Investment Member News

We’re excited to welcome Chris Simmonds as the new CEO of HF Holidays. Currently the Chief Executive of the JG Travel Group, Chris will succeed David Harrington, who is retiring after a successful 40-year tenure with the organisation. He will join us on 1 October and get to know our people and all aspects of the business before taking the reins fully in November.  

Got a question for the Board or our retiring CEO? Be sure to submit your questions in our upcoming 2024 Q&A session with your Board of Directors.  

As a co-operative, HF Holidays is governed by a board of 12 volunteer directors who set the company’s strategic direction. Each year, three directors retire, creating opportunities for new members to join the board.  

As a reminder, if you know any member who is thinking of standing for election, the deadline to apply is 31 December.  

Meanwhile, thank you Andrea (Illy) Illingworth, for sharing her perspective 18 months into being elected onto our Board of Directors. Read about how her love of the outdoors, walking, and passion for people has helped shape her leadership style (download article).

If you’re also passionate about our values and want to make a lasting impact, find out more at www.hfholidays.co.uk/join-our-board and submit your application via email to Society Secretary, Manuela Gordea at manuelagordea@hfholidays.co.uk  

Applications close 31 December 2024. 

Membership lies at the heart of our co-operative and your insights are key to our future success. We invite you to submit any questions (please keep to 20 words or less) related to the operations, strategy, and business of HF Holidays by midday on Wednesday 2 October 2024.

All members will receive a link to the 2024 Q&A recording via email or by visiting www.hfholidays.co.uk/agm from Thursday 10 October 2024.

Please send your questions in advance to membership@hfholidays.co.uk.

Watch past Q&As here

With our 2025 holidays now on sale, our brand new brochure provides the perfect opportunity to curl up with a cup of tea and start planning your next adventure.

Discover enchanting trails of Transylvania and the golden temples of beautiful Bhutan or travel to the Haute Savoie Alps by rail. Here at home, we’re excited by the return of a few familiar favourites - trips to the Scottish Isle of Arran are back by popular demand, and we’ve also reintroduced Come & Dance breaks.

And, after listening to your feedback, we’ve created Discover More Tours – a collection of new small-group tours that reveal the UK’s hidden tourism hotspots. Be quick to secure your place on these new and unique experiences, already filling fast.

If you’d like a printed copy to browse, please order a copy on our website.

We're excited to introduce even more holidays for 2025, adding to the 50+ new holidays launched earlier in the year. 


NEW Guatemala: Maya Ruins & Volcano Trails 

Discover one of Central America’s most captivating destinations and explore a land of rugged mountains, remote jungles, and remarkable ancient ruins. Trek across the striking lava fields below Pacaya volcano, tour the World Heritage City of Antigua, and visit a trio of the most incredible archaeological sites in the Americas, including UNESCO-listed Tikal – the remains of a once mighty Mayan city buried deep within the jungle. 

"Guatemala has so much to offer: fascinating culture, incredible history, Maya ruins, dramatic jungle and volcanic scenery. Top it all with warm and welcoming locals and vibrant traditional markets and it’s truly an undiscovered wonder."
Emily, HF Holidays Team Member 



Browse all our brand-new 2025 holidays online or flip through our digital brochure to see where 2025 will take you. 

Join us this November as we celebrate our 111th birthday! We’re also marking the special anniversaries of our houses: 90 years at Newfield Hall, 35 years at Thorns Hall, and 30 years at Abingworth Hall. 

Our official birthday is on 5 November, and we invite you to enjoy 3- and 7-night breaks starting on 8 and 9 November at selected UK country houses. Enjoy wonderful guided walks, live music, a special 4-course dinner, a welcome drinks reception, an "HF Through the Ages" quiz, and, of course, birthday cake! 

Special Member Offer (ends 4 October 2024):
Members can use code MEM50 to save £50 off the 3-night breaks or use code MEM111 to save £111 off the 7-night breaks.  
Find out more and be quick to book your spot at hfholidays.co.uk/exclusive-members-offer 

With our birthday celebrations coming up in November, our volunteer archivist and HF Holidays Leader, Chris Steel, is searching for photos and memories of our 100-year centenary celebrations, that took place in 2013. Help us add to the other fascinating items on display in our Heritage Room at Newfield Hall in Malham. 

If you have anything you would like to donate or share (associated to our year 2013 centenary or any point in our history) please email Chris at archivist@hfholidays.co.uk.  

We’d also like to thank you for your general HF Holidays memories received recently following our request in the July edition of Footnotes. Please keep them coming at footnotes@hfholidays.co.uk. 

As we announce the closure of Dolserau Hall, we reflect on its rich history and the special place it’s held within our community. Purchased by HF Holidays in 2012, this Victorian manor has been a cherished retreat for guests and staff alike. Set in the stunning surroundings of Snowdonia National Park, its unique features, from the galleried hall to the stained glass, have left lasting memories.  

Sadly, its popularity has declined in recent years, affecting the shared holiday experience for our members and guests, leading us to the difficult decision to place it on the market at the end of the season. 

We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the dedicated team for their hard work over the years. While our time here ends on 8 November, we’ll continue offering exceptional walking holidays in Wales at Nythfa House and partner hotels.  

Thank you for your continued support. 

We’re a business built on recommendations. So, as a thank you for the work you do to spread the word, we’re offering £75 off your next holiday for each friend you introduce who books with us. Your friend will also receive £75 off their booking.  

Find out more here and thank you in advance for sharing the benefits of being active and having fun in the great outdoors. 

We are humbled by the generous bequests regularly made to our society.

Legacy gifts, regardless of size, are vital in sustaining our co-operative, so to help those considering leaving a gift in their will, we have created a new page on our website with more information.

Please contact us (Linda or Jackie) in the Membership team on 020 8732 1290 to discuss. Thank you again for your generosity. Your ongoing support aims to inspire future generations to enjoy the great outdoors, welcoming them into the HF Holidays fold.

If you have stayed with us recently and have an online account, did you know you can customise how you receive Membership news and promotional updates online?  

Simply log in to My Account and select your preferences for postal, email, and phone communications.  

If you don’t have an online account, but would like to update your contact preferences, please email us at membership@hfholidays.co.uk. 

For any other ‘My Account’ support, please ask our Sales and Support Team for help at reservations@hfholidays.co.uk.  

We’re proud to partner with Traveleyes, the unique tour operator that champions inclusivity and challenges preconceptions by designing multi-sensory group holidays for vision impaired and fully sighted travellers to enjoy together.  

Sighted travellers are partnered with a different vision impaired traveller each day, and in return for guiding and describing the sights, they get to travel for a reduction in price. We’re excited to offer 30 brand-new trips for 2025, including Cyprus, Istanbul, Costa Rica and Eswatini. 

Members from our Sales and Support team recently visited Austria’s Seefeld Plateau, York, The Dales & Brontë Country, as well as Monk Coniston in the Lake District, as sighted guests to experience Traveleyes first hand.

Amy said, “This was my first time joining a Traveleyes holiday and it exceeded all expectations. I found it so rewarding meeting remarkable people and helping them enjoy and appreciate their surroundings.” 

Carol commented, “It was lovely to know I was making a difference for our visually impaired guests…and my colleagues at Newfield Hall were brilliant and so accommodating.” 

Jackson added, “It was my pleasure to help lead and describe the sights to the VIs [visually impaired travellers] during the week. It was both fun and thought-provoking to share my sight to relay the information of a particular view or landscape into a way that they would appreciate and enjoy. 

“It is clear to me that Traveleyes and HF Holidays share the same values in sociability, fellowship and access to and enjoyment of the outdoors. What a great partnership!” 

Click here to find out more about Traveleyes holidays

We love hearing your stories from holidays you’ve taken with us over the years. They all help shape our rich history and heritage. Here’s a couple that really warmed our hearts recently. 

Rosemary wrote to tell us how her parents met through HF Holidays on the Isle of Arran back in the 1930s, where her father was a guide. They went on to marry and have Rosemary! She later visited Arran to see where her parents had met, and has since enjoyed returning there with her friends when she was in her 70s. Now in her 80s, Rosemary enjoyed a trip to the Isle of Wight with HF Holidays earlier this year. 

Our second story is from Ian, who met his wife through HF Holidays in 1991: 

Ian’s HF Holidays trip in 1991 was intended as a budget-friendly walking holiday, but unexpectedly turned into the most expensive holiday ever because that is where he met his wife! Ian became a member earlier this year, and enjoyed a holiday at Glen Coe this summer. 

Please do email us your memories at footnotes@hfholidays.co.uk, or if you have photos or memorabilia to donate, please email Chris at archivist@hfholidays.co.uk so we can share them for all to enjoy.  

We’re all about Yuletide cheer here at HF Holidays so what better way to make this Christmas and New Year truly memorable than by booking a festive break with us. 

We pull out all the stops in our UK country houses with extra fabulous food, festive decorations, and live entertainment on New Year’s Eve. We’ve got breaks that combine guided winter walks with some of the best Christmas markets and festive experiences in the UK.  

Special Member Offer: Celebrate Christmas abroad with us this year, including our Walking on Gran Canaria holiday from 23 to 30 December. Explore the island's stunning volcanic landscapes with a choice of two guided walks in the winter sun each walking day. As a special treat on this trip, HF Holidays Members will also receive a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine per room upon arrival to start the festivities in style. 

As a B-Corp, we continue to enhance the energy efficiency of our 15 UK country houses, and the introduction of renewable energy at our offices and across our estate, has resulted in an annual reduction of approximately 113,000 kg of CO2e.  

Dean Clark, Estates Manager said, “At Longmynd Hotel, we have installed two EV car chargers, a biomass boiler, LED lighting and all new windows to reduce heat loss. We’ve also improved the thermal qualities of external walls in all refurbished premium guest rooms and made efficiencies in the single pipe heating system. Work continues to upgrade the next 15 premium guest rooms by March 2025, and our ambition is to install solar panels to significantly reduce energy costs.”  

By balancing profit with purpose, we can ensure our actions contribute positively to the world around us. It’s a promise to you, our shareholding members, that by choosing us, you’re helping to safeguard the natural landscapes we love for future generations.  

A big thank you to Chris Steel, and all of our quiz-master leaders, for the passion, time, and enthusiasm they put into hosting the weekly quiz competition at our country houses. They play such a big part in the HF Holidays experience and staying at our country houses wouldn’t be the same without our Wednesday trivia fix. 

Send us your funniest quiz stories and photos to feature in future editions of Footnotes at footnotes@hfholidays.co.uk. 

Awarded “World’s Best Guide” by Wanderlust, Cusco-born Efrain Valles truly embodies the spirit of Peru. With a deep love for his country and unrivalled expertise, he’s been making memorable moments for guests for almost 25 years — from navigating llama traffic jams to trekking through incredible cloud forests. Discover why there’s no one better to guide our On the Trail of the Incas tour and help you discover the rich cultural heritage of this South American gem.