Northumberland family activity holiday

Environment
As a company we are based in Northumberland and so operating within our home county is exceptionally exciting but comes with a great deal of responsibility. Rural Northumberland is principally a hill farming region and the rugged landscape used to provide a sturdy base for the rural economy. In recent years however the financial viability coupled with the out breaks of foot and mouth have forced many communities and the local authorities to consider ways of breathing life back into the countryside. The delightful landscape and the glut of historical buildings and archeological sites have helped this process and allowed the region's tourism industry to flourish. This process of rural diversification has helped to secure livelihoods throughout the region and has helped maintain many national treasures, both natural and manmade. It is something that we feel it is vital that we are involved in.

Our holiday is split between two rural destinations, the area surrounding Hadrian's Wall and The Heritage Coastline thus the economic benefit of the holiday is spread across the region.

Our activity providers are passionate about the area and follow a strict 'leave no trace' policy at all the activity sites some of which fall within the boundaries of the Hadrian's Wall UNESCO world heritage site. The importance of this site is always stressed to our clients and the activities can prove to be very educational. Our suppliers employ local people where possible to help stem the flow of young people away from the rural areas.

This holiday is designed a self drive however all activity transfers are collective thus lessening the impact that the necessary transportation may have on the surrounding area. The chosen locations also enable us to combine the best activities with the shortest transfers.

Our activity providers work closely with the local National Park authorities, land owners and development trusts to enable them to work within the mandates of these organizations and operate best practice environmentally and socially. They spend a great deal of time getting to know the communities in which they work and ensuring that the impacts of the tourism are positive.

Community
Our accommodation consists of two rural hotels. Our accommodation near the Roman Wall is, despite being owned by a small British chain, employs many local people and features produce from local suppliers where ever possible. New investment is enabling the hotel to firstly secure their employment levels and secondly to improve their insulation by fitting new double glazing.

Our coastal accommodation, situated in the coastal town of Bamburgh is a small establishment which is locally owned. They heavily support the local economy through both their marketing of the area and their support of local producers. The majority of produce served at the hotel is locally sourced including meat and local beers. The hotel has a strict recycling policy with regards to glass and is implementing further policies for waste management. Via a grant from the Carbon Trust they have also recently installed an energy efficient boiler to heat the hotel. The new wings of the hotel have all been built with high specification insulation and double glazing. They employed local trade people to undertake these works.

Northumberland is by UK standards an unspoiled destination and we want to keep it that way thus environmentally we do not want to make any difference, socially we want to introduce the regions' wonderful people and places to a wider audience which will in turn benefit the area economically.