The school holidays can often be a tricky time for families. With weeks of free time and children expecting entertainment, it can be difficult to find quality activities to ensure the best time is had not only by your children but by you as well.
For an idea that is both greener and more enterprising than the usual family summer haunts of Legoland or Disney World, the Embercombe Sustainable Parenting Weekend, held on the 14th-16th August, may be the perfect choice.
The weekend, held in a beautiful countryside location near Dartmoor, Devon, is a lovely opportunity for the whole family to relax and appreciate nature. Accommodation is in yurts with your own woodburning stove and handmade oak beds. Home-made organic meals are included and families are encouraged to share the daily task of cooking, as well as joining in seasonal activities, such as gardening or tending the land.
As well as bringing the family together in a relaxed rural space, the weekend also offers the opportunity to reflect on family issues important to you and areas you would like to address, whilst being given the support to do so.
Embercombe is a social enterprise, and its key mission is to inspire committed action for a sustainable world. Raising children to be mindful of eco living is an essential part of its objective. As a parent, you are invited to take time out, to talk with other parents in a structured and focused way, overlooked and guided by experienced family facilitator Joanna Watters.
Watters is a trained teacher, counsellor and parenting facilitator who also runs her own parenting workshops and individual sessions.
Group sizes are deliberately limited to six families per programme to make sure everyone gets the time they need. However, this weekend is not about 'family therapy' or 'crisis management', but rather about having the chance for reflection and renewal.
Prices, which are inclusive of accommodation and food, are £153.00 per individual parent and £47.00 per child for the weekend. More information can be found at www.embercombe.co.uk/parenting. [Florence Buswell]