Group in Streatley hopes to save under-threat youth hostel

YHA Streatley-on-Thames is up for sale for £850,000

Campaigners are trying to save a youth hostel which has been put on the market.

The Youth Hostels Association (YHA) is selling 20 of its 150 hostels in England and Wales, including one in Streatley-on-Thames in Berkshire.

CEO James Blake says the closures are in the hope the rest of the hostels can stay open.

But a group from Streatley wants to try and save their local venue, which is on the market for £850,000.

Mr Blake said they had lost a lot of money due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the energy crisis and rising inflation.

Chris Packham

"We were shut for eight months. As an organisation that's all about sharing spaces, that was a really tricky time for us, so we are putting 20 hostels on the market," he said.

"But we are very hopeful that the hostels will stay as hostels under a new model so that they will be owned and run by local people under a franchise."

Mark Kibble, from Friends of Streatley Youth Hostel Association, said the decision to sell the site was "sad".

He said it "has 48 beds, very high occupancy" and is "very profitable for the wide chain".

The group is looking at options to buy the site and run the hostel as a YHA franchise.

TV presenter Chris Packham, who is one of the celebrities speaking against the closures, called the youth hostels "an incredibly important part of our UK landscape" as they "promote a sense of community".

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