REDBRIDGE: Campaign to save kids' countryside centre gains momentum (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

REDBRIDGE: Campaign to save kids' countryside centre gains momentum

12:54pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in Redbridge News By Tom Porter

A CAMPAIGN launched to save a centre that has provided thousands of children from the borough with their first taste of the countryside is rapidly gaining momentum.

Glasbury House in Powys, mid Wales, has been owned by Redbridge Council since 1962, and last year alone over 1,500 pupils from the area travelled there to enjoy outdoor activities including canoeing, hiking and climbing.

Last year Redbridge Council released plans to cut the £255,000 it provides in funding for the centre at the beginning of the 2012/2013 financial year, forcing parents and schools to find the £438 it costs to send a pupil there themselves.

Two days ago parents and teachers from the area launched a petition calling for the council to rethink its decision, which has already gathered almost 200 signatures.

The petition will be submitted to Redbridge Council ahead of a cabinet meeting on March 20 in which a final decision on the future of the centre will be made.

Ron Jeffries, 79, of Aldborough Road North in Ilford, has three children and three grandchildren who have visited the centre and has been involved in distributing the petition.

He said: “It is a great place for adventures. It is a place where children can learn new skills and get to enjoy the outdoors.

“If it goes then children from the borough lose all of that. My children and grandchildren have visited and found the facilities marvellous.

“I would like to see the council sell the mayor’s car to help keep Glasbury open. We want things to help the kids not some old councillors.

“The children and teachers from schools in the area are devastated to hear it will close.”

Sue Padden, 65, of Aldborough Road South in Ilford, has volunteered as a trainer with the Beaver Scouts in Redbridge for 27 years.

She said: “The centre is very important for kids. It gives them a chance to try things they have never tried before, and makes them very independent.

“I would like the council to think harder about how they could provide children with this opportunity in the future.”

Spencer Lewis, headteacher at King Solomon High School in Barkingside, said: “We regularly use Glasbury House for school trips and we are very happy with the service they provide, it will be a great shame if Glasbury closes and I have personally written to the relevant cabinet member about my concerns.

“It is wonderful to hear students talk about the activities they undertook at Glasbury, it offers opportunities that students do not usually experience so I really hope that it will remain open.”

Cllr Sue Nolan, Redbridge Council Cabinet Member for Leisure, said, “I have heard loud and clear the concerns of teachers and pupils about the Council’s decision to discontinue the subsidy to Glasbury House Outdoor Education Centre. This decision was made due to the current financial climate.

"However teachers have told us that proposed increases to use the centre as a result of the cut in subsidy would be too expensive and that schools would no longer be able to use the centre. Together with colleagues I have therefore been looking at a number of options as I know how much schools value the centre and how it offers life changing challenges to young people.

"Glasbury House believes it can reduce the subsidy through further efficiencies and by increasing the weekly cost from £230 per person a week to £280. I have also written to all schools asking if they would be prepared to make a contribution of £1000 each year over the next three years to ensure the service to young people is maintained. If schools can commit to this then I will ask the Council to fund the shortfall. Schools have been given until 1 March to respond. A report discussing the future of Glasbury House will then go to cabinet in March.”

Click here to follow the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian on Twitter