ARTISTIC ACCOLADES AS PARK COMMUNITY DRAWS TOGETHER!
When hundreds of couples and families took part in a talent contest at a top Lakeland holiday park this spring, there wasn't a knobbly knee to be seen - or croaky karaoke to be heard.
Instead, the holiday home owners at Skelwith Fold Caravan Park in Ambleside came together to demonstrate their skills as painters, chefs, dress-makers, sculptors and potters, to name but a few.
They were all participating in Skelwith's biggest-ever Arts and Crafts Show (held May 24), now a much-loved major annual event at the five-star park.
The show is earmarked in the calendar by many of the park's 300 holiday home owners, all of whom are invited to submit entries in twelve different categories of artistic and creative endeavour.
Their efforts are then assessed by a team of professional show judges from the South Lakeland area.
This year, participants' ages ranged from eight to eighty - and according to park owner Henry Wild, the event created a new record for the largest number of owners present on the park on a single day.
After the judges had made their decisions, prizes were awarded by Henry and park manager Geoff Elliot - with the overall winner being Cumbria Air Ambulance to which all entry fees were donated.
Most of the holiday home owners made a special journey to attend the event. Many came from the North West, but others travelled to Skelwith from as far as the Midlands and South of England.
According to many participants, said Henry, the show's success was as much about enjoying a traditional community event as taking part in a competition:
"One person remarked that parks such as Skelwith are among the last bastions of true community spirit," said Henry. "They can often provide a sense of neighbourliness which many people say is sadly lacking in the modern world.
"Parks can provide a useful lesson in showing how people with similar shared values can help enrich each others' lives. We have guests of many different ages and backgrounds - but when they are at Skelwith, their concern for each other is strongly evident," he added.
Henry said there were many examples throughout the year of how the Skelwith community worked together - benefiting not just fellow home owners, but also the park itself.
Many owners, he said, have erected nesting boxes on trees adjacent to their holiday homes as part of their support for Skelwith's award-winning conservation work.
Guests had researched and written walking guides for the area which are sold on the park for charity, and other fund-raising initiatives for local good causes are also a regular feature of park life.
But what best underlined the community atmosphere, said Henry, were the many examples of owners interacting with each other in a way which would seem alien to many exclusively urban dwellers.
Guests, he said, formed social groups and clubs, arranged combined outings, co-ordinated stays with new friends they had made, and generally helped and looked out for each other out in their daily lives.
"If a model was ever needed by government on how to create a community in which young people could be brought up to learn mutual respect and consideration for other people, they could do much worse than look to Britain's parks industry!" said Henry.
ends
More press information from Henry Wild on 01539 432277
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PR consultant Jon Boston on 01768 895225
Note to editors:
Set in 130 acres of wooded estate with views over the Lakeland fells, Skelwith also provides pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes. The park's reception and conservation centre, in which the arts and crafts show was held, has been built largely from local materials, and features an innovative "living roof" of wildlife-friendly plants. Last year, Skelwith Fold was declared overall holiday park winner in the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence Awards organised by VisitBritain.