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About Tamwood

Do More. Be More. Learn More!

Wherever you choose to go in life, Tamwood helps you get there. Whether you want amazing life experiences at unforgettable destinations, acceptance into the international university of your choice, or to accelerate your future career, Tamwood helps make your dreams come true.

Founded in 1992, by owners Tamsin Plaxton and Mathew Collingwood, Tamwood runs three divisions and manages a sister company that together offers a range of educational, vacation, work, and travel programs, and other services and support to ensure you learn new skills. These programs help to expand existing abilities, discover talents you didn’t know you had, and forever transform yourself in wonderful ways you can barely imagine.

Don’t take our word for the quality of our programs. ST Star Awards and agents all around the world have voted us the best ESL school in North America, Best Vocational College, Best Junior Course for Under 18s for several years running. A full list of our awards can be found here. Find out for yourself and experience the Tamwood difference.

Our Core Purpose

We believe that by teaching, coaching, and encouraging our clients we create transformative life-changing experiences that offer people the opportunity to develop their talents, achieve their goals, and realize their potential.

Our Values

We are always getting better and helping others to achieve their potential because we:

Are committed to excellence

Consistently drive innovation

Have a can-do attitude

Care about our clients, community, and environment

Inspire with integrity—we do the right thing

Make it fun

Our Vision

To become the foremost private career college, language school, work and travel, and camp programs provider in Canada by:

Having highly engaged employees

Offering leading-edge and innovative programs that help students achieve their goals and realize their potential

Connecting with industry to bring the real world into the classroom and offer highly effective work integrated learning to prepare our students for the future of work

History

In 1991, Tamsin Plaxton, a young lawyer, and Matt Collingwood, a young banker, met at a social event in Vancouver, Canada, and through their conversation, that day discovered that they both had worked at summer camps through their university years (Tamsin in Europe and Matt in Canada) and had a passion for kids and camps. Two years later they quit their jobs in law and banking to start Tamwood International Camps.

Their first camp was opened in Whistler in July 1993, and over the years the business grew to include adult English schools, Tamwood Careers College, a work and travel department called GO international, and more camp locations and programs. Initially, the operations were located in Canada only, but as demand from overseas grew and more nationalities become interested in sending their children abroad, Tamsin and Matt expanded Tamwood Camps into the USA and then in 2020 added online adult and junior programs.

Tamwood continues to be owned and actively managed by the founders, Tamsin Plaxton and Matt Collingwood. Stay tuned for more history in the making as Tamwood is always refining its existing programs and adding new programs and locations to reflect the ever-changing needs of our global campers and their families.

Wherever you choose to go in life, Tamwood helps you get there. Whether you want amazing life experiences at unforgettable destinations, acceptance into the international university of your choice, or to accelerate your future career, Tamwood helps make your dreams come true.

Founders

“All individuals have the right to an education and that education should be available and equally accessible to all.”

– The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A key philosophy of Tamwood is Corporate Social Responsibility. As a leader in the education industry, we passionately believe that children all over the world deserve an education. We are committed to affecting positive change in education all over the world. Our corporate social impact program, Education For All, is now a movement, engaging employees, partners, our students, and their parents to change lives every day, in Christo Rey, Nicaragua; a community of approximately 4,000 people who live day-to-day largely by scavenging in the Managua city garbage dump.

Education For All encompasses initiatives that improve educational opportunities for children in this community in Nicaragua and focuses on three charitable enterprises:

Uniforms

Providing Uniforms for Students

Even though public education is free in Nicaragua, many children across the country are not able to attend school simply because their parents don’t have the money to buy the mandatory supplies.

Tamwood is helping to prevent poverty from being a barrier to education by purchasing uniforms, backpacks, shoes, and school supplies for children living in Christo Rey. With an education, children can learn to read, write, and do basic math, enough to help them get a job when they graduate and help move their family out of poverty.

Teachers

Teachers Training Program

At Tamwood we believe that English expands your world! For this reason, experienced and highly-trained Tamwood teachers are volunteering to train local teachers in Nicaragua to help them to provide better education to their students.

With strong English skills, students have better employment prospects. Once a year, Tamwood flies two of its teachers to Nicaragua to train teachers in the after school care centres in the Christo Rey community.

After School Program

Building an After School Centre

Many children have no place to go after school. That is why their parents take them to work in the garbage dump.

Tamwood is building an after school centre in the community of Christo Rey, where students can eat, study, have tutoring, and be safe while their parents are at work.

How You Can Help Too

Tamwood is using a percentage of its revenues to fund these three initiatives and we can do more and impact more lives with your help. Tamwood receives over 3,000 students a year in its various programs. Imagine the impact if each of our students donated just $5 to this project. This is the power of crowdfunding.

When you sign up for any of our programs you will have the opportunity to include a donation in your program fee. 100% of your donation will be used to help provide education for children in need. Please join us in making an impact and transforming the lives of these children.

To see more from our recent trip to Nicaragua, click here.

Interested in knowing more?