Jewels In The Crown

Posted on February 7, 2018

Jewels In The Crown

ABOVE: Lady’s Mile Holiday Park was named as joint winner of the Holiday Park Pool Of The Year title.

A neck and neck contest, which left judges unable to separate two short-listed entries, has resulted in the pair sharing the coveted 2017 title of Holiday Park Pool Of The Year. Devon’s Lady’s Mile Holiday Park did not just shine for its investment in water leisure facilities. The Park’s outstanding team of lifeguards drew unanimous applause from the judges following the dramatic rescue of a young girl in distress in the outdoor pool. She was lifted from the water, and the team carried out CPR and saved the young girl’s life. The team acted professionally and responded to the incident with great care and compassion. Their efforts have been recognised by the Royal Lifesaving Society for outstanding bravery with a certificate of merit. Meanwhile, part of the Bourne Leisure group, Haven Holiday’s Hafany Môr Holiday Park, in North Wales, was named as co-title holders following an outstanding £3m refurbishment earlier this year. The upgrade featured an impressive makeover including the addition of three flume slides, play areas for young children, a multi-lane slide, bubble pool, Lazy River and wave pool, plus a lane pool for those wanting to just swim.

The Holiday Park Pool of The Year contest was one of 30 categories contested at the UK Pool and Spa Awards held at the Vox Conference Centre at Birmingham’s NEC last month. The organisers, Waterland Media, were joined by former Apprentice winner and TV personality, Michelle Dewberry, and over 200 representatives from all aspects of the pool and spa industry. The judges commented on the impressive standard of provision across the holiday park sector for swimming pools, hot tubs and wellness. Prepare to be impressed, as we bring you this year’s short-listed pools.

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Butlins Enforces Pool Safety Policy

Posted on February 9, 2015

Butlins stand by their swimming pool safety policy which states that every two children must be accompanied by an adult.

Butlins Enforces Pool Safety Policy

Holiday park operator Butlins came under fire recently, after a mother-of-four was asked to leave the swimming pool at Butlins’ Skegness resort for having too many children.

Kelly Noble was approached by a lifeguard while swimming with her four children and advised of the company’s swimming pool safety policy which states that every two children aged eight years old and under must be accompanied by at least one adult – a policy which is mirrored by many other commercial pool operators.

While Ms Noble was clearly outraged, Butlins insists that the policy is in place to ensure the safety of its guests.

A spokesperson for Butlins commented: “When guests book with us, our telephone advisors make them aware of our policies with regard to child supervision in our pools and at our fairgrounds. The same information is available on our website.

“Due to Ms Noble’s eldest children also requiring additional supervision, they were unable to be responsible for the younger children, which is why they would have not been able to use the pool.”

The spokesperson added: “The safety of all our guests is our absolute priority at all times and we cannot compromise that.”

Swim To Win

Posted on December 19, 2014

Swim To Win

Even parks with the most basic of wet leisure facilities can maximise the potential their offering with a few simple measures that will broaden appeal.

With water leisure at the top of many visitor priority lists, it is vital for holiday parks to continuously not just meet but exceed demands for safe and fun aquatic facilities.

Even parks with the most basic of wet leisure facilities can maximise the potential their offering with a few simple measures that will broaden appeal and keep the guests coming back time and time again.

“The pool is a vital tool in attracting and retaining new customers,” explains Kevin Christopher, leisure manager at Swanage Bay View Holiday Home Park in Dorset. “We do our utmost to provide an extensive range of pool-based activities, and are continually improving these to ensure that guests are more than satisfied with the offering.”

The indoor heated swimming pool at Swanage Bay View is open to guests and the public, and sees around 50,000 users on average each year. The pool plays host to an assortment of water activities as well as swimming sessions, including snorkelling, aqua fit classes, pool parties and the increasingly popular Waterwalkerz, which can be hired by guests on request.

Kevin comments: “We run Waterwalkerz sessions every weekend for our younger guests between the ages of five to sixteen, at a cost of £5 per session. “We have had the two Waterwalkerz for just over year now and they are certainly one of the most popular activities we run at the pool.”

The Waterwalkerz at Swanage Bay View Holiday Park are a popular attraction at the poolside.

Haven holiday parks make the most of their swimming facilities by offering swimming lessons for children, amongst other pool-based activities. In partnership with the Swimming Teacher’s Association (STA), Haven provide Learn2Swim sessions for guests aged four and above, as well as parent and child Water Confidence sessions for youngsters between six months and three years of age.

Gordon Bush head of sports and leisure for Haven comments: “Many of our parks offer sessions to team members and their families and have also worked in partnership with local communities by inviting local schools onto park to access our lessons and facilities.

“Last year we taught nearly 18,000 guests in just one of our lessons. We trained a further 75 swimming teachers in 2014 and will look to train a further 60 in 2015 so that we can deliver this life skill to our guests of all ages.”

The indoor teaching pool at Haven Holiday Park in Burnhamon- Sea was recently transformed into a highly interactive water play area aimed at increasing water confidence among youngsters. Supplied by Hippo Leisure, the pool now features a short mast which supplies two interactive water channels with a flow of water. There are also large tipping buckets, water wheels and shark showers, which are suspended above the pool on a span pipe, with high level water spraying, tipping and showering at regular intervals.

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