People have been urged to share their memories of school residential trips to help prevent the loss of Scotland’s outdoor education centres.
Centres including that at Belmont, in Perthshire, which have been closed since March are under threat as coronavirus restrictions prevent overnight trips for schoolchildren until at least Christmas.
Warning many could be lost forever without financial support from the Scottish Government, Martin Davidson, director of The Outward Bound Trust, encouraged generations of Scots who have benefited to write to MSPs and the government to help save them.
More than 15,000 signatures have been gathered on a petition calling for intervention and the issue is to be debated in the Scottish Parliament next Tuesday.
Mr Davidson said people had powerful memories of school residential trips but that formative experience could be lost to hundreds of thousands of children in the future.
“It’s not just a few thousand kids that are missing out this year, it’s literally tens, hundreds of thousands of kids who will miss out in the future.”
Martin Davidson, The Outward Bound Trust
He said: “We need to ensure that we don’t lose what is an essential part of the fabric of Scottish education.
“The vast majority of people in Scotland will have had an outdoor residential experience as part of their education and it’s a really important part of education.
“It helps young people discover who they are and work effectively with others, build their resilience and focus on mental health and wellbeing.
“If these centres close, Belmont or any of the others, they will be closed forever.
“It’s not just a few thousand kids that are missing out this year, it’s literally tens, hundreds of thousands of kids who will miss out in the future.”
Some centres had benefited from the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme, he said, but that ends in October and trips are not expected to resume until next year.
Encouraging more people to sign the petition, he said: “We are also asking people to take time to write to their own MSP and the government to share their own personal experience, why they believe that outdoor centres and residential experiences are really important.”
The Belmont centre, near Meigle, is one of three run by the Scottish Outdoor Education Centres charity, providing activities including archery, bushcraft and kayaking for schools and other groups.
Dave Spence, chief executive officer, said outdoor education and the experience of being away from home had the power to inspire young people’s self-belief.
He said: “I find it had to reconcile the fact that this offers and delivers so much and yet is being cut adrift.
“We have bookings and expressions of interest for bookings of nearly £600,000 for next year.
“We generate £1.4 million every year and we get that from parents who pay for their children to come to us.
“If the government doesn’t support us now I struggle to see us getting through to next March.”
Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife Liz Smith is to lead the debate in the Scottish Parliament on the future of outdoor education centres.
Please join me on 22nd September to debate the future of our outdoor education centres. pic.twitter.com/Ook0GxxvkY
— Liz Smith (@MspLiz) September 10, 2020
She said: “The excellent response to the petition shows just how much outdoor education is valued by the public.
“Outdoor education should be a core part of any curriculum, available to all pupils irrespective of their background.
“The evidence about the benefits of outdoor education is compelling so it is a major concern that many of our centres are under huge financial pressures – some facing closure.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Outdoor education centres can provide young people with a variety of curriculum relevant experiences.
“At present, the increased risk of virus transmission associated with overnight stays means that the Scottish Government has advised against school residential visits to centres – risk assessed day visits are permitted.
“To support outdoor education centres during this challenging time we have funded the development of guidance for schools and outdoor education centres on safe day visits.”