What’s been happening in Moneymore?

Time certainly hasn’t stood still for us at The Jungle over the last year. Having swallowed the disappointment of the last minute cancelling of events, being locked down for a good part of the year and only being open about 3 months out of 12, we have not rested on our laurels and have been hard at work (when allowed to be) in order to push things forward and make sure we have plenty to offer our customers when things eventually go back to normal.

We are fully aware of the difficult circumstances everyone has had to endure and the devastating impact the past year has had on our physical and mental wellbeing, as well as the damage to our local, national and global economies. 

But we are not ones to back away from a challenge. As the old saying goes ‘a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.’ Out of adversity comes opportunity. We feel we now have an opportunity to further draw on our pioneering ethos and creative approach that has sustained The Jungle for over 15 years and create something that will benefit our community and those who live in it.

Our shared current circumstances won’t last forever. We can all look forward to brighter times. In the meantime, there’s still life to be lived and we want to make the most of that living by providing new and exciting adventures for everyone. Being based in Moneymore, slap bang in the middle of our wee country, our mission is to bring more life to Mid Ulster and cement it’s place as a hub of adventure in Northern Ireland. We are proud custodians of our local community and we hope to play an ever more important role in bringing prosperity back to the heart of Northern Ireland, a heart still beating with a spirit of courage, resilience and optimism.

So, in case you were wondering, here’s what we’ve been up to…

As some of you may already be aware, the team behind The Jungle have created a sister company by the name of Splash Outdoor WaterPark. We initially had scheduled to open the park in 2020, however a certain viral pandemic put a rather sudden stop to that. However, now we’ve all been living with it for the past year and have adjusted our lives accordingly, we do not want to delay it anymore and we cannot wait to get the park open this summer.

We located and purchased an old abandoned quarry in the outskirts of Moneymore in 2019, which ceased operations about 50 years ago and since then has been reclaimed by nature. The underground springs have filled the huge quarry over time with tens of thousands of gallons of clean, clear and pristine water. Over the past two years, in between lock downs, we have been hard at work shaping the surrounding natural landscape and making it accessible while still retaining an untouched and primitive feel to the environment. We’ve created an inland grass area to one end and are currently putting the finishing touches on the facilities before our hotly anticipated launch in May 2021.

Check out our beautifully crisp and clear lake below:

To date we have invested around £650,000 in getting the initial groundwork completed, purchasing our brand new custom made inflatable XL AquaPark from WiiBit, building reception, changing, storage and waste facilities and every other aspect we needed to have the park ready by this summer. We have hired a manager to oversee the daily operations and have brought in around 40 new staff in total. We feel this is a significant boost to our local economy and we’re thrilled to be in a position to offer new jobs to our local residents and also to offer something brand new and exciting to Mid Ulster, which we hope will aid in our overall goal of propelling the reputation of Mid Ulster into the ultimate adventure hub of Northern Ireland.

splashni.com

Here’s some images of the WiiBit XL Inflatable AquaPark that will be installed before opening in May 2021.

With this spirit of tenacity and determination in the face of adversity, we have also been hard at work launching a new tourism campaign for Mid Ulster. We hope you will all be seeing the Adventure More brand a lot more often in the near future. The campaign aims to foster a collective spirit with local businesses, who will have the opportunity to join together on the online platform and make their business known to outsiders as somewhere worth stopping off at on their next trip to Mid Ulster. We have so much to offer as a collective and we hope that by working together we can raise the profile or the area and show people what they might be missing. 

With adventure playing the focal point, the idea is to encourage and nurture a spirit of play, wonder and exploration after a year of being locked down, by getting people back into the great outdoors and exploring their very own country. Whether it be swinging from trees, racing Go Karts, splashing around giant inflatable aqua parks or even a spot of fishing, we have lots of adventure on offer to draw people in. Add to this, our impressive range of restaurants, bars, cafes, ice cream and coffee shops, along with the area’s timeless natural beauty and rural landscapes and we have the perfect mix for an experience to remember.

With the hospitality and tourism sector taking such a monumental hit in 2020, we feel now is the time to start looking forward, to start building for the future and using our own initiative as a community to get things back on track.

The project will take the form of an online social media campaign through Facebook and Instagram, with an accompanying website which can be used as a casual tourist information resource for people to quickly see what’s on offer in the area and see why they should make Mid Ulster their next destination of choice. Through these platforms we will highlight some of the best and most unique adventure retreats, culinary hotspots, areas of natural beauty and any other notable mentions that we feel makes Mid Ulster stand out as a fun filled and unique destination. We plan to showcase the best we have to offer in Mid Ulster to the wider area, with the aim of bringing more people to the area for day trips, staycations, hen or stag dos, birthday bashes, overnight stays and any other trip that we can facilitate and provide our own unique brand of hospitality.

The website will soon be live and we hope that local businesses will join us in our mission to improve our local area.

If you would like to be listed on the website, free of charge, please drop us a message at one of our social media platforms.

Facebook – AdventureMoreNI

Instagram – adventuremoreni

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to each and every customer who has continued to support us through our Jungle events and activities, even throughout the tumultuous year we’ve just had. We also would like to offer our gratitude to those who have seen value in our new venture, Splash Outdoor WaterPark and who have bought one of our discounted Advanced Ticket options in the run up to the park opening. You won’t be disappointed.

It’s been our most challenging year as a company. We are a small group of dedicated individuals who want to continue the work we have done up until now in trying to offer exciting escapes and unique experiences filled with adventure and joy.

Like many others, we’ve just about held on through the storm of 2020 and have had to adjust and adapt our processes, as and when it was necessary. However, the kindness, encouraging words and support given to us by our customers through these difficult times reassures us that there is an essential and fundamental need for adventure in our society. It may now be more important than ever. The sense of wellbeing gained from being in the outdoors, engaging in physical activity and having fun is so vitally important in maintaining a healthy mind and body. With an ever growing intensity and stress permeating normal life, it’s crucial that we take time to unwind, destress, explore and have fun. 

We cannot wait to get things going again in the coming weeks of 2021 and work towards improving the health of our own local economy. 

We’ll see you soon!