Haven Hits the Spot!

2 January 2008

‘I decided to arrange a bit of get–together for club members,’ said Dave Gisby of Ridgeway Shotokan Karate Club, ‘and it just snowballed!’ 

The Ridgeway Club is part of the county wide Hampshire Shotokan group, affiliated to the Japan Shotokan Karate Association .  They have a number of clubs meeting and training independently  in Hampshire and Dave thought it would be a great idea for them to meet up and spend a weekend training together.

‘You can learn such a lot from each other and a few days more intensive training can really boost your skills,’ he said.  And of course a karate-based weekend away would be a fun social event for club members to enjoy.

Dave approached Haven Holidays who have 35 holiday parks around the UK.   He opted for Littlesea on the Dorset coast so that club members wouldn’t have too far to travel.

The park offers a range of self-catering caravan holiday homes to suit various budgets as well as excellent facilities.   Like all Haven parks Littlesea has a large entertainment venue offering plenty of space for daytime training sessions.  It also has multi-sports courts, heated indoor and outdoor swimming pools, play areas and a full programme of daytime and evening entertainment on offer.

Dave and his wife Amanda (who are both 2nd Dan black belts) ended up with a group of almost twenty caravans, training 30 people in two sessions each day.  The group was large enough for the youngsters and the adults to train separately whilst small enough to ensure that everyone really benefited from the weekend.

Dave, who owns his own caravan at Littlesea said, ‘It was hugely successful - everyone really enjoyed themselves and got a lot out of the training sessions. We put together a whole programme of events for non-participants so there was no chance of anyone getting bored and there was lots to do when we weren’t training.

In the evenings everyone really threw themselves into the entertainment which was great fun.   We didn’t have any negative feedback at all and lots of people have said they’d like to book again next year.’

Dave also praised the park for their help with the event, saying, ‘They bent over backwards to help us.  The accommodation was first class and as close together as possible.  We had use of the venue for training and as much support both before the event and during the weekend as we needed.  It really was a very positive experience.’

With parks all around the UK it’s easy to find a Haven park that is will suit any group – both geographically and with regard to the size and extent of the facilities.  A ‘group’ is anything over five units of accommodation and there are some excellent discounts and support available for larger parties.  It’s even possible to take over an entire park if you have enough people!

For more information about booking a group with Haven Holidays call 0871 230 1911