Lakewood Lodge was founded by Christine Lyons in 1995. As an ex schoolteacher she believed in the mission of the lodge to educate, inspire and shape beliefs. She believed that children needed to experience a safe homely environment where they can improve their self-confidence and learn about the care of water and animals. She developed the cross-cultural camps and programs to encourage international visitors play together and learn to get on with people from all walks of life so they will develop into better adults. She ran Lakewood Lodge with her son Jeff for 24 years and eventually handed over the reigns to him to take over as Managing Director in 2019. Jeff is Christine’s son who initially worked part-time in the business while Christine was establishing it, but after completing outdoor education courses as well experiencing Camp America camps, he came back to run the Operations of Lakewood Lodge. He quickly became full time, training instructors and creating exciting cutting-edge teaching activities. Jeff knows every part of the business and can fill in anywhere. Jeff is extremely passionate about ensuring Lakewood Lodge delivers an impeccable experience for all visitors and every year they keep coming back for more. Jeff loves all sport and is President of almost every club he is involved in from squash to cricket. He also has a massive passion for travelling where he gets new ideas that he brings back to the lodge each season. Jeff’s son Sam is also an amazing Instructor and when he’s not studying finance and data science at Victoria University in Wellington, he’s helping out around the Lodge. Jeff and Christine’s mission statement is to care about the children, guests and animals as if they were family. Teaching children life skills and sustainability for the environment is what they were born to do.