THE owners of a holiday park say they will keep on striving to be more sustainable after winning multiple awards for their work to cut their carbon footprint and increase biodiversity.

Park Cliffe started life as a small farm-based camping site in 1990. Today, it covers 25 acres of open countryside and woodland above the eastern shores of Windermere.

Susan and Derek Dickson bought the site in 2007 and have been putting their focus on reducing its carbon footprint and making the business as sustainable as possible.

Last year they won the Green/Sustainable Business of the Year Award at the in-Cumbria Business Awards (as well as picking up the Family Business of the Year Award).

They have also held the David Bellamy Gold Conservation Award for the last 16 years in a row and planted over 400 trees as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy Project.

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Susan already worked in the holiday park industry before moving to Park Cliffe, with Derek working as a transmission engineer for Electricity North West. They run the site alongside their son Jack and daughter Abi.

Derek says his background in electrical engineering has come in useful. "I could look at what we were trying to achieve at Park Cliffe and realise that we needed quite a lot of solar generation to make a big difference,” he said.

As well as measures such as installing LED lighting, lighting sensors in bathrooms and electrical vehicle charging points, Park Cliffe is committed to obtaining 100 per cent of its energy from renewable sources.

In March last year they commissioned a 100kw array of 213 solar panels on part of their camping field, as well as 90kwh of battery storage.

They have also planted a willow hedge and a carpet of wildflowers. Other actions include promoting their sustainable actions on their website and encouraging guests to take action such as recycling, conserving water and protecting wildlife.

The park opened an ethical shop in March last year and has banned the use of single use plastics, including removing drinks in plastic bottles from sale.

For the future Susan and Derek are focused on continuing their sustainability mission, including by looking into more ways to move away from fossil fuel power, expanding the range of products in the ethical shop and continuing to communicate the message to guests via social media, their website and newsletter.