I've been thinking about this importan topic for the last few days and have even written a few thoughts down, but i then thought there is a lot written about the problem, but what are the solutions?

I've not really sure what the solution is other than ensuring events are family friendly.

What can we the ANW family do and how can we take control? Ideas on a postcard, please. 

This for me, being a single male with no children, has been a really interesting read, and made me think of another side to naturism that I hadn’t really thought off. I had no idea that NKD had originally been a family friendly festival, and after doing a little digging as a BN member, I can’t find anything that mentions under eighteen years people are welcome, which is a great shame. RnR, I remember your festival of a couple years ago , I hadn’t been a member of ANW long then, but thought it was amazing that everyone was included, and I do hope Windmill girl enjoys naturism for as long as she can, and doesn’t get discouraged by social, and societal pressures. At that age, I did whatever I needed to, in order to fit in, hopefully you have shown her, she should do whatever she feels like, and not worry about fitting in. But after having a look at family friendly festivals, you’re right, there’s pretty much nothing. 
just today on the BN forum, there’s been a new ‘back to basics’ weekend announced, again adults only, as I’ve already said, it was not something I’d noticed before. If I had been lucky enough to have children, and a consenting wife, I would have loved to be able to bring them up in the naturist lifestyle. 
When I was little, I was brought up in a very conservative way, and I’d be about sixteen before I even dared explore naturism, and even then I believed it to be wrong, because I was taught it was wrong. It’s only in the last few years, when I’ve found I don’t care what anyone thinks, that I can fully embrace it. I was a shy child who got picked on and pushed around, had I had the confidence of being a naturist back then, things may have been very different. 
Anyway, being single and without children, I’m probably not the best person to comment here, but I just wanted to thank you for drawing my attention to something I’d have otherwise missed. If it of any consolation, my local swim at South Forest, is regularly attended with families with small, and teenage children, so hopefully, there’s still hope.

Gav&Ailleen, you ask what is the solution? Our response would be, Include families in all naturist events and locations. It seems like a simple solution, and the sad truth is it should be, but because Naturism is bowing to the pressure of social and mainstream media, as is the rest of the textile world, people have been trained to believe that the concept of naturist children is corrupt and dangerous.

As naturists. we have to make a stand and educate those outside naturism who have been indoctrinated into the negative thinking we see today, by showing them the facts, which have been documented over the last 100 years of naturism. We have a blog onto which we add links to research and studies that have proven naturism benefits children, and is not a threat to them which you can find here:

Follow the Facts - Blog View - A Naturist World

The PDF links and articles can be printed out to share with others.

It is sad that we should need to tell anyone within naturism, but in today’s world, even some naturists are not aware of how naturism was built up, and so therefore we all need to play a role in their education, and again, the links in our blog can be shared to any site in naturism as a means of education.

Another role we can all fulfil is to ask venues and events why children are not mentioned and if they are welcome. Many places, clubs and organisations leave families out without the approval of the majority of other naturists, that can be changed simply by asking, and recommending others also support your requests.

Pixie. You write, “being single and without children, I’m probably not the best person to comment here, but I just wanted to thank you for drawing my attention to something I’d have otherwise missed.” This statement says so much about how an organisation can to a degree edit the narrative to it’s members, and why other points of view from outside the organisation are important.

Let us ask you this. Does being a single male discredit you for asking a question about whether families are welcome? This is exactly what we mean about how naturism has slipped into a false narrative for convenience. You feel it is not your place to ask, because you are a single male. This is precisely the point we are making; you feel segregated from the conversation because naturism has led you believe that as a single male you have no place of equality. Would a single childless female even be put in the same place? No, they would not, so why do you feel it is inappropriate to question the ethics of a naturist organisation or club?

We do not want to get into the single male debate on this thread because its primary focus is children, but the two debates walk hand in hand, as naturism rejects them, and has indoctrinated people into believing their false narratives, of neither children or single males belong within the ranks of the masses

There needs to be an end to policies of segregation that have divided and silenced certain aspects of naturism, which is why as RnR we have supported ANW since its creation, because it is an open site that allows none judgemental debate and is inclusive to all, which these days is unique within naturist circles.

It is well documented that naturism began in the UK as a group of men, (Some married, some single) who in their spare time developed a piece of land on which they could spend their time naked. Whilst they were happy and the site developed quite quickly, erecting huts and tending the land, the men felt something was lacking, but could not quite work out what. On a bank holiday, they invited their girlfriends, wives and children to join them, and had a barbeque, and it was when the girlfriends, wives and the children came along and joined them as naturists that the moment of realisation was revealed. What had been missing was Families. It was at this point that Naturism began to flourish, because the group understood that naturism was for everyone.

The roots of naturism were firmly founded on including everyone, and has bloomed over its 100 year history. The policies of segregation have been slowly filtered in over the last 30 years, and we believe they are corrosive to traditional naturist ethics. By removing children and families we errode naturism and damage its long standing reputation for being wholesome. Stating children do not belong is against all the principles laid out 100 years ago, and will lead to a situation where the damage it causes, could threaten naturism's future.

This post was edited by Robin and Rin RnR at May 6, 2026 12:50 PM BST

Totally agree Gav and Aileen. We have to understand what the problem is, why it is happening and then try to put things right.

  
We need to understand if it is a global issue, and when it isn't why it isn't. We also need to know what is being done by others and when it is working. 

Then we need to come up with solutions.

One of the things Steve and I do is keep the narrative going, keep people talking and keep reminding people that naturism is family friendly.  We add this into public articles, social media posts, in magazine articles and here in ANW. Writing blogs and articles and specifically chose family as the theme for last December's 2026 countdown. Reminding people that family is not just a small unit, but also a community unit (ANW is a family, clubs are families), and family friendly isn't just about welcoming families, but about keeping naturism suitable for all. 

We also need to keep asking questions, and encouraging others to respond. If an event or location is adult only, we should ask the organisers to consider why, and even if they insist it will be adult only we should expect them to mention that naturism is considered suitable for families, that naturism is family friendly and behaviour should be inline with that idea even if a venue or event is adult only. 

We also need to show our concern when we can. Ask national bodies why they are so quiet in promoting to families, why they have high profile women officers, but invisible family officers, and why they are very proud to promote events/days/memberships aimed at sexual orientation and yet so wary at aiming such attention at families. Ask them if they should be running any events on a national level that are not properly inclusive? It is one thing a privately run group or venue deciding to segregate but should national bodies be doing the same? Are they not supposed to represent all naturists? As RnR mention this topic is about families, but single men also suffer similar fates. We need to voice our concern and ask for change. 

The trend needs to be changed. Why for example do so many charity runs and swims not welcome children? Why are they rejecting families? Should we not be bringing up children to care for society? What message are we allowing these charities to understand about naturism if we don't make a stand. If there is an issue with press/public involvement and photographs then asking children to remain dressed is a possible answer but if we do not allow such positive events to show positive naturism then surely we are missing out on some perfect publicity to show the world that naturism is caring, considerate, social, and perfectly safe, innocent and healthy for all. 

Thanks also for sharing your thoughts Pixie. Just brilliant.

Honestly I do not feel that being single and without children makes a difference to the input you should feel you can share on this topic and subject. In fact if we can encourage all single individuals, couples without children or grown up children to recognise the value of keeping naturism open to all then we are a long way to succeeding. All naturist should wish to defend the family values of naturism and voice the importance of this. We all need to recognise the danger to naturism if we lose the family connection, as a non-universal naturism is just as repellant to many single men and women as it is to families. If single men and women start asking Why is this not open to families? or Why are you not promoting to families? Then those who make the decisions may start to realise that naturists care about naturism first and foremost. 

Some years back I was invited to speak in a national chat about women. I vocalised the importance of families in the meet, stating that I believe hat women feel more comfortable in naturist environments where families exist, and that the majority of women are mothers by the time they reach my age. One woman at the talk interupted and said that I was bound to have such opinions because I had children. I said I would feel the same if I didn't have children or if my children were long grown. That my point of view was not personal but based on a want to protect naturism, see naturism grow and flourish and stay suitable for all. 

Too often people are selfish with their naturism. As long as they can enjoy it they do not think of the bigger picture. This selfishness can also be about quick profit,  easy social media connections, cowardly going with current trends of hiding children while allowing the idea that naturism is a thresat to children to go unchallenged. It is almost like bad politics when a government doesn't think of the future but just thinks about what they can achieve ( often for themselves ) during the next four years. Every naturist, every venue, every national body, every event, every groups, every promotion should be interested in the future of naturism. Everyone of yhem should be considering how best to push naturism forward and protect it, and everyone should see that the best way to do that is to ensure that the biggest majority of society is welcome into naturism and sees it as safe and suitable for all. Households with children are the biggest majority of society and by making naturism suitable for them we also make it suitable for everyone by default whatever their personal circumstances are. 

Thank you very much for this thought-provoking post – it’s certainly true that the number of families in the naturist community appears to be declining, and that’s a shame, because naturist activities have so much to offer when it comes to strengthening body-positive, nature-loving family bonds. 

I’ve been part of the naturist community for years and have witnessed this trend first-hand at events and on beaches. Let me outline a few possible reasons for this and suggest some ideas on how to turn the tide.

First and foremost, social pressure plays a major role. In today’s hyper-connected world, parents are constantly exposed to media scrutiny and misinformation regarding nudity – just think of sensationalist stories or social media filters that promote ‘perfect’ bodies. This makes families hesitant; many worry about being judged by schools, neighbours or even online trolls. Added to this are generational changes: younger parents (Generation Z and Millennials) are often more concerned about their children’s safety and public exposure.

We had the same experience with our children. Both of them loved nudist sites and events until they reached their teens. After that, they didn’t even want to hear about it. 

Economic factors also play a significant role. Nude resorts, family-friendly beaches and events often involve travel or costs that seem unaffordable given the rising cost of living.

And let’s not forget the gaps in education: schools rarely (?) promote the benefits of nudism, such as increased self-esteem and reduced body shame, so parents don’t even know where to start.

To encourage families to get involved, we need proactive, welcoming strategies. Clubs could organise free or low-cost ‘family taster days’, featuring supervised play areas, workshops on nudist etiquette and guest speakers (such as child psychologists) to help parents feel more at ease. 

Partnerships with family influencers or parenting blogs to share positive real-life stories would help normalise the topic. 

Our online community could set up a private, moderated forum for naturist families where tips can be shared safely.

If we make it accessible, safe and fun, families will come back. I’ve seen small events double in size thanks to these adjustments! And the organiser now runs the event monthly. 

What do you think – do you know of any local initiatives that work well? I’d love to hear more about them so I can implement them locally.