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  • Regional News and Information

    BN has six regions that provide a vital local focus to BN's members and activities. To find out about news and events in your region please visit one of our regional pages:

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  • Guest

    A North West GBSD Outreach

    By Guest, in North West,

    Expanding GBSD in the North West and beyond!
    Ever thought you could possibly make a difference by volunteering to help and always wanted to get involved with helping British Naturism move forward in our region? If so there are lots of venues out there that haven’t yet been approached to hold naked swimming sessions in their swimming pools. If we don’t knock on doors they won’t open! There are currently too few volunteers attempting to expand and create within a region  that stretches from Birmingham to the Borders and from Macclesfield to Millom!
    Although The GBSD campaign is flourishing and now an all year round campaign,, we really need more people to help out throughout all of our region and beyond, probing for new venues here and there, asking local pools or lidos if they can accommodate us for a Great British Skinny Dip event and eventually encouraging venues into welcoming us on a monthly basis. If you feel you can make a difference in the region, you will have enormous back up support and find Team GBSD inspirational to work with, as I have found myself.
    Interested, but not confident enough to make an approach? Then we will support you all the way by making the official ground breaking initial contact until you want to become involved. Have you seen a sparsely populated swimming pool recently? Then why not ask about turning this quiet period, which most venues have, into a Naturist session. That’s exactly how the Wigton swim was created – A venue run by Trustees with a cash shortage will always listen to alternative ways of raising cash and the Wigton Trustees certainly have no regrets. Alternatively, if you want to pass on to me a suggested venue and don’t wish to get involved, then please do so. I will check out all suggestions and follow all leads.
    View North West News online
    Ron O’Hare (Campaigns Task Force)
    Email: campaigns@bn.org.uk
     

  • Guest
    Spectrum Naturist Club – A weekly swim gem!
    Having a business rendezvous in Birmingham, we decided to take the chance to visit the superbly rated Spectrum swim, a club based on the south side of Birmingham and one we hadn’t covered previously. The club meets every Saturday evening in the Morris Centre which is the leisure facility for NHS staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
    Transport to the site is excellent. The University Railway station on the Cross City line is a mere 500 metres away, and a free car park is a similar distance away. For anyone with special needs there’s a disabled car park opposite the Morris Centre. The site is also well served by buses.
    On arrival we were met by friendly members of the club and relieved of a mere £5.00 each for the evening. We were shown around and discovered the Centre has a 22 metre pool, two saunas, two squash courts and a large gym. We could be naked everywhere except in the gym. Along the end of a corridor we discovered what is known as the dance studio. This is an important room for the club which becomes a social hub where free refreshments are available at every meeting.
    On one Saturday a month the room is used for a naked yoga session and on another tai chi. On a further evening the club has a social evening with a different food theme. Examples have been strawberries and cream, Italian, casseroles and Mexican evening. We were told these evenings are always popular and for an addition entrance charge of three pounds each, sounds like great value too!
    We asked about the membership and ambitions of the club and we were told the club has over 150 members and lately more ladies have joined with their partners, although like most clubs, men are in the majority. The weekly attendance varies between 30 and on a busy night 60. The club does not discriminate. We asked if visitors could just turn up at the door and were informed the membership secretary needed to be contacted first. This is due to an agreement with the Centre Management. The one thing the club misses which was available at their previous venue, now demolished, is a steam room. The club are hoping this will be a project for the Centre in time.
    The club keeps in touch with its members by email and a monthly newsletter. They also have a presence on Facebook.
    Originally the Centre was apprehensive about the club advertising its presence outside the naturist community. The Great British Skinny Dip proved to be a small breakthrough as the club were allowed to advertise the event within the Centre. Not only was that evening a success, there is now a permanent poster about the club on the Centre notice board. There was also a short article about naturism in the Birmingham Evening Mail, which included a mention of the club.
    We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Spectrum and will return at the first opportunity to this super friendly club. If you’d like to visit you will find the club details at www.spectrumclub.org.uk and in the listing inside the BN magazine and on the BN website.
    View North West News online
    Ron & Elizabeth O'Hare.
     

     
  • Guest
    The autumn regional meeting took place today and was held at the Commercial Pub in Chapeltown, North Sheffield. Those who have been attending these meetings for some time will recall that we’ve been here before and some of us had a meal after the meeting on previous occasions. This tradition continued today and we enjoyed a meal and a natter. I can recommend the steak and ale pie with a heavy portion of meat crammed into the pie dish.
    We first discovered this pub after being recommended by one of the lifeguards at the Chapeltown Baths a couple of miles away – we’d gone there after hearing a new swim was to start there. These days the swim has relocated and the site of the old baths was a cleared site when I last saw it.
    At our meeting today members heard of four events taking place next year in the region. First up is Nudestock, the week long flagship event at Candy Farm (May 22nd to 29th) which starts before the late May Bank Holiday and continues through to the following Friday. Also at Candy Farm is the BN Families’ Weekend from the 26th to 28th June. Details for this are still under consideration. There will be more on this weekend as we get news.
    For the other events, one is the now annual charity event Bare All for Polar Bears at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster. (July 11th) Further details for this can be found on the calendar pages of the website. A week after this is the visit to the Burrows Gardens near Derby (July 18th). Again details are on the calendar.
    One point which was made early on at the meeting was the success enjoyed at the International Swimming Gala where a very creditable joint 6th place in the overall medal table would have been achieved by the Leeds Naturist Group had they been competing as an individual nation. Brian from LNG also told us that his club had donated £1000 towards the provision of a hoist for disabled swimmers at their Bramley Baths home.
    A special vote of thanks goes to YSS for offering to host the March meeting next year.
  • Guest
    Happy Birthday Wigton! 
    Yes, the Wigton Naturist swim, which is now a permanent monthly Great British Skinny Dip, is almost 12 months old and still going strong. The locals are now supporting this swim in their numbers, taking over the initiative, which was well supported initially by the many friends we have in the North West and Saner regions. The swim still offers amazing value at just £5 per person - please bring I.D. for your first visit.
    The inaugural trial swim was held on the 10th of November 2018 and attracted 53 Naturist from all over the North of England and Scotland. On the approach to the first event, expertly written press releases were distributed from the BN Commercial office, which led to Radio interviews for myself as promoter and a superbly positive interview with Roger Lytolliss from Newsquest in December. The article printed in the Cumbrian News and Star was inspirational and helped to propel the swim positively into 2019.
    I have recently spoken to Roger and asked him if he would be interested in covering the anniversary with a follow up article, he is currently writing the report after I updated him on the progress made, with attendances now in the 20’s replacing the ‘clothed swims’ which attracted only half a dozen at best.
    I must say a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who supported this venture, without your assistance it would have been almost impossible. We hope to see you again on the 9th November when we will be attempting to take in the Wigton GBSD from 2 till 4 pm followed by the Poulton Naturist swim & Spa on the same evening from 7 till 9 pm.
    View North West News online
    Ron O’Hare (Campaigns Task Force)

  • Guest
    As memories of summer fade and we look back on some great times you might think that opportunities to enjoy social nudity are also on the wane - but you’d be wrong!
    There are still plenty of opportunities to enjoy naturism over the autumn and winter months in London and the South-East, and we’re already working on some exciting plans for Spring and Summer 2020
    If swimming is your thing, then why not come along to one of the regular swims we hold across the region - naturist swimming is a great way to discover the freedom of clothes-free recreation, once you’ve tried it once wearing a swimming costume will always seem like a chore!
    We hold regular swims in London,  Eastbourne, Ewell, Southampton and Alton - you’ll be sure of a warm welcome at all these
    If you prefer your naturism a little more ‘free-range’ our friends in Stark Trekkers will be holding walks throughout the autumn and winter months. We have the freedom to enjoy the great outdoors naked, and a naturist walk is a great opportunity to experience this from a different perspective, with some great company thrown in!
    We’ll continue to hold naked Yoga sessions every week throughout the year in London - there are beginners classes and sessions for those with more experience, so there is something for everyone
    We also have an exciting programme of one-off events planned for the next few months - check back here for more information but we’re planning opportunities for naked dining in the heart of central London, monthly social opportunities to meet other naturists if you are new to social nudity and want to find out more and even a boat trip
    To hear more about all of these events, and to get the latest information first why not Join Us
    We’re also working hard with a major national charity to bring you some unique naked events in 2020 - which could be the perfect ‘excuse’ to try naturism for the first time or to get naked in a new location whilst raising money for a very good cause. Watch this space!
    If you want to know more about anything we’re doing - or if you an idea for a naturist event that you’d like us to promote or help you organise do get in touch - jon.williams@bn.org.uk
     

     
     
     
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