The threatened closure of London's Jubilee Waterside outdoor education centre has again shone a spotlight on the problems outdoor education is facing in the light of widespread budget cuts.
The loss of funding from Camden Council looks likely to be the final nail in the coffin for the Jubilee centre (YPN, 17-23 January, p3), which is still struggling with large debts caused by the overrunning of modernisation work a few years earlier.
But, in losing its funding, the Jubilee centre is far from alone. Outdoor education centres are increasingly being expected to pay their own way.
In November last year, while the Department for Education and Skills was launching its Learning Outside the Classroom manifesto, the chair of the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres, Kevin Jackson, told Young People Now that outdoor education centres in 21 local authorities are facing closure because of the reorganisation of children's services budgets (YPN, 29 November-4 December 2006, p2).
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