable and inspirational.
The Mansion House accommodates the Reception, beds for up to 100, a magnificent dining Room, Conference Room and Library, beautiful lounge for adults, a magnificent room overlooking the sea which can be used by schools and groups. There is a covered walkway to the Coach House, which accommodates a further 80 beds, and has a spacious area providing classrooms and indoor activities such as Trampolining and tri-golf, but is equally suitable for Music Groups, Performing Arts and many other inspirational and group needs.
It is often said that staff are an organisation's greatest asset and that is absolutely true at Allnatt. Led by the Board of Directors, each Centre is managed by the Centre Manager, supported by an experienced Management Team. Each year we recruit an additional team of staff to provide both teaching and hospitality services. All staff adhere to the Code of Practice of the Institute for Outdoor Learning and we support staff to achieve their APIOL qualification (Accredited Practitioner).
Staff Training is intensive and on-going with senior staff following a programme of continuous professional development. We particularly support internal promotion where possible. We aim to be a centre of excellence, leading the way in the provision of innovative & inspiring programmes of outdoor learning, accessible to all people. So if you think this sounds like the right environment for you, get in touch today.
