Winners of the Cornwall Primary Times Reader Star Awards 2019
Local families vote for favourite places in the Primary Times Reader Star Awards 2019
The best of what Cornwall has to offer families is revealed in the results of this year’s Primary Times Star Awards, as voted for by parents of children aged 4 to 11 years in the county. This year saw the greatest ever response to the Primary Times online survey where readers voted for their favourite local family friendly places and people.
Local parents were informed of the survey in Primary Times, a family friendly magazine that is delivered directly to primary schools across Cornwall. With a distribution of 40,000 copies the magazine reaches 225 primary schools in the county.
The specially designed online survey appeared on the Primary Times website from July to October. Questions in the survey were formulated to incite open and honest replies from readers. The results are truly organic, with the winning awards given to the attraction that gained the most reader nominations in a particular category.
The outcome of the survey is of special importance to many local businesses who value the insightful nature of the award results, as the families who complete the survey are often customers or potential customers.
In addition, the results provide an interesting snapshot of what is popular with families at this current time. It’s a way of local families recommending venues and attractions that deliver good quality service and provision to other readers.
Winning an award is a real accomplishment and many winners proudly display their certificates at their venues and promote it on their marketing material.
Aside from the overall winner, there were 10 different categories asking readers for their favourite: family attraction (full day out); family attraction (half day out); indoor play or activity centre; outdoor play centre; party venue or entertainer; free local family event; best seasonal event of the year; local fair, show or festival; best family holiday or break in the region; best value for money attraction.
The results, which can now be revealed, give the winners’ a well-deserved round of applause…
And this year’s winners are…
Once again, the highly desired Family Attraction award was split into two categories to accommodate the places where people like to spend their time for a full day out and for a half day out.
Winning the Family Attraction Award (for a Full Day Out), was Camel Creek Adventure Park. This much-loved attraction continues to add variety with new events and attractions year-on-year. This added interest, along with its existing fun rides and play areas, really hits the mark with local families who visit the park regularly. Flambards Theme Park was the runner-up in this category.
The best Family Attraction (for a Half Day Out) Award includes places where people may visit, perhaps, for a few hours but on a frequent basis, or attractions that offer timed schedules. Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary was chosen as the winner in this category. This wonderful attraction is a big hit with Primary Times’ readers and its seasonal events, play areas and wide range of animals tempts local families to return again and again. The runner-up in this category was Lappa Valley Steam Railway.
The online offers, special winter admission prices, reasonably priced season tickets and great value return tickets make a visit to Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary great value, enabling it to pick up the top prize in the ‘Best Value for Money Attraction’ category. Lappa Valley Steam Railway was the runner-up in this group.
The importance of outdoor play and its positive effect on children makes the Outdoor Play category a particularly significant one. Heartlands won this category, closely followed by Adrenalin Quarry. Whilst the Indoor Play award, another highly valued prize, was scooped up by Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary, with the indoor play activities at Kidzworld Adventure Play coming a close second.
The entertaining events and family orientated activities at the Royal Cornwall Show, enabled it to be chosen as the favourite Local Fair, Show or Festival for 2019. The hugely popular Stithians Show was runner-up in this category.
The highly prized category of Party Venue and Entertainer is always fiercely contested as the quality of party entertainment in the area is first class. The kid’s parties at Kidzworld Adventure Play acquired the highest number of votes, whilst the party packages at Gwel an Mor made second spot.
The award for favourite Free Local Family Event was won by Heartlands for its thrilling fireworks display. The second highest number of votes in this category went to Mazey Day in Penzance.
A new category for this year was Best Seasonal Event. The Eden Project at Christmas was chosen as the best event by the readers of Primary Times, followed by Fireworks at Heartlands.
Another new category for 2019 was the Best Family Holiday or Break. The wonderful family friendly facilities and accommodation at Hendra Holiday Park enabled it to get the top prize in this group, followed by Haven Perran Sands.
The blue-ribbon category, that of Overall Winner, asked readers to think about their favourite attraction which offered them the best overall experience. Collectively, readers chose Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary as their Overall Winner for 2019. Lappa Valley Steam Railway scooped the runner’s-up prize in this prestigious category.
Linda Edwards, Publishing Editor at Primary Times said: “We’d like to say a massive thank you to our readers for their valued contribution to the Reader Star Awards. The results are incredibly insightful and are sure to help other local families decide what to do and where to go. We would like to applaud all the individual winners and runners-up of each category and congratulate them on their success. We’d also like to congratulate Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary on being such a big hit with our readers. Paradise Park offers a wide variety of activities and events throughout the year, whilst delivering high standards. Winning several awards is an example of consistent practice and good management. We look forward to seeing what the next twelve months will bring.”
Regional winners in Cornwall are as follows:
Overall Winner
• Winner: Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary
• Runner up: Lappa Valley Steam Railway
Family Attraction (Half Day Out)
• Winner: Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary
• Runner up: Lappa Valley Steam Railway
Indoor Play / Activity Centre
• Winner: Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary
• Runner up: Kidzworld Adventure Play
Best Value for Money Attraction
• Winner: Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary
• Runner up: Lappa Valley Steam Railway
Family Attraction (Full Day Out)
• Winner: Camel Creek Adventure Park
• Runner up: Flambards Theme Park
Free Local Family Event
• Winner: Fireworks at Heartlands
• Runner up: Mazey Day, Penzance
Outdoor Play Centre
• Winner: Heartlands
• Runner up: Adrenalin Quarry
Party Venue / Entertainer
• Winner: Kidzworld Adventure Play
• Runner up: Gwel an Mor
Local Fair, Show or Festival
• Winner: Royal Cornwall Show
• Runner up: Stithians Show
Best Family Holiday/Break
• Winner: Hendra Holiday Park
• Runner up: Haven Perran Sands
Best Seasonal Event of The Year
• Winner: Eden Project at Christmas
• Runner up: Fireworks at Heartlands
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