Haven Holidays rebrands beloved Seaside Squad characters to make them more woke

HAVEN Holidays is rebranding its Seaside Squad characters to make them more woke.

Bradley Bear is becoming gender-neutral and will be renamed Jazz, according to concerned whistle-blowers.

And Anxious the Elephant and Greedy the Gorilla are having their names changed to Annie and George to avoid offending the nervous and overweight.

A Haven insider said: “These characters have entertained children for years and, as far as anyone’s aware, there haven’t been any complaints.

“Suddenly, we’re having to change everything in case people get offended. I just don’t think our guests would care.

“They’ll be more offended by us pandering to the woke generation.
“I think the management has lost the plot.”

Natasha Webber, 39, from Coventry, holidayed at Haven parks as a child and now takes her kids Joe, five, and Maddie, eight.

She said: “I can’t believe Haven is caving in to the woke crowd. It’s ridiculous.

“My children love getting to meet the characters and having their photos taken. My daughter particularly likes Anxious.

“Changing their names to avoid offending some fragile snowflakes is one of the stupidest things I’ve heard.

“Trying to explain that Bradley is now non-binary, and what that means, is a conversation I don’t really want to be having with my children.” But Haven-loving mum-of-three Beth Donahue, 43, from Portsmouth, was more supportive.

She said: “Anything that makes people feel more included is a good thing.

“Anxiety and obesity are real conditions that can make children feel left out, and there’s nothing wrong with identifying as gender-neutral.

“I’m sure Haven will handle it very sensitively and it won’t detract from the fun factor.”

Haven’s characters have entertained generations of children since the holiday parks first opened in 1964.

The first character to entertain guests was Rory the Tiger, who is still the firm’s main mascot.

Anxious and Greedy have been around since the 1980s. Bradley was introduced in the 1990s.

The current Seaside Squad was assembled in 2013 with Rory, Bradley, Anxious and Greedy plus two human characters, Polly and Ned.

Haven runs 38 sites across the country featuring kids’ clubs, adventure playgrounds, live shows and swimming pools.

A four-night break in a static caravan at a Haven park can cost as little as £49 for a family of four. The firm has been approached for comment.