For the past three years, the Caravan and Motorhome Club has been accredited by Green Tourism. In 2022, the Club received bronze and silver awards. In 2023, the Club’s head office and three sites received gold, while the rest received silver. In 2024, we had 122 gold sites, with head office continuing to obtain gold and 28 of our remaining sites receiving silver.
Each year, a lot of work is undertaken at both head office and the whole Club Campsite network. The Club has been using Green Tourism to baseline our sustainability initiatives and ensure no area is missed or overlooked. The work begins as soon as the scores are received by analysing where we can improve and areas that need extra work.
In 2022, Green Tourism established that while we were doing a lot on our sites for biodiversity, with no-mow zones, bug hotels, and many other wildlife-designated areas, we were not tracking and monitoring the effect this was having on wildlife. Therefore, we began a wildlife campaign to better track and monitor biodiversity across our Club Campsite network and better care for the wildlife that calls our sites home. When visiting our sites now, guests can find a wildlife tracking poster where they can inform other guests about the wildlife they managed to see during their stay. We also started collecting images from those visiting our sites of what they managed to see and take photos of. We hope to use these to inform wildlife lovers which sites to visit and better understand how we can ensure wildlife continues to thrive across our network.
In 2023, we also found that our water scores were lower than others in the planet section. While we always want to work on and conserve water, we realised it was falling behind other areas in the planet section. The Club began a water trial to see what water-saving technology might suit our sites. Our two trial sites are Black Knowl and Tewkesbury Abbey. The trial involves:
- Waterless urinals (saving 100% of the water used)
- Low flow sensor taps
- Reduced flow sensor laundry and wash-up taps – These taps are aerated to allow pressure to wash, but they still reduce water use by over 50%
- Sensor toilet flush and reduced cistern water – more hygienic and reduces the amount of water used when the toilet is flushed
- In two of the inclusive rooms at Black Knowl, we are also testing low-flow, aerated shower heads
- Finally, at Black Knowl, a leak detection and temperature monitor was fitted to understand the efficiency benefits of this technology
During the trial, we aim to reduce the water use at the facility blocks by around 40%. While we already wanted to work on reducing the amount of water used at our sites, Green Tourism also confirmed that this was an area that needed further improvement. Our sites have also been extremely busy improving their sites and relaying what initiatives they have been working on to Green Tourism. We help guide the sites from the Head Office but also give them autonomy to implement what is best suited to their sites. We held meetings over Zoom to give our sites ideas and guide them to improve biodiversity and water scores. We also visited sites across the network to guide them further and to encourage and help motivate the sites.
We love seeing all the amazing ideas and how they implement them across their sites. From 2023-2024 we wanted to encourage work looking after wildlife and biodiversity. During the submissions, it was amazing to hear some of the great things implemented to improve biodiversity and encourage wildlife.
At Sandringham Club Campsite, one of the site managers is a wildlife photographer. Therefore, we encouraged his bird photography, and he went on to display these photographs in the information room. This helped track the birds found in the local vicinity and also helped educate those staying on-site about the different birds. Other sites have done different things to further promote biodiversity. Such as Incleboro Fields who have created a lovely display to also highlight the amazing birds you can see while staying on site. Coed-Y-Llwyn have gone a step further by looking after some baby birds that have hatched in their workshop. While Grafham have focused on other wildlife such as hedgehogs with their hedge passage.
These are just some of the additional initiatives that our site network has been carrying out throughout the year to support wildlife. These initiatives help us track and monitor the wildlife living on our sites, which in turn contributes to the Club’s Green Tourism scores.
At the Club, we are committed to enabling our members to fully enjoy the great outdoors and ensuring that we are moving in the right direction. We are excited to see the upcoming initiatives from our sites and are looking forward to achieving even more.
