If you go down to the woods today...Ten things you didn’t know about Center Parcs

As the UK’s leading short break provider, the Center Parcs name has become synonymous with providing high quality accommodation and a range of activities all set deep within the forest. Yet, after 26 years in the UK, there are still some facts you might not know about Center Parcs.

From rescuing tropical plants from around the world, to employing someone whose job it is to care solely for Red Squirrels, there’s more than meets the eye at Center Parcs’ four UK villages.

Here are ten things you might not know about Center Parcs:

1. A good nights sleep - On a change-over day, Center Parcs’ team of housekeepers change and make over 12,000 beds in 4 hours - that’s 40 beds per minute!
2. On your bikes - Center Parcs hires 200,900 bikes to families each year and its Cycle Center staff spend around 500 hours each week maintaining and building bikes so that families can keep pedalling through the forest
3. Tropical Paradise - All of the tropical plants inside each of Center Parcs’ Subtropical Swimming Paradises have been rescued from around the world. Alerted by a network of contacts in far-away countries such as Indonesia, Bali and Thailand, Center Parcs rescue plants that are ear-marked for the copy by offering them a new life at one its four villages
4. Serious about nature - Center Parcs has it’s very own Red Squirrel Ranger dedicated to looking after an endangered colony of protected red squirrels at Center Parcs Whinfell Forest in Cumbria
5. Tickling tastebuds - Around 421,465 pancakes are flipped and served at Center Parcs’ original Dutch style Pancake House each year; that’s the equivalent of 1,154 pancakes per day!
6. Open for business – All four Center parcs villages are open to guests 365 days a year and has only ever had to close three times in the past 25 years
7. Pool perfection - Center Parcs has the cleanest pool water in the UK thanks to its revolutionary UV water treatment systems and employs around 320 lifeguards in its Subtropical Swimming Paradises to maintain safety and perfection
8. Carbon Cutters - Everyone at Center Parcs has worked hard to reduce carbon emissions by 5% since 2010, the equivalent of driving around the world over 600 times
9. Woodland Awakenings - Center Parcs woodland is home to several species of bat including the largest (Noctule) and the smallest (Pipistrelle). Center Parcs Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire also homes around 57 different species of breeding bird and hald of the UK’s 34 different dragonfly
10. Come rain or shine - Center Parcs has over 200 indoor and outdoor activities and, heats the air and water in each Subtropical Swimming Paradise to a tropical 29.5 degrees centigrade so there’s fun to be had all year round

Bron; Center Parcs UK