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Sunderland City Council says that it is “absolutely committed” to keeping open a local authority run outdoor centre near Keswick.
Council chiefs say that they are focusing on ways to reduce financial pressures and increase visitors to the Derwent Hill outdoor education and training centre in Portinscale.
Figures presented as part of the local authority’s third revenue budget review for 2024/25 highlighted how the council is projecting a £217,000 overspend for the centre for the year through a combination of higher running costs and lower anticipated income.
The centre was one of the first local authority outdoor education centres in England.
Cllr Michael Butler, Sunderland City Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, child poverty and skills, said Derwent Hill’s core purpose is to provide outdoor education residentials for young people from Sunderland and 2,679 of them attended the centre last year.
“While families are finding the cost of living crisis tough, and this has had an impact on numbers, this council is absolutely committed to supporting access with a 20 per cent discount for our young people,” he said. “We generate a significant proportion of our income from development training programmes for corporate clients, and this helps us to reduce costs for our school groups. We are aware that some corporate clients are experiencing challenging trading conditions.
“Derwent Hill has been successfully welcoming our young people for more than 50 years and we look forward to continuing this great work for another 50 years.”
The centre employs around 30 members of staff.