As the school holidays begin, the Lake District National Park Authority is gearing up to offer a warm welcome to visitors and provide support for communities in what looks set to be the busiest summer on record.
The National Park Authority, working alongside a range of local partners including Cumbria Tourism, landowners and local councils has taken the following steps to make sure that people can get the most out of their time in the Lake District:
There are now 140 specialist Visitor Welcome Volunteers who will be at key locations throughout the park to be able to give help and advice for first time visitors or those looking to discover a new special place in the Lake District.
Chris Wingrove, Volunteer Team Leader with the Lake District National Park Authority says: “We know that this is going to be a busy summer so we’ll be on hand to advise if an area is very busy and make suggestions about alternative local destinations. We really hope that we’ll be able to help people find a new favourite place in the Lakes rather than sticking to what they already know.
“We can give knowledgeable advice on how to get the most out of your visit – from parking, to the best way to get from A to B, or even where is handy to go for a cup of tea. There will be pop up information stations in some of the busiest spots, so look out for these and come and say hi.”
Charlotte Fuke, Tactical Visitor Management Project Officer for the Lake District National Park will be making sure partners work together to support visitors and residents during this busy time. She said: “I’m delighted to be coordinating the multi-agency team over the summer. I’ve no doubt there will be challenges but with our dedicated team I am sure we can support our communities, businesses and visitors.
“We’d ask people to use saferlakes.co.uk to check real time parking information, have a ‘plan B’ in case the area you were going to is very busy. Please only park within designated car parking areas to keep our narrow roads free for emergency vehicles.”
Additionally a new externally funded Communications Officer has been appointed to manage a multimedia #LakeDistrictKind communications campaign. The campaign will remind people to be kind when they are in the Lake District – kind to our communities, landscapes and wildlife and will ensure that whether people are coming to the Lake District for the first or fortieth time that they know how help protect the landscape they came to enjoy.
The campaign has been developed building on the experience of the last 16 months and feedback from the public, LDNPA staff and volunteers, partners, visitor surveys, other national parks and insights from government to create a flexible messaging framework.
Our photo shows some of the multi-agency Safer Lakes team who will be working throughout the summer to welcome visitors to the Lake District and support communities.
