Springwood Sun Club, near Colchester, has many walkers pass by our entrance gate, mostly from the local village (writes Janina Newman). So we put up a notice advertising an Open Day under the banner, “See what's inside a Naturist Club”. We also wrote a short article for the village magazine and put a post on the village Facebook page. It was promoted as a local awareness day but the message soon spread further afield. We were delighted to receive 50 bookings (40 of whom turned up) so extended it to over two days to accommodate as many people as possible who were eager to have their curiosity satisfied. Interestingly, they were mostly couples and more women than men.
The Open Day was deliberately textile-only (well, it was a wet and cold weekend in March), and booking in advance was a requirement. They received two emails about the arrangements and the benefits of Naturism, and were given a copy of the colourful 2023 BN Guide on arrival. The itinerary was a short talk, Q&A and tour of the club facilities. The grounds were much bigger than most people had expected. One of the Facebook posts had said “we are not ready for a nudist camp”, but many visitors were surprised to learn the site has been here since 1958 - and that Naturists are just ordinary people, not a fictitious breed of supermodels, and that the club is a clean, modern, pleasant and safe environment. We’re not sure who enjoyed it the most, the members who did an excellent job in showing people around, or the visitors who discovered a whole new world right on their doorstep.
Janina Newman