Willesley is a 14-acre campsite for youth groups owned and run by Ashby And Coalville District Scouts. It is located in the heart of the National Forest. There are 8 separate camping areas subdivided into 13 campsites, a 40 bed dormitory with attached meeting hall and kitchen, and a separate meeting hall and kitchen. On the volunteer-run campsite, activities available include a 15-metre tower for climbing and abseiling, potholing and an archery field. Please read through all the information on this website before making an enquiry using our contact form if you would like to book our facilities.

Unfortunately, we cannot allow members of the general public to use the campsite. No dogs are allowed.

Campsite Map:-

General Information

Safety

Address for Ambulance: Willesley Scout Camp Site: Willesley Woodside, Ashby de la Zouch; Leicestershire; LE65 2UN. In an Emergency, if you have spare people, send someone to the cross roads at the main road to meet the Ambulance and direct them in.

There is a defibrillator on site, mounted on the gatehouse wall. Call 999 and give the post code LE65 2UN for the door access code.

Nearest A&E: Belvedere Rd, Burton-on-Trent DE13 0RB, Approx 30 minutes drive in normal traffic conditions from the site.

Nearest Walk-in centres:
Civic Way, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 0AE. 4.7 miles away Opening times Monday to Friday 18:30 – 22:30 Saturday & Sun 09:00 – 22:30

Next Nearest: Loughborough, Hospital Way , Leicestershire, LE11 5JY Open 24 hours.
Alternative: Derby Royal Infirmary Entrance C, London Road Community Hospital, Osmaston Road, Derby, Derbyshire, DE1 2GD Tel: 01332 224700

First Aid: You are responsible for providing first aid cover and equipment.

The Wardens are all volunteers, giving their time for free when they can to help your camp go smoothly, please treat them with the respect they deserve and support them where ever possible. They are not on site all of the time. They will usually give their mobile number in case of issues or emergencies. Some will post it on the whiteboard outside reception.

Facilities. Please browse the menus to see more detail and photographs of the facilities – campsites, buildings and activities.

Arrivals procedure. As we have a shared single track access, it can easily get blocked if many people are inconsiderate. Please ask parents to carshare and arrive as close as possible to any allocated arrival slots – this makes a huge difference. If you have a large camp, please email willesleywarden@gmail.com for detailed advice on how to organise track discipline and car parking.

Parking space is limited, please park neatly, tightly and considerately. Do not block access to the track barrier, the back of the gatehouse and the path to the courtyard arch.

No vehicles are allowed on the grass when wet to avoid churning it up. Keep to the edges of the camping areas if the warden lets you drive on the site if the ground is dry.

Drive at a maximum of 5mph around the site with hazard lights on when there are young people around.

Please contact the warden as soon as possible after arriving on site so that you can be briefed and share any last minute changes or issues, confirm your latest program plan, tuckshop, campfire, numbers on camp, deposit and payment arrangements, site inspection and planned leave times.

Tree Preservation. There is a Tree Preservation order on most of the trees on the main site, but not the pine wood. You must not damage the trees – it is a criminal offence and carries a large fine.

Water for campers: There are standpipes on the border between Churchside and Bottom field, camper toilet block, flagfield hydrant and the rear of the courtyard toilet block.

Fires: We have a number of alter fires. Please do not light them over a grassed area. There are concrete slabs on most sites for the fires. Please keep the fire under the top grill.

Wood for fires – there is a limited supply of wood from fallen branches and felled trunks in the pine wood. Please put all wood back on the wood pile before handback.

Rubbish – we have a number of industrial rubbish bins near the tuckshop that usually cope with an average week’s waste and recycling. Please crush all rubbish before putting it in the bins. During busy times, if the general bins are full, please fill the segregated bins. Do not leave any rubbish outside the bins as the animals will spread it all over the campsite. If you have a large camp, please expect to take some recycling or rubbish away with you.

Please arrange a linear litter pick around your site and any activity areas you have used before you leave.

Please ensure that you plan to collect in anything you put out around the site as part of your program

We have reusable recycling boxes for you to borrow if you would like.

Quiet time. Please arrange your program and brief all to observe quiet time between 2300 and 0700. You will need to incentivise young people to observe this. Ask the leaders of any groups not observing quiet time to comply.

Activities run in 3 two hour sessions per day, 10-12, 1-3 and 3-5. Some activities are leader led, requiring a leader from your group to take responsibility for supervising the activity according to the site rules. The rules for each activity and other details are available on the website. The District must have written or electronic record of your acceptance of responsibility to comply with the rules before you commence the activity. The Wardens will prepare the activities for you and issue any keys necessary. The wardens, or any other representative of The District, may audit behavioural compliance during your sessions and reserve the right to stop the activity if procedures are not being followed. This is for participants and equipment safety and we request that you support their judgement. Please return the activity equipment to the state handed over when finished and the key back directly to the warden.

Some activities require a permitted instructor, which are all volunteers and we are very short of them. The activity instructor coordinator will confirm if an instructor is available for your requested booking.

Orienteering can be run anytime – maps can be downloaded from the website or may be available from the warden. Bring pens/pencils.

Weather: The weather may affect a variety of aspect of life at Willesley, so please be tolerant and work with the Wardens to manage it. The access route may be restricted by falling trees or branches after heavy winds ( the trees either side of the access route are not ACDS responsibility). Climbing, Abseiling and Archery may not run in inclement conditions as decided by the Activity instructor.The pothole may fill up with water after prolonged periods of heavy rain. If you need to strike camp in the rain, you may leave tents hung to dry in the pine wood at your risk but they must be collected within a week.

Buildings. On arrival, the warden will handover the building to you, explain the operation of the key items, and carry out an inspection of the condition with you. Please ensure that you program time to clean the building to a state ready for the next visitor and agree a handback inspection time with the warden. Please allow time to rectify any issues the warden may find with you. Please pay particular attention to under bunks, inside fridges, freezers, and ovens. Keep the chairs and tables inside the buildings.

Toilets and showers. The Warden will clean and replenish the toilets when possible, but please help out if you can. Let the warden know if you find any issues. There are two toilet blocks, opened as necessary by the warden. Both have two showers per side, one of each side is accessible. The showers are free.

Public Footpath. We have a public footpath which goes through the site, marked by yellow topped posts so unfortunately we cannot exclude members of the public passing through. We are working with The Golf Club to apply for a diversion.

Help at site. We welcome any help you can give to run the campsite, before, during, after your stay. Please email willesleywarden@gmail.com or volunteer to the warden.

How to book. Fill in a booking form and and an activity form if required and email to willesleywarden@gmail.com