Ive had another reply from one of my cllrs. Further to my recent email to you regarding the Holiday Camp I can now give you a little more information, in addition to the article which appeared in the Salford Advertiser this week. Salford Council is not responsible for the Camp, only for the donation of £50,000 which is has been receiving up until now. The Council would do anything in its powers to support keeping the Camp open but is unable to continue at this time with the donation. The Chair of the Board of Trustees gave a report to Council on Wednesday and explained that the Camp is open annually from April to September. One of the problems is that it is not attracting the number of children it used to. (Apparently 1,500 used to attend but the numbers have dropped down to about 300). School staff appear to be reluctant to accompany the children and therefore fewer schools are booking the facility. Members of the Management Committee, mainly comprising retired head and deputy head teachers, have visited schools to try and increase numbers. Salford City Leisure were also unsuccessful in promoting it. Booth Charity invested a lot of money in providing new accommodation for staff, improved dormitories etc but were still unable to increase the numbers. The Committee had hoped to honour all the bookings made for this year but unfortunately asbestos has been found in the kitchen area and therefore a full asbestos survey would have to be carried out throughout the Camp which would be a huge cost but essential in order for the Fire Authority to issue the annual safety certificate. There is a group of people who have expressed an interest in keeping the Camp open and they have been asked to provide a written proposal to the Council. A decision was made to close the camp, initially for this year, and apparently this has been done in the past, but it may be able to open again next year if money becomes available or a successful business plan is presented. I hope you feel I have answered some of your concerns but please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 20:13:33 +0000
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