Yes in deed we have to think back to how we used to behave - the internet does not have to be the guide to how we move forward in life. My latest H&E article (due next month) highlights some of the issues we face with the internet and how it damages society - in looks at how it effects naturism and our children and by mixing the two - family naturism. 

Matt you are right. A venue creating an adult only atmosphere can be done for "naughty reasons" but also other reasons like they simply don't like children or they want the venue to be totally peaceful or even insurance and safety - so they could have valid excuses. But a national body should have no reason to consider these options. They should be thinking about the best way to promote naturism and not about segregation, exclusion, trends, profit or bad press. It is their job first and foremost to provide the people of their nation with an awareness of naturism and support naturism for all and encourage everyone to become naturists. Not just women, or young adults, or party goers. Everyone! Families represent the majority of society they must not be ignored. 

Steve and I could have sunk to promoting ANW as some sort of "tease site" - play to the trends of social media and the internet - and encourage people after a cheap thrill to buy into us. But why would we want to do that? It may get us more members and may get us more money (and goodness knows that would be lovely!) but it would be selling out and it would be against the idea of naturism that we believe in. You have to do what is morally and compassionately right otherwise you cannot put your heart into something. For Steve and I that is the most important thing. We have to put naturism first otherwise we simply could not do ANW at all. If we cannot do it right we should not do it at all. That should be at the centre of all national bodies reasons for existing. They exist to promote and serve naturism - not promote and serve themselves - they exist for naturism and because of naturism- if they do not do this then they should not exist at all. If ANW did not honour naturism then it would not deserve members or support and should not exist. We need ANW to make money but by working with naturism and not against it! National bodies should equally represent everyone in their support of naturism and work to encourage everyone to understand and try naturism and be aware of the various naturist opportunities their country has to offer. If they have to ignore aspects of their community to appear more "attractive" then they are failing and letting down the whole idea of naturism. 

Imagine if naturism was a religion and that religion started suggesting that they wanted people to come to church for tea and cake and not their God? The religion in question may eventually become more profitable than Starbucks, but it would not be doing the job that it was supposed to do. It does not matter how many people fill the pews - if the message isn't being put across then the religion has sold out. Naturism is healthy, innocent, educational, hearty, outdoor fun - that sounds family friendly to me. Camping and families go hand in hand, beaches and families go hand in hand, fun, games and activities and families go hand in hand - so how can naturism and families not go hand in hand?

We completely agree with you Anna, which is why when we decided to join RnR with NWNS, we have made it a priority to reach out to families and make sure they are aware that we have catered to them. It boggles our minds to see events, clubs and organisations not understanding how important an issue this is. We have reached a stage where we feel the only way forward, which you too have also added to your H&E article, is that families need to break away from the pack, and start working together creating family circles, that can reach out to each other, and start to build a naturism that is true to its roots.

Too many are obbsessed with catering to the buff pound for no other reason than it is profitable, which it may well be, but without families to create the next generations of naturism, how long will the money flow in for?

I was at Heritage yesterday and leafing through an edition of 'Naturist Life'.  One of the articles was from a single male naturist about his visits to naturist sites in France, and he said that it's virtually all families there, to the extent that he felt a little conspicuous as a lone visitor.  I wonder what makes them so successful as family naturist places?  Maybe it's just that the climate is more conducive to outdoor naturism, so it just seems a more natural way to bring up your kids than it does in the wet and chilly UK?

There were so many families and young adults at Montalivet when we stopped the other week. Mainly French but also Spanish and Germans and other Europeans and a few British families too. I wonder if it is partly to do with the European attitude towards families. For example families go out late at night and drink and eat in a social way, in the UK it would seem wrong to take a child into a pub past a certain time. When we lived in Spain there was a very family centred way to life. Cycle rides, walks, sports, time in the plaza. Children's birthday parties would be something that the whole families attended and became very social. The younger and older siblings would be given food and so would the adults. Grandparents and other family friends would also turn up and they would carry on until dark. We seldom saw people drunk or behaving anti-socially.

Teenagers would play with young children that were not related to them in the plaza or at sports fields and teach them things and be patient. It often feels in the UK that children are in the way and there is a need to keep them separate from adults. Adults want to do things away from the children and have babysitters. In Spain families became friends through the school and the community and would book holidays together. Holidays that were fun for children. Maybe this is why there are so many naturist families in France, Germany and Spain and so few in the UK. 

In the UK adults want to have late night parties without children and this has filtered into naturism. And somehow back fired into the idea that even children based fun like playing in waterparks are better without children around. I have even communicated with high profile representatives of naturism in the UK (including women) who vocalise their dislike of children and a want to not have them around.  Naturism in the UK will only entice families if families are made to feel wanted in naturism. But also families in Britain need to want to spend time together in the first place and feel wanted in general society. I wonder if adult general entertainment  and the pub culture makes a difference in our approach to family time. I do feel there is not enough cross generational bonding in the UK. Young children hang with young children with one parent reluctantly supervising. Teens mooch around with other teens with little purpose. Young adults go off to night clubs. Middle aged adults head off to the pub and theatres. Older adults often ignored by the younger generations stay at home or look towards institutes aimed at their age. Sometimes in the UK naturism seems to me to be unable to encourage that mixing that is so important to society and encourages age segregation and also gender segregation. 

During our time in Montalivet there was a really healthy mix of people and it seemed in proportion to real society. There was a natural balance of  retirees, a natural balance of single gender couples, and a natural majority of families with young and old children. It was like the ratios you would find on a high street but in a naturist situation. Naturism should be like this and some countries in Europe seem to still be getting this right.  

It appears that within UK culture we have now moved into a state of self segregation when it comes to families. Parents appear more interested in their own social life than family life, and children are given digital distractions, almost like digital dummies to keep them quiet and unseen. This has permeated out into culture across society, and is seen at its most damaging within the mindset of organised naturism. This segregation culture has influenced national organisations within the UK and we would also say North America greatly, where there is now this idea that children do not belong, and as we have said many times in the past, if UK naturism wants to thrive, as Anna has rightly stated, it needs to look to Europe rather than North America for influence and guidance.

There is a good reason why the family dynamic has worked for thousands of years, which is due to the multi generational influences, which have created stability and order within family units since the start of time. Allowing children to be separated and excluded from adults of all ages does a great deal of influential and psychological damage, which to a degree can cause set backs for developing children, leading to isolation and intellectual development issues. In a nut shell, children who do not experience multi generational concepts and influences, develop at a slower rate of maturity, and can be prone to self indulgent behaviours.

It is a well documented fact that children raised within a naturist environment mature better, and grow into more stable and higher functioning adults, and yet even with this knowledge, in the last five years we have seen a major shift within naturism away from families to more adult influenced events, and rhetoric as segregation of generations has become the major trend. This is especially true for national organisations, who are the greatest influencer of clubs and societies, and we fear this will have a major and detrimental impact on the future of naturism within the UK and also North America.

We feel very strongly that it is time for naturism to wake up and rethink its approach, and we also believe it is time for organised naturism to do an about turn and look to the past in order to learn for a the future. Naturism grew to be the force it was, mainly due to the fact that it was family centred, and it is time that those in high places who shoulder the responsibility of influencing naturism, started to understand that whilst their coffers may be swelling, it is a temporary situation, because without allowing the young to participate the impact to the future of naturism will be devastating, and could well sound its end.

In the UK there is really only one family naturist event a year, and that is shrouded in secrecy, all other major attractions offered to naturist carry the thin veil of implying families are welcome, when in reality, they are not, as the events are staged in such a way, that they actually deter families from being involved. We know, we have looked into all of them as a family that desperately wanted to keep our children within naturist culture, and it has been impossible for us to attend events with so many segregation rules, that one of us in all cases was excluded due to age.

Naturism needs to turn back and reintroduce traditional family values back into naturism on a mainstream level, and it needs to begin by offering more support to clubs and societies, and encourage them to create more family centred events and attractions. Naturism needs to rebuild from the ground up, and dispel the myth that multi generational naturism is wrong, which has been the trajectory of the last half decade within a national level. Family centred sites such as ANW need to be recognised for their work and promotion of all inclusive naturism, and their ethos needs to be applied across the board.

We need to create situations where we can attract a younger dynamic shared with a older influence, and encourage the creation of new generations of young couples creating more naturists families, because currently, we are failing our communities by not educating the public, and not encouraging more participation in a wholesome healthy traditional naturist lifestyle. We often hear how it is not easy to do so, and we also respond with the same points, how do you do if you are hiding behind the hedges?

Young people today are into fitness and healthier diets and nutrition than all of the older generations. Gym memberships, sustainable lifestyles, mental health, and online health channels are at their peak and attracting younger audiences, and yet, naturism, which promotes health in a better way than any gym or You Tube channel, is failing to attract the young and encouraging them to live a far heathier and more sustainable lifestyle, simply because it fears educating and promoting to the general public. The simple truth is, if we as naturists do not show the benefits of naturism, who else can?

Naturism needs to be proud of the lifestyle it has, which currently is more in tune with younger generations because of the messages it gives out, than ever before in its history, and yet we are failing to do so. Naturism needs to rebuild from the roots up, as that is the only way we will see families brought back, and new couples thriving in an environment where children can be raised safely to create a new future.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of every naturist alive today, to take naturism forward into the future, and the best way to do that, is to abandon segregation, and bring back families.