12 Nov 2014

The London Borough of Redbridge have announced that they plan to close their Outdoor Education Centre in Wales after 50 years of providing adventure opportunities to pupils from the East London borough.

Since 1963, it has been run by the council as an outdoor activity centre providing adventurous 'hands on' activities such as canoeing, rock climbing and kayaking, for up to 1,800 pupils a year. 

The Labour leadership announced last month it was looking to sell Glasbury House by August 2015, as part of £70million savings over the next three years.

 Its future had previously been under threat in 2011 when the former administration agreed to cut its annual subsidy of £225,000, but a year later, in March 2012, the plan was scrapped and a revised savings option was implemented. 

The level of subsidy has been reduced from £105,000 in 2012 to £65,000 for this financial year, but the council's budget made no allocation of £175,000 needed to operate Glasbury. 

Eight permanent staff will be made redundant and the centre is scheduled to close in August 2015.Money saved through the closure will be re-invested into educational facilities in the borough such as Fairlop Water, cabinet said.

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Source: Wanstead & Woodford Guardian