Newfield Hall, HF Holidays' country house in Malhamdale in the Yorkshire Dales
A walking holidays co-operative that can trace its routes back to Victorian Britain is to offer children the chance to become shareholders.
HF Holidays, which began life almost a century ago as the Holiday Fellowship, will take advantage of a change in law to allow under-16s to become members.
The company is now one of the UK’s largest co-operatives in the travel sector and wants to encourage children to become shareholder members and begin a life-long engagement with walking as a healthy activity.
It is the first of the Co-operative UK Top 100 companies to offer such a scheme.
It has almost 33,000 shareholders at present, and offers walking and leisure activity holidays for about 50,000 people a year, both members and non-members.
Chief executive Brian Smith said: “We have been helping people discover the great outdoors for almost a century and as we look to the next 100 years, we hope more families with children will discover the benefits of walking: physical, mental and social.
“As a nation, we need to encourage our children to connect with the countryside in an active way, and walking is fantastic for that.”
HF Holidays hopes existing members will buy shares for their grandchildren or children, in an initiative designed to support HF Holidays’ long-term growth.
Under-16 membership will be available from 30 August. The minimum investment is 100 £1 shares.
A Holiday Fellowship plaque at Rowardennan on the West Highland Way
Under-16 members will enjoy the same annual rate of interest as adult shareholders, and will receive a special welcome pack including a Gelert compass, an HF Holidays ‘passport’ in which to log visits to the range, now 20, of HF Holidays country houses, and a durable HF Holidays luggage tag.
The Holiday Fellowship was formed in 1913 with the support of a predecessor, the Co-operative Holiday Association, whose origins date back to the 1890s. The aim of the Holiday Fellowship was ‘to bring our holidays within reach of poorer folk and to keep the arrangements as simple as possible’.
It has close ties with the Ramblers.
HF Holidays are now open to all ages and level of fitness, but there are also specific holiday dates for families, when walks and other activities are tailored to children’s ages and stamina.
It also offers guided walking and activity holidays at hotels in France, Italy and Austria and cycling holidays at European hotels.
