Marc writes:
Hello to all British Naturists! We are Central Sun Club, and we are Scotland’s newest Naturist club. We are based in central Scotland, between Edinburgh and Glasgow in a stunning 14-acre woodland site.
Central Sun Club was founded by a group of Naturists from Scotland who felt our country did not have enough dedicated spaces to practice Naturism, allowing people to enjoy this fantastic lifestyle. Over the past two years, a small group of dedicated people have worked tirelessly to take this idea and turn it into a reality.
We have our own site, named Lochanwood which sits right in the heart of Scotland, easily accessible from most of Scotland’s major cities. We have woodland areas, trails, open spaces and, at the heart of the site - a stunning lochan, hence the name. This site was chosen from a shortlist of around five locations, owing to its accessibility, privacy, the level of work required and suitability for use by Naturists.
Our club has been created on the values of equality, fairness and sustainability, and aims to promote Naturism and the benefits that this lifestyle can have on both physical and mental wellbeing. We proudly boast a gender mix on our committee and strive to ensure that we will always remain member led, forward thinking and diverse, to reflect the community that we hope will join us.
The co-chairs of the club, Andrew and Marc are based in Glasgow and are both keen BN members, enjoying various events and attending their local swim in Glasgow whenever able. Our other committee members Andy and Sammi are also keen Naturists and between us all, we have many years of attending Naturist venues and events that we have used to tailor our approach to creating this club. As a committee, we are aware that events such as the Sunday Swim in Glasgow sell out nearly every week and that there is a growing interest in clothes-free recreation in the UK. It’s the perfect time to launch the club.
Over the past two years, we have completed a lot of work to get to where we are today. The journey has involved visiting potential locations, negotiating lease agreements, battling red tape from various institutions, fundraising, visiting other clubs, and engaging with the Naturist community—and has required a lot of enthusiasm, determination and positive attitudes! We are now at a point where we are preparing our site for visitors and are continuing work that was started last year to get the site ready to host visitors from this Spring. Our vision continues to evolve over time and we have gone from the aim of a large, commercial scale operation to settling on an eco-friendly, sustainable woodland retreat, that will allow members the chance to escape the hustle and bustle of urban life and to reconnect with nature.
The possibilities for our site are endless, but for now we are focusing on a rustic, back-to-basics woodland feel to the site with toilet facilities, shelter, camping grounds and woodland trails. We envisage that members will spend their days strolling through the woodland, soaking up the sun, connecting with friends and finding the time to be at one with nature. As membership grows and the site generates more visitors and becomes more financially secure, we will continue to invest in the site and facilities to improve the visitor experience and work to ensure that the club becomes a key hub for Naturism in Scotland.
Currently, we are hosting work parties on a regular basis to allow individuals to become involved in the club and help us make progress towards being officially ready for visitors. This includes finishing ground works, constructing boardwalks, constructing shelters, pruning trees, mapping wildlife and so much more. We are always on the lookout for new volunteers, so if you would like to be involved, you can sign up here: https://forms.office.com/r/qSRAbQNXC0
We are also continuing our fundraising efforts, as we have learned very quickly that nothing comes cheaply when trying to create a site like this from scratch. We are now offering volunteer rewards, such as pens, the chance to sponsor a tree and business advertising on site, depending on the donation amount. We really do appreciate every penny donated and really wish for this club to succeed, so if you are able to donate to us, we would be eternally grateful. Our donation page is here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/create-a-Naturist-club-in-central-scotland
On behalf of the whole committee and everyone who has been involved in the club so far, we really do want to say thank you for all the support so far. The support from BN, from individuals in the UK and from Naturists across the globe has been phenomenal and has only encouraged us to keep going to make this dream a reality.
If you are interested in the club and wish to learn more about us and our journey, you can visit our website: https://centralsunclub.com/