The Do it 4 Real scheme, run by the youth hostel organisation YHA, charges £49 for a place on one of its five-night summer camps for young people aged 10 to 19.
But children in care are exempt from the offer, instead having to foot the full £299 bill, more than six times the cheaper rate.
The Do it 4 Real website states: "The price of a place on camp for a looked-after child is the higher price. This is because all looked-after children have access to a range of alternative funding streams."
John Kemmis, chief executive of advocacy charity Voice, said the fees would particularly disadvantage children in foster or kinship care, whose families may not be able to afford the camp and do not have access to "alternative funding streams". "It's unfortunate they're discriminating against children in care," he said. "In the current economic climate they may find it very difficult to get money out of local authorities for this kind of thing."
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