Campaign starts to save outdoor education centre

A group of ex-headteachers has started a campaign to save an outdoor education centre near Gosport that is threatened with closure.

Hampshire County Council has launched a consultation into closing Stubbington study centre so the site can be re-purposed for a new specialist secure children's home.

But there has been an angry and emotional reaction from parents and those working in education, as well as people who have attended the site in its near 90-year life.

Howard Payne, an ex-chair of the management committee, said "children will lose the chance to make memories that last a lifetime".

Comments on the council's Facebook page include those from people who went in their childhoods, and those who were hoping to send their primary-age youngsters.

Sarah Leslie, from Portsmouth, said her children would be "devastated" to lose their chance to attend.

She said: "Of all my school trips, it's the one I remember. It gave me such a confidence boost."

The centre offers residential opportunities and day trips for schools and other youth groups who take part in teambuilding exercises, physical challenges and environmental awareness activities.

In the consultation, the council said the facility had more than 4,500 guests staying overnight and nearly 2,000 day visitors in the year to March 2024.

The 24 staff who are employed there were told about the potential closure on Monday.

Caroline Dinenage, the MP for Gosport, said she understood investment was needed in residential care for Hampshire's children, but "this should not be at the detriment of other well-used local educational facilities".

Mr Payne, who retired from his role as headteacher at Medina Primary school in Portsmouth in July, said for many children it would be "their first time away from home".

He said: "They leave on the Friday a different person after trying out new activities and meeting and socialising with other children from schools around the county. It was a rite of passage."

Councillor Nick Adams-King, leader of the county council, said it was experiencing high demand for specialist residential care due to the growing complexity of needs.

He said: "With government funding, promised in the budget, we now have a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a state-of-the-art residential home here in Hampshire."

He added it would have double the bed spaces -18 - of the current Swanick centre, currently the only specialist children's home, which has 10 spaces.

Councils do not have a legal obligation to provide outdoor education centres.

Hampshire has a two-year budget gap of £175m predicted for the 2025/26 financial year, but the Stubbington centre has not been making a loss.

The proposal is that Stubbington Study Centre would close from 1 September 2025, with a planning consultation on the new children's home in summer 2026.

Schools, organisations and individuals have until Monday 10 February to share their feedback.

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