William’s Den, the popular Yorkshire children’s attraction, has won the Visitor Attraction of the Year category in the prestigious Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards (REYTAs) 2022.
The awards, the Oscars of the East Yorkshire tourism industry, were held at a glittering dinner for 500 guests at Bridlington Spa.
William’s Den, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year, is situated in North Cave, near Brough, in East Yorkshire and is owned and run by Tor and Christian Carver.
The attraction was also short-listed nominated in the Remarkable Ethical, Responsible and Sustainability category.
The Carvers were “absolutely delighted” with their success.at the awards.
The awards were organised by Visit Hull and East Yorkshire to recognise the significance of tourism to this area and celebrate the quality of businesses and individuals working within it. Now in its 12th year, the REYTAs has 16 awards over a wide range of categories for the very best tourism businesses in the region.
Tor Carver said: “We couldn’t be more thrilled with our achievement at the REYTAs, not just for us as a family but for our loyal, dedicated and hard-working staff. This is a team effort. We were delighted to be short-listed in the two categories, but to win one of them is just wonderful.”
“It comes as our 2022 season enters its final phase, with our Christmas Experience beginning on December 3. William’s unmissable Christmas Show stars our very own Father Christmas; visit our Christmas Cottage full of surprises for the children, decorate delicious homemade gingerbread biscuits with Bauble the Baker, play to your hearts content in our amazing indoor den; and don’t miss the opportunity to sample our fantastic wood-fired pizzas and homemade ice cream before you go”.
The Judges praised William’s Den, commenting: “William’s Den provides a fantastic family day out for all ages, whatever the weather. Children have so much fun playing in the unique indoor area which they enjoy immensely – proving it’s worth on rainy days.
“The famous wood-fired pizzas are a big hit with all the family, as was the ice cream parlour with so many flavours to choose from. Outside there is lots of space and plenty of things for the children to enjoy, with the zip line being a particular hit. Staff are enthusiastic, friendly and helpful, especially in the café where it was very busy. An extremely enjoyable visit that we would recommend to friends and family.”
Earlier this year, William’s Den won a major honour at the prestigious National Farm Attraction Network (NFAN) awards, triumphing in the competitive Best Food and Beverage category.
Tor commented: “This is an incredible double victory for us in our fifth anniversary year. It’s been extremely hard work, especially over the past two years but we have remained true to our vision. We are hugely grateful to our loyal customers and hardworking team for all of their support. This wouldn’t have been possible without them. Being nominated and winning prestigious awards like these makes everything worthwhile.”
Tor explained that the William’s Den adventure began in 2017. “The idea for creating an exciting and unique visitor attraction really came from hosting birthday parties for our son William in our garden and hearing the shrieks of joy from his friends as they relished the freedom and space to play outside. They never wanted to go home. An idea was born.
“Both my husband Christian and I had grew up in the countryside and we both remember rather nostalgically having vast amounts of freedom to play outside in all weathers, for hours on end. Along with siblings, cousins and friends, our childhood years were spent endlessly exploring on foot and by bike, building dens and using our wild imaginations to entertain each other for hours and days.
“When we were sharing ideas for the type of family visitor attraction we wanted to create, our own childhood experiences were never far from the surface. It became abundantly clear that we had to create an environment for children to play inside and out whatever the weather, where they could run wild and experience the freedom to roam, and while the kids were doing that, we wanted the grown-ups to enjoy being outdoors with their children and appreciate everything else on offer,” explained Tor.
