Center Parcs UK & Ireland

🦇This weekend (24th-25th August) is #InternationalBatNight. 🌍The global celebration, which started in 1997, is recognised in 30 countries around the world. 🌙Guests at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest this weekend can join our Conservation Rangers as the sun goes down to learn about bats and the species we have at Sherwood Forest. As the bats come out to forage, the team will bring out their bat detectors to listen to and identify the species flying around. ❓Did you know… - There are around 1,400 bat species in the world, and 18 of those live in the UK, accounting for more than a quarter of our mammal species - Bats are an indicator species, which means they are a sign of a green and healthy environment - Bats and their roosts are protected by law in the UK due to the dramatic decrease in their numbers during the past century Find out more about how we care for our woodlands and the species that call them home here: https://lnkd.in/dga3MMGv 🔗

⭐We have some amazing people working at Center Parcs and we want to share some of their stories with you. We’ll be catching up with some interesting individuals over the coming months and, today, we’re shining a light on our Change Delivery Manager, Abigail Haley. 🌍 Abigail recently qualified for the European Triathlon Championships as a member of Team GB after finishing in the top three at her qualifying race, which took place at Dorney Lake near Windsor. Abigail will be joining eight other British triathletes representing her age group at the Championships in Istanbul in 2025! 🏃♀️ “I’ve always been sporty - I started running when I was about eight years old with Doncaster Athletics Club and I now coach their Junior Club as a British Athletics Endurance Running Coach. I also swam and cycled, but I hadn’t thought of putting them all together until my partner signed up for an Ironman challenge and I thought “I could do that”! That was about 18 months ago, and I just fell in love with triathlons. 🏊♀️ “I typically train six days a week, early mornings and evenings, and sometimes fit in two training sessions a day. It’s definitely harder in the winter, with the dark and cold mornings, but the variety of triathlon training really helps – I can go from swimming in a lake to running on a treadmill to cycling on a track. I also love my club and the whole triathlon community – everyone is so supportive and really encouraged me to try and qualify for Team GB.” 🏅 Abigail completed a Sprint Triathlon to secure her place at the European Championships, swimming 750m, cycling 20km and running 5km in 1 hour 10 minutes 43 seconds. As well as her latest achievement, she’s previously taken first place in an Olympic distance triathlon and was two places off qualifying for the Team GB 70.3 Ironman team. 🚴 “When I found out I’d qualified, I couldn’t believe how far I’d come so quickly – I think I’m still in a bit of shock. It’s amazing to think I’ll be competing in the Team GB kit. I’ll be training hard over the coming months, working on technique and endurance, ready for the triathlon season starting again in spring 2025. ❤️ “I’m definitely inspired by the amazing triathletes we have competing at an elite level like the Brownlee brothers, Alex Yee and Beth Potter, but I am so thankful to my partner for encouraging me and giving me the confidence to try a triathlon, as well as my dad, who always encourages me to give something a go and see what happens. Next stop, Turkey!” 👏 We’ll all be cheering you on, Abigail!

☀️As we wave goodbye to a July that careered from chilly to tropical, we wanted to share some of the month’s highlights from our Conservation Rangers. 🦅At Sherwood Forest, the team have spotted a water shrew – this was only the third recorded sighting at the village. Guests in our Treehouses may also have heard the four noisy Sparrowhawk chicks, which are being trained in the art of hunting by their parents. Female sparrowhawks usually lay four or five eggs, but the chicks only have a survival rate of 35%, so it’s fantastic to see four fully-fledged chicks flying around the forest. 🦋At Elveden Forest, Conservation Rangers counted more than 120 species of moths on their annual survey. The village is also home to various species of bats, including Common and Soprano Pipistrelle, Daubentons and Noctule. Center Parcs is a great habitat for bats, with a mixture of lakes and woodlands providing abundant insects for them to eat. 🦉At Longleat Forest, the team conducted a night survey which revealed 57 glow-worms – although the name may be deceiving, glow-worms are actually beetles! The females emit a greeny-orange light which they use to attract mates. During the night survey, three tawny owls were heard calling continuously, and huge numbers of bats were spotted zooming across the lake.   🐛It's been survey time at Whinfell Forest, with annual aquatic invertebrate surveys being conducted across all nine ponds and the main lake. These surveys assess the pond ecosystem health and species diversity, and the results are compared year on year to identify any fluctuations or declines. Alongside these water surveys, the team have also been conducting surveys of terrestrial invertebrates. 🦇At Woburn Forest, Rangers have spotted an adorable new family. The little grebes (or dabchicks) have welcomed five babies, which can be seen learning to dive with their parents on the lake. Little grebe chicks are tiny and striped like a humbug, and ride around on their parents’ backs! We’ve also been conducting emergence surveys of a maternity bat roost and counted an extraordinary 437 bats flying out of the roost – a very positive result that shows the bat population is doing well this year.   📋There have been more surveys at Longford Forest, with ecologists carrying out freshwater invertebrate surveys. Freshwater invertebrates play an important role in maintaining clean water by helping to break down and filter organic matter, as well as being an important food source for fish, birds and mammals. The presence of freshwater invertebrates is an indicator of the overall health of the habitat, and we’re pleased to report our watercourses are in good condition.   📅We’ll be sharing highlights from our forests each month, so keep your eyes peeled for the August update!

👍As a business, we’re always striving to be an integral part of the local community, so when we were approached by Thetford Business Forum to take part in their THET ZERO Sculpture Trail, we jumped at the opportunity.   🌏The THET ZERO Summer School Sculpture Trail aims to raise awareness of environmental concerns and show how we can all make a difference to reverse the effects of climate change. Students were challenged to work with a local business to create a sculpture using only waste materials.   🍂Our Senior Forest Ranger, Sam Getley, worked with Year 8 & 9 students from Thetford Academy to design a sculpture using only green waste from our woodland. Green waste is biodegradable waste and includes things like branches, woodchip and grass clippings. The majority of our green waste comes from our forest management programme, where we carry out selective felling to enhance the biodiversity of the woodland as a whole.   ♻️As part of the project, students visited Center Parcs Elveden Forest, where they learned more about how we manage recycling and how we care for the forest.   📣Sam said: “I never thought I’d be doing something like this, but I’ve really enjoyed working with the students. They were really engaged and have produced a fantastic sculpture to form part of the Sculpture Trail.”   🦋As an added bonus, everyone who completes the Sculpture Trail will get a packet of wildflower seeds, which will help improve the biodiversity of the local area and provide vital food for bees, butterflies and other pollinators.   🚒You can see the sculpture outside Thetford Fire Station until 4th September 2024, and you can find out more about our forest management here: https://lnkd.in/eBF44hkW 🍃

📣 We’ve been nominated in the British Travel Awards 2024! We have been nominated for two categories: Best Company for UK Family Holidays and Best Company for UK Short Breaks. If you vote, you’ll be automatically entered into a travel prize draw with some amazing prices available 👏 Voting closes on 29 September, to vote visit: https://lnkd.in/eJ6nN2wa

Elveden Forest is celebrating 35 years of making family memories 🌲 We hear from Kitchen Manager Alan Peacefull, who has worked at the village since it opened in 1989. “I started working at Center Parcs in July 1989 as a Junior CPD (now known as a Line Cook) in the main kitchen. The progression of my career has been a real motivation for me, Elveden Forest has changed so much since I started, and it’s great to have been part of it since the start. “What I love most about my role is the team around me and the opportunities that Center Parcs gives you. My family also love the business and eventually worked here too! My daughter works in the leisure department and my son also worked there for a time.” To find out more about Elveden Forest, visit: https://lnkd.in/eXC4GAS6

🚲Today is Cycle to Work Day, but for thousands of our colleagues, every Monday and Friday is Cycle at Work Day! 🧹Most of our amazing team of Housekeepers use bikes to travel around the village on our changeover days, using special baskets to carry their supplies. 🍃Using pedal power means we have fewer vehicles travelling round our villages, keeping our roads as car-free as possible and reducing our carbon footprint. 🚚You might see a few housekeeping vans travelling around our villages – they are delivering and collecting linen. Unfortunately, as this is so heavy, we haven’t yet found a way to do this via bike! However, we’re working towards having a 100% electric or hybrid fleet of vehicles by 2030. To find out more about our sustainable travel, visit: https://lnkd.in/e2d48KhQ

Our Chief People Officer, Cathryn Petchey, has been getting to grips with the logistics of running a village. Cathryn spent the weekend with Duty Manager Victoria Kite at Center Parcs Whinfell Forest in Cumbria, seeing the amazing work that goes on behind the scenes so that she can make sure we're supporting our people in the best way.

It’s an exciting time for Longford Forest, following its recent expansion announcement, and today marks five years since it opened its doors 🌲 To celebrate, a show-stopping LEGO® replica of the Subtropical Swimming Paradise was positioned outside of the real-life venue for guests to admire. The model was built by internationally renowned Lego artists and former ‘LEGO® Masters’ contestants, Jessica, and Faolán Farrell from Rathangan, Co. Kildare, who spent 105 days building the model using 55,667 bricks. Since opening, the village has welcomed over 830,000 guests and is expecting to welcome its millionth this year. Here are a few of our other favourite facts…   ⛳🧗 Adventure Golf and Indoor Climbing Adventure are the most popular outdoor and indoor activities, respectively 🍔Huck’s American Bar & Grill is the favourite restaurant among guests 🧖♀️ More than 69,000 guests have visited Aqua Sana for a spa day since opening 🐿️ Longford Forest is home to seven of the nine animal species found in Ireland, including the red squirrel and pine marten To find out more, visit: https://lnkd.in/ewGaR5hY

👋Meet our Ecology & Biodiversity Manager, Richard Watson. Richard joined Center Parcs on 27th June 1994 and is celebrating 30 years with the company.    🌊His first role was working in the Lagoon Bar (now Canopy Café Bar) in the Subtropical Swimming Paradise at Center Parcs Longleat Forest. It was his first job out of university (and he even met his wife while working at Center Parcs!) 🍃Eight months later, he moved into the Grounds Services team as a Grounds Assistant and worked his way up through the team, working as a Ranger and Senior Ranger, before becoming Grounds Manager in 2006. In 2011, he moved to our Head Office and took on the role of Landscape Asset Manager and, in 2023, moved into his current role. 🔨During his career with Center Parcs, Richard has been involved in the construction of two new villages (Woburn Forest and Longford Forest), ensuring the woodland is protected and sensitively managed through construction and beyond, as well as being involved in smaller construction projects at our existing villages. 🌲He’s also overseen two reviews of our Forest Management Plans, our 10-year plans for each of our forests, covering biodiversity, forest management and technical information, and been involved in a plethora of projects from supporting annual forest management work to ensuring we retain The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark each year. 👍Thank you for all your commitment over the last 30 years Richard!