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 22nd- Tuesday 26th August 2025 (4 nights)

This is the weekend of the August bank holiday, so you hopefully won't have to take much time off work. (You can leave on the Monday evening from Keswick if that would help).

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

• Loweswater (wild swimming)

• Ennerdale (walking through forests and waterfalls)

• Derwentwater (exploring Keswick town)

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: £120 full price / £60 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. A great price for a facilitated four-night getaway in some of England's most beautiful natural scenery!

Concessions are available for any UK-based EA in a financial position where £120 is too expensive for a four-night holiday (self-affirmed), or anyone who sends us a receipt for a recent £100+ donation to an effective charity of their choice that they made instead of paying full price for the event.

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 six SIG slots. You can submit a SIG around any subtheme of "EA" or "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 "system 1 versus system 2 and how you can make them work for you"

• Creative arts activities such as "paint the mountain scenery in watercolour"

• Discussion and debate sessions such as "what are the core values of principles-first EA and which of them are the most important?".

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.

Who's running this event and why?

This event is being run by Kes Ward with assistance from some CEEALAR grantees. We're here to provide low-cost high-quality holidays for EAs who couldn't otherwise afford them, and encourage more donations to effective charities. We're also just here to have fun in the Lake District with our community.

Pardshaw Quaker Centre is 300 years old and has spent much of the past century as a volunteer-owned, volunteer-run, low-cost community-focused events hostel. Kes volunteers there and regularly hires out the place cheap for things like this.

In particular, nobody is funding this event - we actually hope to make a surplus and have a community donation discussion for it in one of the SIG slots.