With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to bite and residential school trips ruled out for the foreseeable future, Calvert Lakes has created a new revenue stream by launching a range of apartments for short or long-term breaks as well as bed and breakfast accommodation for accessible staycations.
“With the new restrictions in place regarding social distancing and household groups there will be fewer residents taking part in activity programmes in the coming months,” explained Justin Farnan, Business Manager (Sales and Marketing) at Calvert Lakes.
“Our fully accessible bed and breakfast accommodation caters for profound and complex disabilities with twins, triples and a quad room,” added Justin.
“Our apartments, available to those with or without disabilities, comprise 3 self-contained 2 bedroom mini-apartments that can each sleep up to 4 people. We are offering this accommodation to charities, organisations or individual families looking for a safe and secure location for people to recuperate following the effects of lockdown on their welfare, wellbeing or mental health.
“In keeping with COVID-19 guidelines, residents will have access to the on-site hydrotherapy pool, sensory room plus communal bar and games room. Very importantly for vulnerable families, there are staff available 24/7 who can be called in case of emergency.”
For over 40 years, Calvert Lakes has been delivering residential breaks for a variety of different groups, including Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools and units.
While the centre has welcomed hundreds of guests since lockdown restrictions were lifted, the government’s ban on school visits in the Autumn has hit revenue projections for the remainder of the year.
More than 95 per cent of primary schools offer at least one residential experience per year; two million young people took part in residential experiences both at home and abroad last year and the school travel sector contributes £700m annually to the economy.
In normal years, Calvert Lakes would expect 3,500 residents taking 12,500 bed nights, with the SEN sector equating to roughly 33% of their visitors. Unsurprisingly school groups tend to come in term time and stay Monday through to Friday and therefore are compressed into 38 weeks of the year, with the centre usually full from the end of February through to mid-November.
Continued Justin Farnan: “Although not anticipating a blanket ban, we assumed that schools were very unlikely to come in the remainder of 2020 anyway, due to lost planning time and health risk concerns. While a major blow, we do have other types of visitors and we are able to adapt moving forward.”
Calvert Lakes will continue to market to the families and adults that already visit the centre, hoping to attract them in larger numbers due to spare capacity. The centre already attracts adult visitors from care homes and supported living complexes, so are very specifically targeting this sector.
Justin added: “With us also reducing the size of our activity groups due to bubbles and social distancing, our ideal visitors are now groups of 6 – 12 people from one household. Care homes are perfect as they will be adults and carers who already live together.
“With our new mini-apartments and B&B accommodation now ready, the centre will be marketed as being an accessible residential location from which to explore the wider Lake District, or for those who just want to relax in a safe and secure environment.
“It is going to be a challenging period and we are more reliant than ever on the loyalty of our guests and the generosity of our supporters.”
The Lake District Trust’s new brain injury rehabilitation centre, Calvert Reconnections, will also open next month after its original launch was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
