About Us

At A Wilderness Way, our holistic care, education and health programmes prepare children with the wellbeing, self-esteem and independence they need to move into their futures with optimism and confidence.

Our children experience the support of our dedicated teams, the safety and tranquility of our beautiful homes, and specialist care which is built around their needs and goals for the future. Our intensive support enables children to develop positive relationships, learn, enjoy and achieve, and build the foundations for a positive future.

Our History

We began as a short-term, mobile service offering children a ‘wilderness experience’ in the remote countryside of Cumbria and southern Scotland. The children who came to Wilderness were in crisis and were in need of a place of safety, where the beauty and tranquillity of nature gave them room to breathe, and where outdoor activities offered adventure and fun and helped to build their self-esteem and confidence.

This unique combination of safety, support and adventure had a life-changing impact on the children we looked after, and we built the children’s homes that we have today on these foundations.

AWW Today

Today our children’s homes provide a warm, safe and therapeutic environment which allows children the opportunity to grow and develop and to re-frame their beliefs about what to expect from themselves and from others.

Safety

Our homes are situated in tranquil countryside locations, meaning our children are safe and they feel safe. This provides the foundation on which they can build their self-esteem, confidence and emotional wellbeing.

Home

We provide a home for our children and not a ‘placement’. We create an atmosphere and environment in our homes where children feel settled, safe, supported and valued.

Holistic Care, Education and Health

We adopt an empathetic, compassionate approach to care, valuing every child as a unique and special individual who deserves every success and happiness. We seek to understand the particular needs, strengths and challenges facing each child, and we shape our care in response to these needs.

Adventure

We passionately believe in the transformative power of outdoor adventure. We utilise the stunning natural environment which surrounds us to engage, challenge and excite children, and as a vehicle to explore concepts such as risk, relationships and resilience.

Our compassionate and child-focused care, coupled with life-changing experiences and adventures, ensures that children not only begin to recover whilst they are with us, but to thrive. At AWW we create the space, safety and support to re-write children’s stories and enable them to face their future lives with optimism and confidence.

What Others Say About Us

I am truly taken aback by the level of care you have shown. The staff have gone out of their way to show him the attention and care that he has never had. When I visited him, it was like I was looking at a different child to what he was before he came. He was not like a child in care, he was like a child in a family. You have literally saved his life.

Social Worker

All children and young people thrive, and they make progress while living at the home. Because of the services provided the children and young people experience an individualised, stable and consistent home life. Children and young people benefit from the integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to education and care. They each achieve their full potential and, in many cases, do so beyond previous expectations.

Ofsted

I am so grateful to the AWW team for their dedication and commitment to caring and supporting Sam. He recently reported that being at there gave him the space to think and the opportunity to reflect on his attitude and make plans for his future.

Social Worker

I have to share my delight at Luke’s progress at AWW. Thanks to your support, in the last 17 weeks Luke and has turned his life around significantly. From where he has come from to where he is now, I am so proud of him.

Social Worker

The placement was really good and beneficial to me. The staff were all really supportive and nice and always made themselves available to me if I had any problems. The outdoor activities that were offered helped me to have a better outlook and showed me that I can do so much more in life, and it really helped me process and made me feel like a better person.

Child

As METCO Officer for Cumbria Police I have regular contact with the team at AWW in relation to vulnerable children at risk of CSE and going missing. If a specific incident has occurred, the Home Manager and I speak on the phone to discuss the best way forward. She also attends CSE risk assessment meetings and we receive Philomena Protocol forms when a young person arrives in placement.

Cumbria Police