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LIFE&FAMILY
118
February15
10 minutes with…
Kate Jeffrey
By Katie Roberts
We chat about life, family and work with KATE
JEFFREY, the head of
Camp Asia
, a popular
holiday camp provider for kids.
What brought you to Singapore?
I’m originally from the UK, but have been in Singapore for ten
years, aside from an eight-month stint in Shanghai. We moved
to Singapore for my husband’s role at Procter & Gamble, and
the company I worked for at the time, Mattel, offered me a
role here too. We have since been lucky enough to have two
beautiful girls; Olivia is four and Jessie is one.
What were you doing prior to Camp Asia?
I never imagined I would end up in Asia, let alone in such an
exciting and diverse role. I have a law degree! I’ve had jobs
in merchandising, analytics, sales, marketing and events.
Wearing so many hats in my past roles has been a great help
because every day we deal with so many aspects of Camp
Asia, from health and safety, or developing a new product
launch or advertising campaign, to working with IT specialists
to build a better booking system.
As a kid, what was your favourite sport? Were you
competitive?
My team at Camp Asia will tell you I am pretty competitive,
always up for a challenge and wanting us to improve what we
deliver to our families. At school I enjoyed netball and tennis
but I spent most of my time after school taking ballet lessons
and the Royal Academy of Dance exams. It was hard work for
my parents; we drove an hour each way, four times a week,
so I could take a two-hour ballet lesson. On weekends I had
competitions around the UK. My parents’ support gave me
the confidence to be in front of large groups, and encouraged
me to be healthy and set goals for myself.
Camp Asia runs a range of holiday camps including
Passion For Art. Are you a budding artist?
I wouldn’t class myself as a budding artist, though I can draw
a pretty good life-size Dora and Boots, which I put together
the night before my daughter’s third birthday party last year
so we could play “Pin the Tail on Boots”. Even my husband
asked before the party, “So, who did you get to draw that?”
At Camp Asia, I still can’t get over what our kids achieve in
Passion For Art, when their work is displayed in a gallery for
their parents at the end of the week.
What are your three favourite things about living in
Singapore?
1. Having full-time help at home. I wouldn’t be able to manage
working long hours, my husband’s non-stop travel and my girls
without my amazing helper Lorna.
2. Living in a city. There is so much to do every weekend!
3. Late night shopping every day of the week. Most UK shops
shut at 5.30pm; how does anyone get anything done?
Camp Asia launched Saturday Sports in January.
What else is coming up in 2015?
We are excited about the new programme and the eight sports
on offer every Saturday at Stamford American International
School. Next we’re launching Super Chef, a Saturday cooking
programme for children aged six to 16 years. It will include
courses like “Dishes to Save Your Life”, which will prepare
students for university with fast, healthy and cheap food.
Summer will see an expansion of our holiday camps to cater
to older students, plus more variety. Bookings for summer
will launch in March.
campasia.asia