Tuesday 13thMay 2014

Calvert Trust Exmoor is very pleased to have been awarded Gold in the “Access for All Tourism Award” category and Highly Commended in the “Tourism Experience of The Year” category at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2014, which took place at Cheltenham Racecourse last night.

Calvert Trust Exmoor is a charity running a fully accessible 60 bed residential outdoor activity Centre catering for people with physical, sensory and learning disabilities of all ages and levels of ability, together with their families, friends and carers.  Activities on offer include canoeing, sailing, horse riding, wheelchair abseiling, accessible cycling and archery. Over 3,600 guests took a residential break with Calvert Trust Exmoor last year.  A further 5,000 visited for day activities.

Calvert Trust Exmoor was the only organisation in the country to be a finalist in two categories at last night’s awards, and is also the only Visit England 5 star accredited activity accommodation in the country.

Tony Potter, Chief Executive of Calvert Trust Exmoor; “This is fantastic news that recognises the consistent hard work that all of the Calvert Trust Exmoor team put in to deliver an excellent experience for all our guests.  The South West had a very strong showing last night; it’s been a privilege to be a part of the South West success at these prestigious awards,  to fly the flag for the disabled community and for that to be recognised at national level!”

Commenting on the Award James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive said “We received hundreds of applications of an exceptionally high quality making the competition for a Gold Award extremely tough.  It is therefore a tremendous achievement for Calvert Trust Exmoor to win a Gold Award, the highest accolade for Excellence in Tourism which VisitEngland can bestow.  They have raised the bar for excellence for others to aspire to and I warmly congratulate them on their exemplary contribution to tourism in this country.”

This national award is the culmination of a run of awards for Calvert Trust Exmoor in the last few months, from Gold in the Visit Devon Awards in November 2013, a 1st place and “Winner of Winners” in the North Devon Business Alliance Awards in December, and then two Gold’s and ‘Winner of Winners’ in the South West Tourism Awards in January.