Come along to the northern Lake District this summer for an Effective Altruist nature-filled holiday!

Do you define yourself as an effective altruist? Do you like lakes (or mountains or forests or sunsets from a crag top)? Did you know that spending time out in nature surrounded by people you like and feel part of a community with can make you happier, healthier, and more productive at work? Or just that it's fun? Come on holiday with us!

There are up to 22 spaces available on this gathering. In the event of booking out we'll operate a short waitlist. We'd love to have you along!

Dates: Friday 19th - Monday 22nd June 2026 (3 nights)

Based at Pardshaw Quaker Centre  near Cockermouth - and visiting the lakes of:

• Loweswater (wild swimming)

• Ennerdale (walking through forests and waterfalls)

Each full day will have a whole-afternoon trip out to a local lake (pictured above).  Pardshaw Quaker Center is also located next to Pardshaw Crag, where you can watch the sun rise over the mountains and set over the Solway Firth (pictured below).

Cost: £100 full price / £50 concession

This includes full board (vegetarian or vegan) and indoor sleeping spaces on bunk beds or stackable low beds. Bring your own sleeping bag or a blanket, pillows provided.

Concessions are available for anyone for whom £100 is too expensive for a holiday.

Getting here

For most people, the nearest mainline train station is Penrith North Lakes (or Carlisle if coming from above). From the stop outside Penrith station, take the X4/X5 scenic double decker bus ride to Cockermouth, and get picked up by someone (or get a taxi) for the final 5 minutes drive to site. Penrith/Carlisle is easily accessible from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Manchester, and is also on the fast West Coast Main Line from Birmingham or London.

We will be encouraging car-sharing for attendees travelling by car. Pardshaw Quaker Centre has limited parking spaces, so if you are not car-sharing you may be asked to leave your car at a car park in Cockermouth if we end up with too many cars on-site.

SIG Slots

Want to contribute an activity? There will be morning and evening Special Interest Group slots each full day for a total of four SIG slots. You can submit a SIG around any subtheme of "EA", "Nature". We expect to have two to four SIGs running in each slot depending on submission numbers, for a total of 5-10 people attending your SIG. SIGs will last up to about two hours each.  Example SIGs might include:

• Training workshops such as "" or "being a confident voice for effective giving"

• Creative activities such as "paint the mountain scenery in watercolour" or "capture the flag on the crag"

• Discussion and debate sessions such as "what are the core values of principles-first EA?" or "where's the community going in the age of Anthropic?"

What's the access like at the venue?

Pardshaw Quaker Centre has a few steps, so is not suitable for wheelchair users. Getting to the crag top is about a 5 minute uphill walk. Getting to Loweswater is about a 1hr walk but can be done in a car.