Winter is open season for training as Lakes park recruits

Two keen walkers have taken a step forward in their tourism careers after joining the Lake District’s  multi-award winning caravan park.

Sophy Nelson and Lauren Thompson are the latest recruits to the Skelwith Fold Caravan Park’s customer service team which is being strengthened after one of its busiest summers to date.

Although the 450-pitch park will shut in late November for its three month winter closure, family business member Henry Wild says it’s an ideal time to take on new staff:

“Unlike some tourism businesses, parks have many different dimensions – and twelve weeks is an ideal period to provide new members with a thorough grounding,” he said.

“As well as conventional admin training, we like getting all staff involved in our conservation work at the park which we regard as an extremely important aspect of what we do.

“So I’m sure Sophy and Lauren will also be helping with our winter feeding programme for deer, monitoring our red squirrel population, and creating new wildlife habitats,” added Henry.

The park’s raft of environmental initiatives in its 130-acre grounds has once again won it this year the prestigious David Bellamy Conservation Award at its top gold level.

Both of Skelwith Fold’s new team members live in Cumbria and have gained hospitality experience at leading Lake District hotels after leaving local schools.

Henry Wild, whose family business has owned the park for over 20 years, said he expected more staff appointments to be made over the coming months.

All aspects of the park’s operations had fared extremely well this year, he said, including sales of holiday caravans, and glamping in safari tents and luxury woodland hideaways.

Demand for touring pitches was also high, he reported, with motorhomes overtaking in volume the number of touring caravans drawing into the park.

There is more information about Skelwith Fold Caravan Park at www.skelwith.com