boycott butlins

[AuntiePickleBottom]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-14063859

you would of thought with SN they would accept the booking

Unpa1dcar3r- Do read the article before spouting shit.

Going to Butlins next week. When we booked there were some weeks and weekends where larger groups can do and some times when no groups are allowed.

Sorry but they seem to be treating these people like everyone else... not going to boycott them for that.

have they tried Haven? Or a YHA hostel? i mean, Butlins arenlt the only place in the world???

Or, I took a group of adults with head injuries to a church hall and camped out....

Unpa1dcar3r - Butlins did NOT turn down the group because people are intimidated by disabled people - they turned it down because people are intimidated by large groups of guests - they turn down stag and hen parties for the same reason. As NearlySpring says - read the article first, and find out the facts, otherwise you make yourself look like a total tit.

It is nothing to do with SN, it is to do with the size of the group unpa1dcar3r

This is totally absurd.

They are being treated the same as everyone else.

The group did not think to contact Butlins before running to the press to tell them how nasty and mean Butlins are.

I myself am intimidated by large groups and if Butlins had accepted this group on the break I am due to go on I would be asking for a refund. SN or no SN. It would be unfair on the many, many other people who would have been turned down because of large group size if Butlins accepted this group. Also unfair on the other people at the time of the large group being there.

Butlins - the MadCat family love you

I understand the rule in place, it makes sense to keep drunken parties out during family time. But as the rule says they can allow groups with manager's discretion I think someone should have thought twice and realized this wasn't a drunken shag fest, and upsetting vulnerable people who had been going for 20 years (and their parents who need a break) is beyond shit.

Got chucked out of charm school I assume nearlySpring

Many large groups have been accepted at Butlins, groups of 40 to 100. In fact I believe there are a group there this week of 100 young adults with teachers and helpers.
You see I didn't only limit my reading to one article in the nazi Daily Mail.

Humility comes with age. I also assume you are incredibly young.

Maybe Butlins would have considered the case if the Friday group had not gone crying to the press straight away and contacted Butlins instead?

It matters not what type of adults they are, the did not discriminate because they have learning difficulties they do not take groups of 36 people, which is why they were refused, Butlins has no way of knowing when the booking was attempted that the group had learning difficulties.

I agree that large numbers of adults should not go to Butlins in one go.

Makes sense to me to be honest.

bit surprised that there are a number of posters saying disabled people should be treated like everyone else; if I recall correctly, there is actually a requirement for positive discrimination under the new Disability Equality Rules/Duty?

Not sure if that would come into play here, obviously, but just wanted to point it out.

I am disabled myself and would hate to think I was being treated as 'special' - I want to be treated as equal.

[http://www.dls.org.uk/advice/factsheet/consumer_contract/disability_equality_duty/Disability%20Equality%20Duty.pdf]]

always need to dble check - top of page three, can treat disabled people more favourably in order to promote equality.

Prob not relevant here - haven't read it all (the Butlins case), just like to be up to date on stuff.

Firstly, Butlins didn't reject the booking, the group didn't approach Butlins managment, which they should have done. Consessions can be made and until Butlins rejected the booking, then that was the time to go to the press.

It depends on the extent of the disability because the reasoning behind not accepting large groups is the; trouble causing, drunkiness issues that Skegness has had in the past. It got a very bad reputation some years ago.

This would not apply to this large group, however not all adults with LD's are teetotal or behave potentionally any differently to any other adult, so it needed to be checked, as i would find it very insulting if assuptions were made about my DD, who has LD's, based on the sole fact that she has LD's.

The LD movement has pushed for those with LD's not to be catagorised or labeled.

It is the LA policy to only fund the one date for all of the group that is unfair. The LA should now address this problem.

The person who was responsible for booking the holiday could not have just booked for two groups as they could have been refused when they arrived and it would have been difficult to work out a split of the carers between the groups and probably would have caused insurance problems.

Hiya,

Hope you don't mind me popping up here. Thanks so much to all of you who've taken the time to actually read the story rather than just reading the scaremongering headlines!

I'm the Head of Comms for Butlins (and mum to 3ds) so I am, of course, biased but I thought it might be useful to share a few of the facts around this story.

We generally do not accept large all-adult groups on family breaks but have been making an exception for this group for years ? there is almost no other all-adult group that we would accept on a family break at Butlins at nearly this sort of size, but the group has been growing and there comes a point when we need to split it into two. Unfortunately, as the group were trying to book through a travel agent, we were not given the opportunity to explain our reasoning clearly at the time the booking was turned down. I have tried to get in touch with the group since but have been unable to.

It is a real shame ? we have wheelchair-friendly resorts, and very welcoming team members, and I know many of our regular guests with disabilities have been upset by the ?Butlins bans?? style newspaper reporting.

Any way, I just wanted to reply to reassure Mumsnetters that we discriminate only against large all-adult groups on family breaks, and not against any individuals regardless of ability.

You may well know that we also run music-themed Big Weekends when no one under 18 is allowed on resort. Clearly we have all-adult groups on these breaks as that's what they're designed for. They're lots of fun and have a very different 'vibe' to our usual family-focused breaks which run all year round - both in the school hols and during termtime (for families with tots). The two don't mix!

I hope that helps and you don't mind me posting in here!

Jae Hopkins x

Butlins.. can't think of anything worse.

WEAREBUTLINS - But what is the reason for the ban (I understand it is a general ban and not a ban of this group specifically) and what is the point of it when people can simply book in smaller groups and meet up there anyway, so you can't stop a massive group being there in the first place? I mean, you couldn't stop a group of 100 people booking in 2s and meeting up there, could you? So what's the point?

The reason is that the group is too large to not indimidate/impose on other guests!

I think it's absolutely fair enough that this group has not been allowed to go. The council or whoever is funding the trip is at fault for not being more flexible, not the holiday resort.

I regularly travel abroad in a lagre group of disabled adults, and the fact is, we do impose on other guests just because we are a big group and so we tend to take up a lot of space.

I applaud butlins for not being intimidated by people screaming about disabled discrimination, and for sticking up for the hundreds of other regular guests they have.

Totally not seeing an issue here at all. Butlins are not even remotely discriminating against disabled people, and the mere idea of a boycott in these circumstances makes me want to pack up the DCs and toddle on down to Bognor as a counterprotest.

Butlins are entirely in the right. The group are massively in the wrong for squealing only half a story to the press.

My thoughts on this particular issue aside:

I thought SN are fighting for the same rights (quite rightly) as others - they cant complain then when they are treated as others are.

quite worrying how few people on this thread don't know what equal opportunities means...

The clue is in the word opportunities, it means treating people differently so that the opportunities are the same. You wouldn't tell someone in a wheelchair "use the stairs, you want to be treated like everyone else"!

Where did Butlins claim children can be intimidated by disabled people? They said large groups of adults can be intimidating but they are willing to negotiate. This really is an unfair report on Butlins, and i say that as a big sis to my DB who has Downs.

keysinthefridge, while I semi-agree with your sentiment, wrt this situation, it's not really the point.

They are a big group. They were turned down because they are a big group. End of issue.

Except someone decides to go running to the press claiming discrimination when it was nothing of the sort. If they were a 30 plus group of NT/non-SN adults, they would've been turned down. They've been given the opportunity to split the party up, which clearly shows that Butlins are happy to have disabled adults at their venues. At no point have the group's disabilities come into the decision to not host the party.

There really is no discrimination to be found here.

I won't be boycotting them, We're not long back from Butlins and are going to another Butlins next year. They did not say groups of disabled people were intimidating, they said large groups of adults could be intimidating. They have the same rule for all large groups of adults during their family breaks.

I'm going to Butlins on Friday for a week .. fantastically naff :)

They should have tried to work it out with Butlins before going to the press..

keys, their opportunity is the same. They can still go on the holiday, just in two separate gropus. That is already more than most non disabled large groups would get.

frhdrghrfrggd dgfrtbyhfbgvg vfbrgtfegwfef