Ready to switch off and reconnect?

  • Contributor information: CNP

11 April 2019

Join Columbia Sportswear and the UK’s National Parks to #SwitchOffandReconnect with family, friends – and the great outdoors. Catherine Drury of Columbia Sportswear has more.

The National Parks are vital breathing spaces. Beautiful spaces where you can really take a break from the pressures of the modern world. Columbia Sportswear believes everyone should have the opportunity to experience the beauty and serenity of the National Parks. That’s why Columbia has joined up with the UK’s National Parks to invite you to #SwitchOffAndReconnect

Alongside her son Rueben and daughter Lois, TV Presenter Gabby headed to the Peak District National Park, to demonstrate that anyone can ditch the distractions of technology and get back to nature.

The National Parks offer infinite options to families to get outdoors and leave technology behind. Whether it’s a gentle ramble among wild flowers or an adventurous hill climb, reconnecting with the environment around us is vital for everyone. And Switch Off & Reconnect is designed for absolutely everyone. From children and young teens eye-locked on their smartphones, adults and parents deskbound from 9-5, and anyone lacking the confidence or know-how to embrace the great outdoors.

Gabby Logan and family in the Peak District

Gabby Logan and family enjoying the wonders of nature in the Peak District. Photo credit: Columbia Sportswear

Columbia Sportswear wants you to join Gabby and her take the family pledge:

  1. Leave your phone behind – spend time not looking at the little blue screens but actually enjoying the world around you
  2. Take a family walk – experience the glory of the UK’s 15 National Parks. Coasts, lakes, peaks and Dales all await you!
  3. Get closer to Nature – nature is all around you and there are few places better to experience the wonders of nature than the National Parks.
  4. Make dinner outdoors – working up an appetite is all part of the fun. Enjoy a picnic in the world’s most beautiful surroundings.

Most of all, have fun!

Why are we doing this?

In 2017 we became the official outfitter of the 15 National Parks in a one-of-a-kind five year partnership. Columbia’s mission is to make the outdoors accessible for everyone, and we feel that #SwitchOffandReconnect gives us the platform to achieve this.

Time spent outdoors is a fantastic way to look after yourself and your family. We know the pressures of modern life can get too much. That, with everything being so busy it can be easy to lose sight of your priorities. We truly believe that whatever you do in our National Parks can help restore some balance to your life.

So that’s why we’ve teamed up with the UK National Parks to bring these extraordinary benefits to as many families as possible. A perfect way of exploring the best of British countryside during #DiscoverNationalParks fortnight.

By Catherine Drury

Columbia Sportswear