About BN

A superb video of the good people of BN member club Desford Swim was launched on the BBC News site this weekend. (Seems the BBC really can't get enough of us...) Our thanks to them for helping to raise the profile in such an excellent, sensible, calm way and for coming up with their 'Women in Naturism' initiative in the first place AND having the foresight (and good sense) to issue a press release so that everyone got to hear about it. Most praise of all though for the members of the club f

At the end of May, the NKD youth and families festival returned to Dorset for a weekend of parties, minimalist camping, holi paint fights, and basking in the intense sunshine.  As an event designed for Young British Naturist (YBN) members and recent YBN graduates, now bringing their own families with them, the tone is quite different from that at our other events.  NKD shows how the portfolio of British Naturism events is diversifying to target different groups, so if organised Naturism has not

There was a time you might have waited all year for a Naturist related item on the BBC but now they all seem to have turned up at once! It started in January with a short series on BBC3 called “The Naked Truth”. Four fifteen minute documentaries about completely different subjects but all filmed naked with little censorship. The series featured episodes on tattoos, loose skin, male body image and amputees. The BBC blurb said “The Naked Truth gives a voice to young people as they share their reve

Please forgive the cheesy title of this article, but it is a direct quote from BBC 1's Have I Got News for You TV show where last week, the guest publication in the 'Missing Words' round was our very own BN Magazine. It didn't come as a surprise - we'd been approached by the Beeb some weeks before and signed a licence to allow them permission to use it on the initial programme and repeats, including on other channels that they sell their programmes to. So, yes, inevitably, there were giggle

Saturday, 13th April saw British Naturism return to one of its most popular swimming venues, Waterworld in Stoke.  Naturists have been visiting Waterworld for over 20 years, and it is easy to see why. Waterworld is one of the best water parks in the UK and are always fantastic hosts. The staff are friendly and the café open for when people need a brief break from the many, exciting slides. It is a sign of how naturism in the UK is growing right now, that this weekend welcomed the largest nu

British Naturism has existed for over 50 years, and organised naturism in the UK for double that.  For all that time, naturism has been based on the family values of respect, inclusivity and friendship.  A recent internal survey of what people value most about naturism revealed friendship to be the clear winner, with nudity featuring surprisingly low down the list. A culture of respect, inclusivity and friendship does not occur purely by chance.  British Naturism works continuously to promo

The Eastern Region has arranged a private viewing of a special art event at the beautiful Christchurch Mansion in the centre of Ipswich in Suffolk. Saturday 23rd March 2019 This spring, join us in Ipswich for what will be East Anglia's once in a lifetime exhibition. Discover the tale behind the lovers in Auguste Rodin's life-size marble sculptureThe Kiss and the work of literature that inspired it. This monumental artwork, on loan from the Tate, is a significant piece in the history of

British Naturism members may be aware of complaints that we have received, followed by a specific incident, over the last few days in connection with the fact that children were being allowed to attend our BN Blackpool weekend swim at The Sandcastle waterpark. ‘Anti-grooming’ groups who purport to protect children from harm, voiced their disgust at the event and roused their many supporters to post similar comments online, many on BN promotional pages and to send us direct messages. Many of

5 Months to Go… It’s always difficult, isn’t it, when an annual event comes and goes and we’re left having to wait an entire 12 months until it rolls round again? Like Christmas, Pancake Day or the Wimbledon finals it feels only natural to wish for 12 months to become, say, 10, or nine. Did you feel that way about The Great British Skinny Dip? Did you wish hard? Someone must have because even though it was four months ago there are only 5 months left before it’s back again. GBSD is moving t

2019 saw us move to the lovely Best Western Hotel Royale - a hotel within the same Oceana group that we’d used previously. It meant sacrificing the sea views but we got a swimming pool so nobody minded - and the hotel was definitely a step up from The Ocean Beach. The Bournemouth weekend always has a lovely feel to it, a real sense of community. It may not have the adrenaline packed pace of Nudefest but you are never too far away from the next activity or entertainment. The spacious lounge bar

‘In the three months since laying out the strategic aims in the last magazine, we have been working to advance some of those areas.  Feedback from members has helped us prioritise where to focus effort and that seems fitting as the theme running through these items is to expand communication!’ says Vice Chair, Mark Bass Promoting naturism to encourage people to get involved, or at the very least respect those who do, demands that we will tell the public about the benefits, the fun and the o

Last year was an incredible year for British Naturism. We reached membership milestones, engineered a breakthrough with the police, saw a record turnout for GBSD, enjoyed new events, gained new venues and massive media coverage, kicked off a new strategy process, appointed a new Volunteer Co-ordinator and developed our YBN community. Phew! But, let’s be honest: last year’s success is last year’s news. At BN we’re all about looking towards the future which is much more exciting because toget

“We're going to a restaurant tonight,” we told our friends.  “That's nice,” they replied. “We'll be naked there as well,” we said “Naked, and it's January? You must be completely mad!' Little did they know that we were actually going to a lunatic asylum. Well that's what it was originally called when it opened in 1860 but its name was quickly changed to the more acceptable Fairfield Psychiatric Hospital. This was the latest destination in Hertfordshire found by Robert and Pau

Ron O’Hare reports on success at Lancashire Sun It seems a long time since the days of letters arriving requesting day visits, later progressing to dial-up internet and now superfast fibre broadband, but have we all moved with the times? Speaking as Membership Secretary of Lancashire Sun - and not pretending to be an expert - I have to ask myself and others if we are taking full advantage of modern technology and the devices/systems now available. The invention of Smartphones has made

Now open for booking! We've been beavering away behind the scenes with our sponsor and travel partner Chalfont Holidays to put together a full, exciting schedule and are now delighted to bring you all NINE Members' only Holidays for 2019.  Travel with us and a group of like-minded people to Austria, Spain, Croatia, Rhodes, Lanzarote, France and Corsica. The programme includes old favourites and new venues. There is even the opportunity to enjoy two group venues in one trip! Check

This weekend we were back for our annual Alton Towers take over at the Splash Landings Hotel & Waterpark. Almost 400 Naturists descended on the themed aquatic playground for a full weekend - the waterpark was open throughout and there was an excellent line-up of daytime activities and evening entertainment. The Alton Towers weekend is a special BN member only event attracting a good mix of families and friends plus plenty of new faces too, from all over the country. Entertainment thi

BN Members from all over the country will descend on Alton Towers' Splash Landings Hotel and Waterpark later today for our annual naked winter weekend. Around 400 guests are expected, including families and people of all ages.  Activities include live bands, disco, comedy, body painting, exercise classes, quiz and life drawing. We'll be raising money for Children in Need - that's Pudsey Bare... Chalfont Holidays will be launching the new BN Members' Holidays for 2019 and a Caribbe

Things are continuing to move forwards very nicely with regards to the great attention Naturism is being paid in the press recently, and The Telegraph’s ‘A nudist’s guide to body confidence’ by Anna Clarke based on interviews with BN members, is no exception. The piece, focused on the intersection of body confidence and Naturism, is another straight-talking and genuine slice of journalism eschewing sensationalism in favour of open-mindedness. Being naked, the author argues, is actually quite fas

In October the 16 swimmers in the BN Swim Team and their supporters set off to Le Havre, France to represent British Naturism at the 47thINF-FNI Swimming Gala. Swimmers range from age 10 upwards and the races are organised by age group as given in the INF-FNI Sports Rules. There are over 100 races during the event and it is kept on schedule by the INF-FNI Sports Officer and the German Swimming Association officials. The races are divided into four strokes and male/female plus relays. Medals

8th – 15th July - Thorney Lakes, Somerset  One of the highlights of the Naturist calendar for many is Nudefest, a week-long camping festival held at Thorney Lakes camp site in Somerset.  Over the past few years Nudefest has gone from strength, now attracting over 400 Naturists from all over the UK. The huge site allows for all accommodations from humble tents to monster RV’s and motorhomes, an annual Naturist community in the beautiful Somerset countryside. Nudefest is all about g

About 40 BN Members gathered in El Portús for the Autumn Group holiday - organised by Chalfont Holidays - our second trip to this popular Spanish resort this year. Many guests opted to arrive earlier or stay later than the ‘official’ seven day group holiday. It really was ‘fun in the sun’ as the temperatures stayed high every day.  Gentle ‘detox’ music could be heard on the terrace as the few early risers attended a wake up stretch with the backdrop of the sunrise glowing red on the coasta

Did anybody catch Coran Elliott’s article regarding the growth of BN’s membership in The Telegraph this weekend? The article is just one of a growing number of positive pieces regarding naturism and the fact that public nudity is becoming increasingly more socially accepted and openly acknowledged. Indeed, the journalist’s approach to the story is itself indicative of the maturity with which the topic is being treated. The focus of the article concerns the growth in BN membership figures –

A YBNer’s first time running the BH5K at the Naturist Foundation It's early Sunday morning and I'm already in the car and a few minutes into a sat-nav defined 35-minute journey south. Having driven this route before I know that the sat-nav is not being entirely honest with me. I live in central London so navigating the traffic, road works, pedestrians, cyclists, traffic lights and whatever else will take me a good amount of time. Those 35 minutes, I know, will have become 85 by the time I

Many of you will have read the fascinating report last year confirming that being naked makes us happier, or heard the recent radio documentary about the benefits of nakedness.  BN's own Children Deserve Better report published in 2016 was itself based on extensive Naturist research. Those are just a few recent examples of academic research into Naturism, and the invariable results – that Naturism boosts self-esteem and body image – come as no surprise to us! Did you know that the global Na

The 'State of the Nation' talk, given by outgoing Chairman, Judith Stinchcombe at last weekend's National Convention Membership Membership success, hooray! it’s finally growing. Our total is up almost 6% on this time last year, with new member numbers up nearly 10%. It’s not happened by accident, we’ve been working hard over many years to get the right membership benefits in place, working hard to make people realise what we do and how ALL Naturists benefit, and working hard to ma