Sarah Ryan
Outdoor centres across the UK have been closed since March. For some, this could become permanent, at a time when the need for outdoor education is more urgent than ever. When so people many need help, we find out, what are they missing out on?
investigates the impact of COVID-19 on outdoor education centres – a big issue with far-reaching implications
For many young people, a week away in a residential outdoor centre is the first experience they’ve ever had of being in a wild place, of seeing a mountain or stepping foot off a path. It can be life-changing not just because it introduces them to something new, but because it can show them that they’re capable of things they hadn’t imagined. Outdoor residential centres provide jobs in rural areas, help teach respect for the outdoors and hopefully begin a lifelong love of it.
But right now these residential centres are in trouble. For outdoor education the winter months are usually quiet, followed by a boom of school parties, youth groups, family trips, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and skills courses from March to October. But in March 2020, this didn’t happen. A quiet winter rolled into an even quieter spring when centres closed entirely to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In summer there was a tentative opening, with reduced capacity for a few family trips and skills courses. But subsequent lockdowns and the everchanging tier system have hit the industry hard. According to a report from the Institute for Outdoor Learning published in May, ten centres expected to close and 84 said they may close by the end of the year.
In response to this, the #SaveOutdoorEd campaign was launched in July 2020, asking governments to allow outdoor centres to open with safety measures in place. On 4 November, an All Party Parliamentary Group for Outdoor Learning was formed and a few weeks later the Scottish government opened a £2 million residential outdoor education centre recovery fund.
And, of course, there are the vaccines, several of which have announced success rates of 70-95%, with jabs predicted to roll out from December onwards (at time of writing). If this is the case, residential outdoor centres may be able to open by April 2021, meaning they can make some money, and children who have been stuck in cities for most of the year can have some time in nature. It might all be over soon.
But it will have left its mark. For outdoor residential centres, with large, usually old buildings and a lot of land, the bills didn’t stop coming in when the work did. The response from governments varied across the nations. A combination of grants, furlough schemes and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) helped many survive the initial shock. But if a company took out the CBIL in spring 2020, repayments plus interest will soon need to be made. Not only are struggling outdoor centres not making any money, many are now in debt.
The situation is complex, with lives and livelihoods in the balance. But it’s unlikely that business will fully return to normal until the virus is effectively suppressed or there is a change in approach. We spoke to four people working in the industry at all levels to understand what’s going on and what might help.
“SOME KIDS HAVE PROBABLY NOT LEFT THEIR FLATS IN THE MIDDLE OF A CITY FOR A LONG TIME”