Travel trend - Champing boom in England: Why more and more Brits are camping in old churches
The church is becoming less and less important. In 2022, there were more people leaving the church in Germany - Catholic and Protestant - than ever before. A similar trend can be observed in other countries. However, the people of England do not want to stand idly by and watch their country's historic churches gradually wither away unused. So they have come up with a creative solution: Champing. To be more precise: camping in church buildings.
The UK's Churches Conservation Trust (CCT), which works to protect church buildings, launched a program back in 2016 that does just that. This creative way of spending the night is currently available in a total of 18 churches across the country. For example, visitors can spend a night at St. Nicholas Church in Berden, experience the nocturnal atmosphere at St. Bartholomew's Church in Failand or set up camp at St. Leonard's Church in Old Langho.
Churches become campsites
What sounds like a crazy idea at first glance is going down extremely well with the British. According to a recent report in the British"Telegraph", the demand is so high that twelve more churches are to be added to the offer in the coming months. The newspaper quotes from documents from the church organization that there were 600 bookings last year, which led to net income of around 86,000 pounds, the equivalent of almost 97,000 euros.
However, the church is not really interested in money. Rather, Champing is intended to help ensure that the church buildings have a use value. "It's another way of allowing people to enjoy these historic buildings, explore them and have a bit of fun at the same time," says vicar Canon Timothy Goode in an interview with the Telegraph. Many parishes have been offering yoga classes and other leisure activities in religious buildings for years.
What is champing: church advertising or a travel trend?
But the truth is that it is also about the church's tarnished image in the UK. Christians now make up less than half of the British population, and the trend is downwards. A reform of the traditional church is therefore urgently needed. Pastor Goode is also aware of this. He therefore has high hopes for the camping boom, as he explains to the Telegraph: "It could be that the repurposing of churches will also create a new Christian community."
So is the trend just clever church marketing after all? Not necessarily. The organization does not tie the booking to any prerequisites, such as a certain religious affiliation or similar. So it is also a good opportunity for a special overnight experience. The church becomes a campsite.
Chana James, a spokesperson for the CCT, is quoted by the Telegraph as saying: "Champing is a unique way to experience a historic building. Many of our sites are hundreds of years old and guests have this ancient place all to themselves for a night." However, guests are often not completely alone - depending on the location, up to ten sleeping places are offered - but there is plenty of space in a church like this.
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Source: www.stern.de
