Belfast Education and Library Board's Youth Committee wants to reduce funding of the Delamont Outdoor Education Centre, owned by the board, by 70 per cent. It wants the shortfall picked up by the board's Education Committee because, it says, the majority of its users are schools. If the committee rejects the proposal the centre could close, said a board spokesman.
The reduction will mean significant savings to the youth service, which is facing a shortfall of 487,000 in the 2006-07 budget. The Education Committee will make a decision on 11 May.
The loss of Delamont would be a blow to many young people, said Seamus Campbell, senior youth worker at St Teresa's youth centre in Belfast, which uses the outdoor education centre at weekends.
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