‘Join the Club’ – The Barber family

‘Lockdown helped us make our decision – We bought our Willerby and have never looked back’

We love catching up with our Willerby Owners Club members and this time it’s the turn of Anne-Marie and Chris Barber, their daughters, Isabella, 11, and Harriet, six, plus house rabbit Jerry!

The family, from Roade in Northamptonshire, own a two bedroom 2009 Willerby Granada at Heacham Holidays’ Putting Green site in Norfolk, and said lockdown led them to invest in their holiday home as they craved their own piece of quiet paradise.

Q. Tell us about your Willerby and why you love it so much.

A. We didn’t want to buy an expensive holiday home until we knew we’d like it, so we opted to buy a second-hand model, but it certainly doesn’t look its age!

It has a large lounge area, plenty of room; we can sit together to eat and it suits how we want to live as a family.

We have free-standing furniture, the kitchen is open plan, and the space is really well thought out. We’ve put our own stamp on it and we have loads of storage for coats and wellies.

Q. Why did you choose your specific model and how long have you been part of the Willerby family?

A. We got the keys to our holiday home on July 4th 2020, which was the first day of lockdown restrictions easing and it was lovely.

We’ve had lots of family holidays at different sites over the years and we’ve thought about ownership for a while.

Covid came along and we knew we wouldn’t be going abroad for a while, so it helped us to make our decision. We looked at a few models and went for it. We had the best summer ever!

Q. What are the best things about owning a holiday home?

A. Owning a holiday home gives you a chance to spend quality time together as a family and get outdoors. Even if it’s raining, you put your wellies on, go for a walk on the beach or into the village and get out into nature.

We can go whenever we want. If the weather looks good, we can jump in the car and we have that freedom because it’s ours and we don’t have to book.

Q. What would you say to other people thinking about buying a holiday home?

A. Look around and see where you want your holiday home to be, visit the sites and look at the costs associated with buying. We looked at a lively park and a quiet park and weighed up what we wanted.

When you have a young family, it’s quite a difficult decision, but we knew this was the holiday home and park for us. You know when you’ve found the one for you.

Q. Describe your holiday park and why it’s such a great place to stay.

A. It’s a very quiet, family-owned park and everyone is really friendly. There’s a little arcade, café and chip shop just outside the site, and everything is within walking distance.

It’s a really pretty spot with a river running down the side and we’ve seen baby ducks, moorhens and swans, which we don’t see when we’re at home. We’re close to the beach and beach huts where the sunsets.

The site doesn’t have facilities such as a clubhouse and there is an older demographic, which we really like. We wanted somewhere to enjoy downtime. The internet isn’t very good which is really nice because the children don’t go on their devices and we all enjoy quality time as a family.

Q. What do you most value and enjoy from being a member of the Willerby Owners Club?

A. The Owners Club is a really good idea. If we need any information, we know there is always someone we can approach. It makes you feel like a valued customer, even though we own an older Willerby model.

If we ever upgrade, we’ll stick with Willerby because we know what we’re getting and we trust the brand. We love our welcome pack too!

• For information on the Willerby Owners Club and the exclusive member benefits, and to sign up, click here: https://www.willerby.com/owners-club/owners-club-landing