East Barnby Outdoor Centre: permanent closure is a withering blow to the region

The permanent closure of East Barnby Outdoor Centre, after North Yorkshire Council opted to pull its funding, is a withering loss to the region.

The centre, during its seven-decades of service, can be credited with helping to build the confidence and character of people, young and old, through its diverse educational offering.

With mountains and moorland, rivers and lakes, caves and coastline offering the classroom of all classrooms, the retirement of the outdoor learning centre represents the placing of a lid on a box of memories shared by people the county over.

For so many young people in particular, the residentials were a rite of passage; where lifelong friendships, relationships even, were formed that endure for a lifetime.

That funding could not be found to protect and enhance the experience for young people in the future there is disappointing; it takes away an escape that teaches people things about themselves that mainstream schooling simply cannot.

Privileged to be set along the Jurassic coastline of the North York Moors National Park, since the 1940s the centre utilised the wonder of the great outdoors to teach children, from primary school age to post-16, to unlock capabilities and courage they never knew they had.

It would be churlish to criticise councillors for taking this decision; quite clearly, the centre is ready to put its feet up in retirement. Repair and maintenance costs will only increase at the venue that can trace its heritage back to the First World War. It isn’t, however, churlish for questions to be asked as to how a first class experience, delivered by incredible staff, will be replaced, for it cannot be simply accepted that young people in the future should be denied the chance to find out about themselves in the same way so many have been privileged to.