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Winners of the Plymouth Primary Times Reader Star Awards 2019
Local families vote for favourite places in the Primary Times Reader Star Awards 2019.jpg)
The best of what Plymouth 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 of children were informed of the survey in Primary Times, a family friendly magazine that is delivered directly to primary schools across Plymouth. With a distribution of 25,000 copies the magazine reaches 93 primary schools in the area.
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 award winners proudly display their certificates at their venues and promote it on their marketing material.
Readers were quizzed over their favourite family attractions – places that they can visit for a full day out and for a half day out; indoor play centre; outdoor play centre; party venue/entertainer; free local family event; best seasonal event of the year; local fair, show or festival; best value for money attraction; best family holiday or break and the readers also chose an overall winner.
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), for the fourth consecutive year, was Woodlands Family Theme Park. This ever-evolving fun theme park adds variety with new events and attractions year-on-year. This added interest, along with its existing fun rides and play areas, clearly hits the mark with local families who visit the park regularly. Pennywell Farm 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. The National Marine Aquarium was chosen as the winner in this category. This wonderful attraction is a big hit with Primary Times’ readers and its seasonal events, sleeping with the shark events and educational activities tempts local families to return again and again. The runner-up in this category was 123 Jump.
The all-inclusive admission prices and great membership deals make a visit to Woodlands Family Theme Park great value, enabling it to pick up the top prize in the ‘Best Value for Money Attraction’ category. The National Marine Aquarium 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. Woodlands Family Theme Park won this category, closely followed by Central Park in Plymouth. Whilst the Indoor Play award, another highly valued prize, was scooped up by 123 Jump, with Clip n Climb Plymouth coming a close second.
The entertaining events and family orientated activities at the Plymouth Armed Forces Day, enabled it to be chosen as the favourite Local Fair, Show or Festival for 2019. The hugely popular British Firework Championships in Plymouth 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 123 Jump acquired the highest number of votes, whilst the party offerings from Wishy Washy Children’s Entertainer made second spot.
The award for favourite Free Local Family Event was won by Plymouth Armed Forces Day for its thrilling aerial displays and on-ground activities. The second highest number of votes in this category went to the British Firework Championships in Plymouth.
A new category for this year was Best Seasonal Event. Christmas at Saltram was chosen as the best event by the readers of Primary Times, followed by the British Firework Championships in Plymouth.
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 Woodlands Family Theme Park as their Overall Winner for 2019. Crealy Family Park and Resort scooped the runner’s-up prize in this prestigious category.
Linda Edwards, Publishing Editor at Primary Times said: “Once again we are delighted by the number of readers who took the time and effort to complete the Reader Star Award survey, so we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who entered. We would like to applaud all the individual winners and runners-up of each category and congratulate them on their success. We would like to commend Woodlands Family Theme Park on winning several categories in the Plymouth magazine, including the illustrious Overall Winner award. Woodlands is an extremely well-maintained attraction offering a large variety of activities and events throughout the year, which clearly appeals to our readers”.
Regional winners in Plymouth are as follows:
Overall Winner
• Winner: Woodlands Family Theme Park
• Runner up: Crealy Family Park and Resort
Family Attraction (Full Day Out)
• Winner: Woodlands Family Theme Park
• Runner up: Pennywell Farm
Outdoor Play Centre
• Winner: Woodlands Family Theme Park
• Runner up: Central Park, Plymouth (Play Area)
Best Value for Money Attraction
• Winner: Woodlands Family Theme Park
• Runner up: The National Marine Aquarium
Family Attraction (Half Day Out)
• Winner: The National Marine Aquarium
• Runner up: 123 Jump
Indoor Play / Activity Centre
• Winner: 123 Jump
• Runner up: Clip ‘n Climb, Plymouth
Party Venue / Entertainer
• Winner: 123 Jump
• Runner up: Wishy Washy Children’s Entertainer
Free Local Family Event
• Winner: Plymouth Armed Forces Day
• Runner up: British Firework Championships, Plymouth
Local Fair, Show or Festival
• Winner: Plymouth Armed Forces Day
• Runner up: British Firework Championships, Plymouth
Best Family Holiday / Break.jpg)
• Winner: Devon Cliffs Holiday Park
• Runner up: River Dart Country Park
Seasonal Event of the Year
• Winner: Christmas at Saltram
• Runner up: British Firework Championships, Plymouth