Camping event plan for South Shore

Members of the South Shore Beacons group have applied for funding to stage an old-fashioned family camping session in the area.

Susanne Johnston, who runs the wool emporium in Bond Street, said the idea was to let families from the town get together from some outdoor fun which would not cost the earth.

She said: “We have some terrible deprivation in Blackpool. I read somewhere that 40 per cent of children in our area have never been to the beach.

“We have so many kids in care and families struggling financially so we thought we should do something to bring the community together.

“It would take place on the Waterloo Headland and we would make sure that 20 per cent of all the tents would be kept aside for needy local families.

“We have put in applications for Lottery funding through the Awards for All programme which gives small grants to community projects such as this.

“We need to do something for families in South Shore and to show just how much fun you can have with good old fashioned Enid Blyton style adventures outdoors.

“So we will be organising lots of games such as volley ball, rounders and having songs and stories around the camp fire.

“We were inspired by things like Bestival - the family music festival in Dorset which has all sorts of entertainments on for parents and children. We have nothing like that up here. It’s not really about the music but about socialising and old fashioned camping fun. Ours would be about old fashioned seaside fun too.”