Patrington Haven Caravan Park received the GOLD award from from David Bellamy Conservation for the work they’ve done to the protect and enhance Britain’s natural environment.

The variety of work being done by these holiday parks is phenomenal – from the creation of new wildlife meadows and woodlands to the construction of solar- powered shower blocks and energy-efficient lodges made out of recycled plastic, holiday parks are active across the country.

How are the awards judged?

The holiday parks that take part in the scheme are all regularly assessed by the scheme’s team of local wildlife experts. The assessors look at the steps leisure parks are taking to:

Manage their land as a haven for wildlife

Reduce their use of energy, water and other resources

Reduce, reuse and recycle the waste they produce

Support their local communities

David Bellamy uses the assessors’ reports (and any comments received from members of the public) to make his awards each year. Three levels of excellence can be achieved: Gold, Silver and Bronze.

What will an award winning park be like?

Amongst the award winners you’ll find a wide range of leisure parks: From peaceful, hideaway places, where you’ll be able to enjoy a real ‘back-to-nature’ holiday experience; to larger ‘leisure parks’, where you and your family will be able to enjoy more facilities, along with the knowledge that the park you’re visiting is committed to environmental excellence.

By choosing to own a Holiday Home at Patrington Haven Leisure Park you can pat yourself on the back, safe in the knowledge that you’ve made a greener choice – and that you’ll have a holiday full of natural enjoyment.

A bit of history

The David Bellamy Conservation Award Scheme is one of the longest running green tourism awards in the UK. The idea of the scheme was first sown when David Bellamy gave a talk to members of the camping, caravanning and holiday home park industry in which he gave the audience members a challenge to be part of the environmental solution and not part of the problem. David was then invited to visit many leisure parks and was amazed at the wide range of work that the most forward-thinking owners were doing for the environment. David was so impressed that a partnership was formed between the Conservation Foundation (the environmental organisation that David co-founded to help businesses get involved in conservation) and the British Holiday & Home Parks Association to set up an award scheme.

The scheme proper started with a pilot programme in 1996 and the first awards were made in 1997. As is the case today, assessors for the scheme were drawn from local wildlife trusts and other local conservation bodies. The idea behind the awards has also remained the same since those early days: to celebrate what the best parks are doing for the British countryside and to encourage others to follow their lead. “One of the first comments David made about the scheme remains true today: “My dream is to upgrade all caravan parks up to some sort of conservation status so that they can educate the visiting public and help them respect and care for the countryside.”

In the years since it was set up, the David Bellamy Conservation Awards scheme has grown in scope and stature and has even inspired similar award schemes abroad – most notable the Gumnut award scheme in Australia which plays a similar role in that country’s camping and caravanning world. The scheme has developed organically, but saw a major revision of its judging criteria in 2007/8. This was done to acknowledge the increasing importance of sustainability issues such as energy saving on both the industry, public and governmental agendas. With more and more businesses realising that being green is something that is well worth doing, the future of the scheme looks set to be as exciting and innovative as its past.

Patrington Haven Caravan Park is proud to be a member of the British Holiday & Home Parks Association.

The British Holiday & Home Parks Association is the only UK organisation founded with the exclusive objective of representing and serving those who own or manage holiday, residential, tenting, touring and Caravan Parks. BH&HPA members own and manage park establishments providing caravan holiday homes, chalets, park homes, tenting and touring pitches and all forms of self catering accommodation in the caravan park setting.

The Association is committed to lobbying and representing BH&HPA members' interests to government and policymakers at all levels. The Association's strategy is directed by caravan park owners and managers to provide services tailored to the needs of the industry.

Patrington Haven Leisure Park is proud to have been awarded the Highest award possible by Visit England.

VisitEngland is the organisation behind Enjoy England, the consumer face of English tourism.  For trade, press and all media, the VisitEngland Media Centre is a one- stop shop for destinational information, itinerary and press trip suggestions as well as corporate, business and statistical information.

The Press Office helps fulfil VisitEngland’s domestic and international remit to build the value of tourism within England, highlighting the wealth and diversity of the tourism product throughout East Yorkshire and the country.

England is a unique destination and a real powerhouse in global tourism. It represents 84 per cent of the total UK visitor economy, is worth £97billion, and supports in excess of 2 million jobs.

VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board. Its role is to grow the value of caravan  tourism by working in partnership with the industry to deliver inspirational marketing campaigns and to provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors. The organisation’s work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights.

Our Mission.

The work of VisitEngland’s team provides leadership for the caravan tourism industry and one of the key objectives is to grow the sector’s value to the economy and to the community. By leading on the marketing of England as a destination to domestic and established overseas markets and through championing the visitor experience, VisitEngland intends to increase the value of the nation’s tourism by 5% per annum over the next ten years. This will in turn provide around 250,000 new jobs.

In consultation with the industry, VisitEngland launched the first national tourism strategy for England in ten years. England: A Strategic Framework for Tourism 2010-2020 is a blueprint for growth and aims to maximise tourism’s contribution to the economy, employment and quality of life in England.

VisitEngland is a relatively small organisation but it works with partners throughout the country to achieve an ambitious programme of marketing and tourism development. While dealing with a range of daily issues, such as responding to requests for advice from government, the industry or stakeholder organisations, the VisitEngland team also manages business support and research functions and leads on a wide number of development and marketing activities.

VisitEngland activity is organised through four key specialisms.

• Research and insights – providing data, intelligence and analysis to the industry and to government, industry communications and maximising the potential of London 2012 for England.

• Integrated marketing - a number of campaigns have been developed working with both commercial and public sectors, including TV, press and digital promotions.

• Business support- including implementation of national quality standards, modernisation of visitor information in the lead up to 2012 and championing the visitor experience.

• Partnerships - working with a range of partners throughout the country to ensure successful delivery of the Strategic Framework and forging national commercial partnerships to optimise routes to market.

VisitEngland shares an offices in Victoria with VisitBritain and the two organisations share central services such as IT, HR, finance and payroll.

Patrington Haven Holiday Park are very proud to be a Multiple Yorkshire in Bloom Winner !

Yorkshire In Bloom

Yorkshire in Bloom is a voluntary regional organisation that administers the Britain in Bloom Campaign in North, South, West and East Yorkshire, North and North-East Lincolnshire. Britain in Bloom is the largest horticultural campaign in Europe and each year it grows in size and importance and involves more people, groups and organisations creating lasting improvements to local environments.

Villages through to cities in the region are judged in Spring and Summer. The special categories which include public, private and charitable establishments, business premises, visitor attractions, caravan and camping sites, youth environmental projects and further education establishments.

About Our Competition

Yorkshire in Bloom is a charity and is our regional body representing the Britain in Bloom campaign that is organised by the Royal Horticultural Society.

YorkshireiB organises annual competitions to encourage communities of whatever size; small villages, towns or a big city, to make a positive and lasting improvement to their local environment for the benefit of local people, and it is not just about planting flowers and hanging baskets.

The very nature of Yorkshire in Bloom encourages and develops community spirit and civic pride whilst promoting responsibility for planting, cleanliness and maintenance. This in turn can boost the local economy through increased tourism, stimulates voluntary work and cooperation between community groups, and is a means to address issues such as sustainability, recycling, minimising waste and energy conservation.

The competition is assessed by local judges on criteria developed by the RHS in consultation with the Regions. Marks are awarded and are related to standards of Gold, Silver Gilt, Silver and Bronze.

The RHS encourages all communities to get involved to help create safer, cleaner and greener local environments.

Yorkshire in Bloom holds an annual awards ceremony in September at which the awards are announced. Five of the best are then chosen to represent Yorkshire in the RHS national finals the following year.