SUSTAINABILITY & ACCESSIBILITY
SUSTAINABILITY
Our family-run Crafter’s Retreat recognises the importance of our role in ensuring a sustainable and environmentally-friendly space for our guests. With that in mind, we aim to operate our holiday let as sustainability and as responsibly as we can.
The cabin itself is built from sustainably-sourced pine and sits on a foundation of pea shingle and recycled plastic supports - so no concrete has been used for the foundations. This means that in the future the building can, if necessary, be removed and leave no impact on its surroundings. The placing of the cabin was very considered, ensuring the minimum removal of trees or infrastructure. In fact, the whole ethos behind the cabin is to provide green and natural surroundings, making 100% use of our existing wooded area and gardens to provide such a space.
We support our local community and trades by buying the items used in our welcome hampers from local providers, producers and our local shops. We actively support and encourage, for example, the use of honey and wax products from a local beekeeper.
We encourage our guests to buy local too, providing a comprehensive list of all the local amenities and attractions; often featuring nearby makers and services in our blog posts too.
We make a great effort to reduce the use of single-use plastics, even down to providing recyclable dustbin bags, recycled toilet paper and avoiding the use of single-use plastics in our holiday cabin. The soap dispenser in the bathroom is refillable and we use environmentally friendly liquid soap.
Any toiletries we provide come from companies which are themselves committed to sustainability and do not test on animals, include no chemicals which could harm the environment, and who supply their products in either refillable or recyclable containers.
The Crafter’s Retreat office uses 100% recycled paper whenever a paperless option isn’t viable.
We encourage our guests to be mindful during their stay, requesting that they comply with the refuse separation (main refuse & recycling) and turn off lights and appliances when not needed (the main path lights are set on a timer which goes off at 11 pm every night in order to avoid light pollution).
We do not use throw-away paper cleaning cloths, instead we favour reusable material cloths. We purchase and promote the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products wherever possible.
ACCESSIBILITY
After parking in the large private carpark, a flat, broad path leads to the retreat. The path and access to the cabin are suitable for wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
The cabin is a single-storey building, with a gentle slope from the path onto the covered veranda. Wheelchairs or mobility scooters can be left on the veranda under cover.
There is a small, raised threshold as you enter the building. The doors to the cabin are of a patio door style, and both can open to provide a very wide access width.
The lounge, diner and kitchen are all on one level without any steps. There is a small, raised threshold into the bathroom and into the bedroom.