Job description: Riverside Campsite Warden – Live-in Summer Role
Ideal for teachers, couples, seasonal workers or semi-retired people looking for a meaningful summer outdoors
Dedham Vale AONB, Suffolk · June – mid-September 2026
Spend your summer living riverside in one of East Anglia`s most beautiful campsites. Family-run for 68 years, Rushbanks offers off-grid camping, dark skies, campfires, canoes, no commute, no traffic, and a genuine change of pace.
This isn`t a holiday — it`s a real live-in summer role for someone who wants to step away from normal life for a season, help run a beautiful campsite, and enjoy simple riverside living in return for accommodation, a fair wage, and time to think.
One season is fine. We`d love you to return year after year. Open to individuals and couples. Dog-friendly.
The Role:
You`ll be the friendly face at check-in, the calm presence keeping the site running, and the person who handles late-night noise reminders with warmth and authority. Roughly 8 hours per day, split across the day.
What you`d do:
Greet and check in arriving campers
Help with fire pits, logs, canoe and paddleboard gear
Morning toilet and shower clean; evening restock and quick clean
Friendly 10:30-11:30pm site walk-about: water buckets, fires out by 11pm, quiet hours from 11pm
Occasional grounds work: strimming and hand-mowing grassed areas as needed
Help prep and put away canoe and paddleboard hire equipment
Handle basic on-site fixes where possible
Weekends and bank holidays are busiest. Rest days will most likely be midweek.
Pay & Package
£12.71 per hour — paid weekly
Private caravan with gas heating and cooking
Warm showers and solar electric on site
Free canoe and paddleboard use on days off
Free campfire bundle on days off
Shared iPad with internet for downtime
Approx. £800/week total package value
Returning staff get first refusal each year
Couples Welcome
Both partners on payroll, paid for hours actually worked, sharing the caravan. One may prefer check-ins and the social side; the other evening patrols and maintenance. Rest days can be taken together.
Who This Suits
Someone with life experience, calm confidence, and the ability to commit fully to a summer on site. Could suit teachers on summer holidays, couples wanting a shared seasonal role, outdoor or seasonal workers pairing this with a winter season, self-employed people with flexible summers, writers and artists wanting a quieter chapter, those between careers, or semi-retired locals wanting purpose and summer income.
What You Need
Minimum 3 years` customer-facing work experience
References from 2 previous employers
Confidence handling polite-but-firm 11pm conversations
Reasonable fitness for daily lifting and grounds work: logs, firepits, gear, hand mower and strimmer
Right to work in the UK
Sober on shift, sensible off shift
Basic IT skills using an iPad (training given)
Full commitment to June – mid-September
Comfortable with off-grid rural living
Nice to Have
Full UK driving licence
Basic maintenance and DIY skills
Hospitality, teaching, outdoor, agricultural or people-facing background
Interest in returning for future summers
Honest Notes
Fully off-grid: no mains electric on pitches
Internet via shared iPad — fine for downtime, not remote working
Warm showers, but outdoor living, not hotel living
Local applicants particularly welcome
How to Apply
Email Gareth at rushbanksfarm@gmail.comwith:
Where you`d travel from
A few lines on your background and why this appeals
If applying as a couple: both names and how you`d split the role
Your two most recent employers
Whether you`d return for future summers
Confirmation you can commit fully June – mid-September
Take a look at rushbankscampsite.co.uk for a feel of the site.
Cheers,
Gareth Bates