NWA is on the move

New Word Alive is moving home. The 2012 event will be at the Prestatyn Sands Pontins Holiday Park.

The organisers have been very grateful for the provision of the Haven site at Pwllheli during the ‘infant’ years of the event. However, a mixture of issues has meant that NWA is unable to return there next year.

The first was a large increase in the hire fee, although it then became clear it wasn’t just a matter of finance. Haven also has various development plans for their site, as well as an increasingly focused business strategy, which together meant they were unable to commit to having NWA back. As the 2011 event finished, it was, for the moment, without a home.

The important things

Being homeless can be a little unsettling. But, as someone commented, ‘The really important things are already in place’. The organisers have clear aims and values for the event: to serve the local church by providing excellent Bible teaching and training, to model a generous unity for confessional evangelicals and to provide an environment in which the whole church family can grow and relax together. Over the last four years, God has helped work out and deliver just that: the varied adult programme, high-octane children and teenage work and a lively student track all mean that whole families are fully catered for. And the grass roots response has left NWA bursting at the seams on the Pwllheli site. So clearly the Lord has provided all the critical elements. All that was needed was a secure home.

Prestatyn

The place the Lord has provided is Prestatyn. It’s a site that had been looked at in the past, but for various reasons wasn’t taken forward. However, with recent new owners at Pontins, an open door has come at just the right time.

Prestatyn is on the North Wales coast near Rhyll. The local blurb says: ‘It’s nestled between magnificent sandy beaches and a spectacular hillside, where mountain air meets sea breezes’.

‘And that isn’t just tourist hype!’ says Nigel Beynon, Director of New Word Alive. ‘It is a very pretty coastline, with good walks, beaches and local towns. And on the Pontins site there are lots activities, particularly for children. By comparison with our old home, Prestatyn hasn’t received the investment that the Haven site has over the last few years. But the new owners are upgrading the park, both in the accommodation and the general facilities, and that work will be completed by the time of NWA 2012. We will have exclusive use of the park, so will be able to arrange everything to suit our guests and programme. The accommodation on the park is all in apartments and the layout will work very well for those coming as a group, as you can have units together, with a communal grass area in the middle for meals, children to play and so on.

Other benefits

‘Our new home also brings other benefits. As mentioned, we have been very full in recent years, but with Haven there has been no possibility of holding more than one event in school holidays. At Pontins, we have the chance to hold two events in the future. So we trust that, in 2013, we will be able to grow into two NWAs, both in school holidays, with a full programme for children, students and adults. In addition, Pontins is willing to work well in advance so that we can start planning those events now, booking speakers and letting guests know future dates earlier. We are certainly very grateful to the Lord for providing a new home and so, we trust, enabling us to continue to provide an event that serves the local church.’

Booking for New Word Alive 2012 opens on June 30. For more information, please visit http://www.newwordalive.org

NWA is on the move

The important things

Prestatyn

Other benefits

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