April 2021
Issue no 2
Mersea Island Holiday Park presents
Park Life
What’s happening at
Nathan Roots
General Manager
Happy Easter and welcome to our April 2021 owners newsletter, with all fingers crossed for Mersea Island re-opening for overnight stays on the 12th of April and welcoming you & your family back for good. Within this newsletter you’ll find re-opening times, park news, competition winners, updates on our 2021 exclusive owner events and more. For the 2021 season fast approaching, everyone’s been busy getting the park ready and looking lovely for re-opening. We are committed to ensuring your time here is the very best it can be, and I hope we are in for the best year yet. We have some team news with some new leadership team members to introduce you to. Alex is our new Commercial Manager, and we also have Paul, our new Park Services Manager.
See a little message from Alex & Paul over on page 9, and if you see them on park they’d love you to say hello! 2021’s holidays bookings are strong, so if you would like to take advantage of that and sublet your holiday home through us with our hassle-free sublet scheme, please send us your letting dates in as soon as possible to take advantage of the demand and help towards your own running costs. We can’t wait to welcome you and your family back over the coming weeks.
Easter HAPPY
Follow us on social media
@MerseaIslandAwayResorts
@AwayResortsUK
@AwayResortsHolidays
Exciting news for our Away Resorts family, we have a new park.
St Ives Bay Holiday Park We are thrilled to announce our new park acquisition of a popular and long-established holiday park located on the north Cornish coast near Hayle and St Ives Bay. The 120-acre St Ives Bay Holiday Park has been in family ownership since 1962 and is nestled amongst the sand dunes with direct beach access and enjoying wide-ranging views towards St Ives. With 800 well-appointed chalets, static caravans and camping pitches, the park will become one of our eight much-loved resorts. This exciting change of hands of St Ives Bay Holiday Park from the current owner to Away Resorts will see continued investment in the resort to build on the excellent foundation that the current team have created over the years. In addition, Away Resorts proposes to start offering holiday home ownership at St Ives Bay in line with other parks in the portfolio, enabling families to enjoy regular breaks away.
Carl Castledine, CEO of Away Resorts, commented: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to add St Ives Bay Holiday Park to our expanding portfolio of parks across the UK and are proud to be investing more into this industry, even during these challenging economic times. Staycations are going to be just as vital this year and beyond as they have been in 2020 and we can’t wait to welcome customers, new and existing, to this amazing new park.”
St Ives Bay is perched right on the shorefront with access to a private 3-mile stretch of sandy beach, perfect to relax on, or to get active in the water and enjoy water sports, surfing, swimming and paddling in the turquoise clear sea on the north Cornish coast. From grandparents to grandchildren, St Ives Bay caters for everyone with a great range of facilities; an indoor heated pool, crazy golf, outdoor playground, sportscourt, tennis, daily activities, evening family entertainment, a shop for daily essentials, and delicious food and drinks in the bar & restaurant with outdoor seating to catch the gorgeous sunsets. St Ives Bay is a place to reconnect with family and soak in the sea views, it has lovely local areas around Hayle to explore and the Godreyy Lighthouse views, and there are plenty of other nearby local attractions to discover too with St Ives Harbour Beach, Porthminster Beach, the Tate St. Ives, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Penzance Minack Theatre, and Land’s End, just to name a few. For the latest updates about the new park keep your eyes peeled on Third Place Social your owners Facebook page.
Any families who feel they may be interested in a holiday home at St Ives Bay or part exchanging to St Ives Bay, please register your interest online at www.awayresorts.co.uk/holiday-homes/st-ives-bay
Owners ‘Sporting Stars’ last lockdown quiz! Fingers crossed we are at the last hurdle and are sprinting towards re-opening in the coming weeks! We had some lovely feedback on our previous ‘Birds of Britain’ Lockdown Quiz, so here is another one to keep you entertained until we see you again. If you’re a sports fanatic get stuck into this ultimate home sporting challenge. All the clues below are ‘sporting stars from past and present’, and we have even included the genre of sport they are from and letter of the sports stars’ first names to make things a bit easier! Clue
Sport
First name initial
1
Favourite mint
Tennis
A
2
Makes up the fire
Cricket
B
3
Scottish Captain is a pig
Rugby
S
4
He has dark hair
Boxing
F
5
Source of many problems
Cricket
J
Used to cull foxes
Motor Sports
J
7
Makes barrels
Boxing
H
8
Could be after spouse number 2
Golf
D
9
One of the Scottish Clans
Motor Sports
J
6
10 11
The grade of Silver Helps to get upstairs
Football Athletics
Here is an example:
eg
Clue
Sport
Many trees
Golf
First name initial
Your answer
T
Tiger Woods
Answers will be revealed on our owners Facebook page ‘Mersea Island Owners, The Third Place Social’ on Friday 23rd April. Good luck!
Your answer
Clue
Sport
31
Could be rising or sitting
Cycling
L
32
German cobbler
Motor Sports
M
33
Anglo Saxon who grew flax
Football
G
34
Shout to get attention
Cycling
C
35
Angry camels do this
Swimming
M
36
Using your head as a weapon
Football
N
37
7 days a week
Diving
T
38
On top of the pile
Football
G
First name initial
39
Oliver wanted this
Football
B
R
40
You cannot be serious
Tennis
J
R
41
German castle
Tennis
B
42
Centre of Excellence abbreviated
Athletics
S
43
Brother's and sister's children
Skating
R
44
Was favourite for holidays
Athletics
D
45
Provides ground water
Athletics
A
46
Walk through water
Tennis
V
47
Look after others' children
Athletics
B
48
Edible seaweed
Tennis
R
49
Sailor's favourite
Horse Racing
R
50
More noise
Motor Sports
N
51
Tried to soar and came last
Winter Sports
E
52
Skippered Britannia to try and conquer America
Sailing
B
53
British beef all round
Cricket
I
54
England's symbol
Golf
J
55
12
Borders the Red Sea
Basketball
M
13
Shortened is an American Beer
Football
D
14
Used to reload the gun
Athletics
U
15
Happens to the kitchen when the kids cook
Football
L
16
Not attached to this Rolling Stone
Motor Sports
S
17
Formula 1 team
Tennis
S
18
Police (slang)
Football
T
19
Result of touching something hot
Cricket
F
20
Town in Somerset
Cycling
C
21
The hand of god
Football
D
22
After April showers
Boxing
F
23
Less than a mountain
Motor Sports
D
24
Tree sung by you too
Boxing
A
25
Noise a horse makes second
Football
J
26
See how many answers you can guess and share this with your family & friends to try and get every single one.
Make yourself less visible
Football
Where we live
Athletics
K
27
Result of pumping iron
Cycling
L
56
Male ruler
Equestrian
M
28
A tale well told
Cycling and Swimmer
S
57
The French world
Cycling
G
58
29
Choose to opt out in protest
Cricket
G
Stings like a bee
Boxing
M
59
Swat for exams
Athletics
S
60
Welsh peninsular
Cricket
D
30
Use this sword to shave
Rugby
P
J
Your answer
We’ve got an app too! View your bills | Make payments | Book your activities Request owner services* (gas bottle, safety testing, drain down)
A website just for you! How to activate and access your online owners account As an owner, you can access our website created just for you. There are some useful areas on your owner’s website, to help you along with your ownership journey. Such as your owner events calendar, to help you plan your stays with us, owners newsletters to keep up to date with all park news, and there is an online account payments area for you to easily keep track of your account, whenever you like and wherever you are. You will be sent an account number and activation code via email soon after becoming an owner with us. Once you have this please login to the activation page using the details below; Account activation: awayresorts.co.uk/owner-accounts/
On the app, it’s now even easier to manage your accounts! Download the Away Resorts app to view bills, make payments, view park information, book leisure activities, request maintenance services, purchase additional services such as gas bottles, order food and drinks, and you can even *submit your sublet dates now too! The Away Resorts App is available to download from Google Play and the App Store. All you will need is your username and your password to login, this will be the same username and password you use for your online owners account. Please note the app is dedicated just for owners and therefore requires you to activate your account online before being granted with full, secure access.
You will need to login and activate your account online initially on www.
awayresorts.co.uk/ owner-accounts/ before using the app.
For full details please read our page to the left on how to activate and access your online owners account. Remember your username will be your email address associated with your account and if you are a joint owner you’ll share the same username and password to login. If you have any issues whilst using the app please contact owner-accounts@ awayresorts.co.uk. You can also leave us some feedback within the app too, we’d be happy to hear from you with anything we can improve on or help you with.
Download our app today! *Currently you are unable to manage your sublet dates on the app.
Please select the first option by clicking on ‘I would like to activate my owners account.’ This will then take you through to the ‘Your details’ page where you’ll need to fill in your name, the park name, your account number and your email address. Please note, it is very important that the email address you use is the one we have already on record, which will then later become your future username. If you are a joint owner you will share the same username and password for your account. Trouble logging into your account: If you have any trouble logging in to your owners account, click on “I can no longer access my owners account” this will take you through a few steps to see if we can get you logged back in quickly, alternatively if this doesn’t fix it then please email us your account ID and email address to owner-accounts@awayresorts co.uk and we’ll get right back to you to help you gain access. If you haven’t received your activation code or instructions yet? Please visit our self-activation page online and click “I would like to activate my owners account.” Once you have provided your account number and details, you will be emailed your activation instructions and code. If you still haven’t received anything, please call Owner Services and check your email address matches the one we have on account. What can you do on your owners account? Once you have successfully logged in on https://owners.awayresorts.co.uk/login/ sit back, relax and go and take a look around. You’ll see your payments so you can keep on top of your account, view your bills, make payments, and you’ll be able to pre-book your activities too.
Your 2021 Events Calendar... Further to the latest government advice, we are hugely disappointed to say that we have had to cancel all owner events until June, and we have been forced to postpone this year’s Music Weekender at Mersea Island Holiday Park on 28th – 29th May 2021. Whilst our park is open during this period with selected facilities and activities available, yours and our team’s safety is our number one priority. The good news is that we have been able to re-arrange our Music Weekender for later in the year, should you wish to join us. The new date for this event is 13th – 14th August 2021, meaning it combines with our infamous Colour Festival on the 15th, and we would absolutely love to see our owners there. We do have lots of other events planned and we are determined to make 2021 a great year. As well as our big park events we also have brand new exclusive owner events lined up. Fingers crossed these will go ahead! All events are of course subject to change & government guidance.
April
August
Saturday 17th April Party at Home 7pm - 8pm Third Place Social Live Online Event Join us to celebrate re-opening! Whether you’re at home or in your holiday home, join in the fun with great prizes & live entertainment!
Music Weekender Open to all park guests Friday 13th – Saturday 14th August Eat. Drink. Dance. Repeat. Pop up food & drinks stalls, a DJ, plus bands to get your toes tapping and hands clapping.
June
Colour Festival Open to all park guests Sunday 15th August Back, bigger, and more colourful than ever! Dance your way through the enormous amount of colour and paint the sky a beautiful rainbow!
Coffee Morning Tuesday 1st June Muddy Duck - from 10am Toasty Tuesday Tuesday 8th June Muddy Duck - from 10am Coffee Morning Tuesday 15th June Muddy Duck - from 10am Owners Pool Party Saturday 26th June More details to follow
July
Cheese and Wine Tasting Saturday 3rd July Muddy Duck from 2pm Coffee Morning Tuesday 6th July Muddy Duck - from 10am Caricatures & Cocktails Saturday 10th July Enjoy a live performer, delicious cocktails and take home a caricature version of yourself! Muddy Duck from 6pm Toasty Tuesday Tuesday 13th July Muddy Duck - from 10am Nature Walk Sunday 25th July From 2pm More details coming soon
Rest assured
Cream Pie Fight Open to all park guests Sunday 29th August You know the story by now surely? We throw the biggest amount of cream pie at eachother for lots of messy, messy fun!
September
Coffee Morning Tuesday 7th September Muddy Duck - from 10am Macmillan Coffee Morning Friday 24th September Muddy Duck - from 10am
October
Coffee Morning Tuesday 12th October Muddy Duck - from 10am Toasty Tuesday Tuesday 19th October Muddy Duck - from 10am
November
Coffee Morning Saturday 6th November Muddy Duck - from 10am Owners End of Season Party Saturday 20th November Muddy Duck - 8pm till late
After a challenging year we are dedicated to ensuring our owners time here is the best it can be in 2021 and far beyond. These events are all subject to change and government pandemic guidelines, ensuring all social distancing measures still in place will be adhered to for everyone’s safety. We can’t wait to catch up with you all on park soon.
Join our owners subletting community today! Throughout 2019 and 2020, we have paid out over £130k to our holiday home owners. £134,2 0
9.24
Owners at M Holiday Pa ersea Island rk
Subletting our holiday home through Away Resorts with the team at Mersea Island has been easy and hassle free. We know that our holiday home is being looked after by the team and is consistently let throughout the season on the dates we provide. Five-star service and will absolutely be using the scheme again this year. - Ms J Jeffrey
Talk to us today to find out how easy it is to sign up and start off-setting your running costs. Income through our Managed Letting Scheme can not be guaranteed due to variable factors including, but not limited to, number of weeks provided, dates of weeks provided and holidaymaker cancellations.
Fancy £500, £750 £1000 off your pitch fees?
or
A great many of the Holiday Home Owners here at Mersea Island have joined us because they were recommended to the park by their friends or family members. You can’t keep a good thing secret for long! Love is… a holiday home! If you find yourself falling in love with Mersea Island and always counting down the minutes until your next visit, then you may also find yourself telling your nearest and dearest about it too. Whether you want to enjoy holidays with family or friends or you just want them to have as much fun as you do, don’t hide your light under a bushel. For a start, the bushel might spontaneously combust from your excitement. Secondly, it’s nice to share.
What is The Third Place Social? The Third Place social is our exclusive owners Facebook page where you can hear the very latest park news, get to know the neighbours, and ask us any questions.
How about £1,000 in Pitch Fee Credits? Do we have a deal for you? You bet! If you recommend a friend who becomes a holiday home owner here at Mersea Island then you get some additional benefits. Not only can you enjoy holidays together, we will give you an account credit of £500 once they have taken over their holiday home. The second person you refer will earn you £750 and the third is worth a whopping £1,000. Bring your friends and help save on your pitch fees. For referrals to escalate, all sales must be complete within a 12-month period.
In 1989, Ray Oldenburg published a book about civil society, democracy and civil engagement. Oldenburg suggests that for a healthy existence, citizens must live in a balance of three realms: home life which is the first place, the workplace which is the second and the inclusively sociable places which are the third.
How it works All you have to do is complete an owner referral form and send it in to us and let us do the rest. Alternatively, you can bring them along or even call to make an appointment for them. Simple!
You’re probably wondering what has this got to do with Away Resorts? We want to make Away Resorts the ‘third place’ in your life – A place to relax, a place for new friends, and for you to be a part of our community, we are one big family here. How do I join? Join us on Facebook! Search for Mersea Island Owners, The Third Place Social, answer a couple of questions and once checks have been done to ensure you are an owner, one of our Ownership Team will grant you access.
No hard sell promise Yuck, don’t you hate a hard sell? We do too. It’s not our way. We think we have a great offering which doesn’t need a hard-ball pitch because you don’t need a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. We promise that we will treat your referrals with absolute respect and courtesy and that includes giving them the option to say ‘no thanks’. No pressure.
Save water & reduce your carbon footprint Alarmingly, it is predicted that we will not have sufficient water supplies by 2050 at these current rates, so let’s all do our bit to help protect our planet with a simple way to conserve our water. By adding a flow regulator to your showers you will be helping the environment, and we are pleased to say that we have these available on park, so next time you are here please pop into Guest Services for more information, every little bit helps!
Spot the difference Scratch has been up to no good again! He’s hidden ten things from one of these pictures, can you help Bear and Lucy spot the difference?
Capture Club 2021 started off with a bang! Although you were all missing visiting the park, we had loads of amazing capture club competition entries of your memories. The January Capture club winner was...Karen Brodrick! Karen submitted this lovely photo of her and her beautiful granddaughter on a short break they had together last year. Karen said she is so missing their lovely holiday home. We can’t wait to welcome our owners back to Mersea Island very soon & we hope Karen enjoys her prize a £30 voucher to treat herself to some food and drinks in The Muddy Duck!
The February Capture Club winner was...Jackie Wells The theme was ‘throwback memories at Mersea Island’ to celebrate Away Resort’s 13th birthday & our 13 years of making holiday experiences. Congratulations to Jackie who submitted this stunning Mersea sunset view below, Jackie won a Prosecco & Chocolate Goodie Bag!
Head over to Third Place Social for the winner of our March Capture Club & look out for April’s Capture Club competition coming soon!
Hot tub housekeeping Pitch alterations and improvements sign off form Pitch alterations and improvements sign off form For any pitch alterations and improvements please pop into Guest Services for a pitch improvement form, and hand it back into the office for sign off before any alterations to your pitch can go ahead.
Meet our new team members Alex Staff Commercial Manager
Hi I am Alex the new Commercial Manager here at the beautiful Mersea Island. I was born in Basildon but have been living and working in Colchester for the last 4 years managing bingo halls, pubs, bars, and restaurants! I can not wait for this lovely park to open soon and to be able to meet all of our owners, please do come and say hello if you see me.
Alex Paul Hare Park Services Manager
Hi everyone, it’s great to be here at Mersea Island. I have been blown away with how stunning it is here! My aim will be to keep it looking great across the whole park and keeping all of our fabulous accommodation in tip top condition too. I am a Holiday Home Owner myself on another park so I know just how important it is to keep things perfect (but I do wish I found this park first as I would have chosen here to own instead!) Really looking forward to meeting you all soon.
Paul
If you have a hot tub, we want you and your family and friends to use and enjoy it safely. It is important to be aware of the potential risks that can arise. Hot tubs are a recognised source of diseases and there have been a number of recorded outbreaks of Legionnaires which have included fatalities linked to poorly designed and/or managed hot tubs. Legionnaires is usually caught by breathing in small droplets of contaminated water. This means that other park guests may be exposed to it even if they are not using your hot tub. We expect you to maintain your hot tubs to ensure the safety for all. The Health & Safety Executive guidance document is available to be downloaded for free from hse.gov.uk/legionnaires/spa-pools We also advise you to follow any other recommendations from the hot tub manufacturer and/or the supplier. Please note that if you are subletting your holiday home, you will be deemed to be undertaking a commercial operation and your legal responsibilities with regards to the management of hot tubs will be more stringent. For more information on your responsibilities or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Private Sublets If you privately let your holiday home we now need you to notify us by using the new Private Letting Agreement Form. Please pick this up from Owner Services, and return it at your earliest convenience, as well as your up to date gas and electric certificates, in order for your guests to make the most of their stay and be permitted to purchase passes. Unfortunately we will be unable to issue any passes to guests if the certificates are out of date. Gas certificates are required every year and electric certificates every three years. If your guests are wishing to purchase Guest Passes they will be asked for the accommodation address and our Holiday Heroes will check the size of the accommodation on our system and charge the correct price according to the number of bedrooms and duration of stay. To avoid disappointment and to make sure your guests have an enjoyable stay from start to finish we do advise that you inform your guests of the correct guest passes price before arrival, and just let them know that they’ll need these passes to gain access into our venues and facilities, thank you.
Wanted! Star in Owner
Testimonials
Win a £25 Gift Card to spend on Park! We want to hear what was it that sold your lovely holiday home here to you? Was it the fresh air and beach strolls? Was it because of the local area? Or was it you simply fell head over heels in love with your new home-from-home & pitch? What was your main reason you bought your holiday home at Mersea Island? The best answers will win a £25 gift card to spend on park! Please email us on: holidayhomes@awayresorts. co.uk by Monday 26th April to enter, with the email title as ‘Why I bought at Mersea Island’.
our Away Resorts Mersea Island 2021 video & receive a complementary 2 night off-peak stay at another one of our Away Resorts parks!
Calling all owners! We are on the search for some lovely owners who would like to star in our next Mersea Island video. Families, couples and singles we would love to hear from you, film your holiday home, and ask you a few questions about why you chose Mersea Island as your homefrom-home. Please email us on: holidayhomes@ awayresorts.co.uk by Monday 26th April to enter, with the email title as ‘Mersea Island Filming’.
We can’t wait to receive your answers and reasons in.
Fancy a holiday?
Manchester Lincoln
Barmouth Bay
Tattershall Lakes Boston West Birmingham
Don’t forget as an owner you receive 10% off any holiday booking at Away Resorts holiday parks’
Mersea Island Cardiff Bristol
Just call 0330 053 7000, quote your name, park and owner account number for your discount. Discounts are subject to availability, and you, our lovely owner, must be present on the holiday. Visit awayresorts.co.uk and see what takes your fancy! St Ives Bay
London
Sandy Balls Mill Rythe Plymouth
Whitecliff Bay
Re-opening times from 12th April Following on from government updates fingers crossed we can re-open for overnight stays from Monday 12th April. We wanted to remind you that from April 12th there will still be some restrictions in place to follow guidelines and keep everybody safe. 12th April – 16th May • You must stay in your holiday home and in your household bubble • Takeaway food and drink will be outdoor table service • Our indoor venues must remain closed • Our outdoor play areas & swimming pool will be open. You will need to book ahead for the pool restricted sessions. • You may meet another household or up to six people in outside areas but this is not allowed in your holiday home.
Fancy a tipple? How to order: 1. Please take a seat outside 2. O ne of our team will come to take your order
The Muddy Duck No booking required (Open for outside Table Service only) 9am - 10pm Sunday - Thursday 9am - 11pm Friday & Saturday At this time we can only offer outdoor table service; so once you have been seated by our host, sit back, relax and we’ll come to you! No reservations are being taken at this time - service is on a first come, first served basis. For your own safety, please ensure you are adhering to all current covid-19 guidance. Indoor Swimming Pool Book at the Muddy Duck 9am - 5pm, 7 days a week (9am – 10am Owners Swim) Due to reduced capacity in the pool and high demand, we advise pre-booking your swim sessions. All swim sessions are 45 minutes long. You will have a 15-minute grace period to arrive for your session before it will be made available to other guests. We politely request that you arrive at the pool ‘swimready’ however changing room facilities will be available. Our toilets and showers within the facility will also be open. Social distancing must continue to be adhered to in and around the pool. The Shop Sun - Thu: 9am - 5pm Fri - Sat: 9am - 8pm For your own safety, please ensure you are adhering to all current covid-19 guidance.
3. Stay at your table as much as possible 4. P lease wash and sanitise your hands regularly 5. O ur toilets have a one in, one out policy to aid with distancing 6. P lease use contactless payments where possible 7. W e currently aren’t taking bookings due to limited capacity, although our team will do our best to ensure everyone can be accommodated.
Our on-site Convenience Shop is now open until 8pm on Fridays & Saturdays!
Time for an upgrade? Fancy something newer, bigger, shinier or perhaps a new location on park? See our fantastic selection of some of the holiday homes available, and if you don’t see something you fancy, please ask for more options!
2021 New Willerby Langbrook 40ft x 12ft Bedrooms: 3
2021 New A.B.I Ambleside 42ft x 14ft Bedrooms: 2
2019 A.B.I Bramshaw III XL 40ft x 12ft Bedrooms: 3
2018 Willerby Avonmore 38ft x 12ft Bedrooms: 2
2015 Willerby Salsa Eco 35ft x 12ft Bedrooms: 3
2021 New A.B.I Forest Oak 40ft x 12ft Bedrooms: 2
It’s so easy to part exchange…
You could be enjoying your new holiday home as soon as the park reopens! †
1
Decide if you fancy something different and take a look at some of the lovely holiday homes available.
3
If you love the quote and choose to upgrade, you could start enjoying your new holiday home as the park reopens!†
2
Grab your non-obligation quote, including information about funding packages available*
4
Kick back, relax and snuggle up in your home from home and question why you didn’t do it sooner!
Please call 01206 383 252 or text ‘MER’ to 84840 for your no-obligation upgrade quote today *Finance subject to status written details available on request. Away Resorts Ltd is a licensed credit broker authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. ^Terms and conditions apply to Warranty+. Please see website for more details. †Subject to availability.