A COUNTRY mansion, which provides hundreds of Redbridge schoolchildren with a break from city life, is preparing for the start of an academic year which could be its last.

Glasbury House in Wales, has been welcoming teachers and pupils from Redbridge since the Council bought it in 1962.

Children who visit the activity centre are provided with the chance to enjoy caving, climbing and canoeing while staying at the magnificent Georgian Mansion which can house up to 44 students.

Last year the centre was visited by 1,500 pupils from the borough’s junior and secondary schools.

But as part of savings measures being implemented by the Council, Glasbury House will see its annual subsidy grant of £255,000 terminated from the start of the 2012/13 financial year.

That will lead to an immediate 90% increase in the cost for each student attending the House with pupils needing to pay £438 per visit in 2012/13, rising to £542 in 2013/14.

Head teacher of King Solomon High School in Barkingside, Spencer Lewis, fears his school will have to stop its regular trips to the House because of the increase in costs.

He said: “I am very upset at the loss of funding for Glasbury House and have written to the council to express this.

“Glasbury provides an invaluable service to our students who get the opportunity to experience things they otherwise would not whilst at the centre.

“The impact on the students who attend is immense, and I am now not sure we will be able to run these trips in future.“

Glasbury House currently employs 12 full-time staff as well as a number of casual and freelance employees.

If student visits dry up they will face redundancy, but Head of Centre, Jon Everington, says he and his staff are trying to remain optimistic about the future.

He added: “The mood in the centre is a hopeful one.

“We are very pleased at the amount of support shown to us by people who use the house.

“By the time we finish the financial year, I think we will have had more people through the door than at any time in the last 50 years.”

A Council spokeswoman said: "It was agreed in March this year as part of the Council’s budget savings that the subsidy given to Glasbury House, the Borough’s Outdoor Education Centre in Wales, will be withdrawn by April 2012.

"While we know the centre is very popular, unfortunately, in the current financial climate, it is no longer possible to continue to subsidise the cost for Redbridge school pupils.

"A report, which will discuss the future of Glasbury House further, is set to go to Cabinet later this year."

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