Children campaign to save centre

Parents and children have started a campaign to save the centre

Parents and children have launched a campaign to keep a popular outdoor education centre open.

Leeson House in Langton Matravers, near Swanage, Dorset, has been earmarked for closure by April in a package of proposed council budget cuts.

Dorset County Council needs to save about £700,000 and may decide to close its entire outdoor education service.

But people living in the area have started a campaign to save the field studies centre, which has served thousands of children for more than three decades.

One campaigner, Liza Varney, said of the centre: "It's a great experience for the children.

Alternative funding

"It gives them an all-round education and an opportunity to be in the outside world."

The manager of the centre itself, Barry Cullimore, said: "To be told in January that the centre might be closed in April really doesn't give us very long to put forward alternatives.

"I believe there are alternatives, that given time, given a year, we could try to find other forms of funding that would keep Leeson House going."

Leader of Dorset County Council, Tim Palmer, said much of the education budget was ringfenced and could not be used to keep Leeson House going.

Mr Palmer said: "As far as the schools' budgets are concerned, we are not allowed to touch those in any way at all.

"There is a lot of council taxpayers' money in those budgets that perhaps a small proportion of could have paid for outdoor education in the coming year."

Councillors will make their final decision in February.