Covid: Lifting outdoor centres school trip ban 'absolute joke'

The ban on residential school trips has had a "profound" impact on children, said Pro-Active manager Clive Richley

The lifting of restrictions on residential school trips has been called "an absolute joke" by an outdoor activities centre, adding children have been left "devastated".

Primary schools can now go on overnight trips, but centres said there is not enough time to plan before term ends.

One manager said the ban has had a "profound psychological and physical impact on young people".

The Welsh government said the rules were to keep people safe.

Clive Richley, who runs the Pro-Active outdoor education centres throughout Wales, said government guidance in Wales was "woolly and seemingly out of sync with the rest of the UK".

"It's an absolute joke," he said. "I am fully aware that the government is dealing with a unique and unprecedented crisis, but it seems to many of us who provide residential school outdoor education, that crisis has been responded to with crisis.

"We feel that our services have been overlooked, and the profound psychological and physical impact on young people has also been completely overlooked."

'Profound impact'

Before the pandemic, outdoor centres offered young visitors the chance to learn new skills and enjoy adventures

Outdoor centres have been forced to cancel all residential trips until September while competitors across the border re-open on 17 May, he added.

"Then to announce three weeks before the end of term that they can go ahead is incredibly frustrating," said Mr Richley.

"Not to mention pointless, because by now all our visitors from English schools have relocated their residential in England.

"The impact of irrational, and seemingly baseless management of the crisis will affect the Welsh tourist industry, and in particular outdoor education for decades to come."

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In addition to being damaging to business, he said these decisions meant children have missed out on some of the most pivotal moments of their lives.

"I don't feel the government have the remotest idea of the positive impact on a child's life that a school activity residential makes to them.

"This is often the first time a child leaves home without their parents, so the learning and experience is profound. My son is 30 and he still talks with affection the first school residential that he went on.

"A school residential stay is a lifetime experience, which thousands have been deprived of this year completely due to indecision.

"One school wrote to me to cancel... they said the children were devastated."

Challenges ahead

With only weeks before the end of term, many schools are waiting until autumn for residential trips in Wales

From Monday, up to 30 primary school children who are in the same contact group or bubble at school are able to stay overnight in an outdoor education residential centre.

But centres said there is now not enough time to plan before term ends.

Ian Wainwright, commercial director of the Field Studies Council, said: "The lateness of this decision shows little understanding of the sector.

"We now have just a few weeks to get our Welsh centres fully staffed again and to implement the necessary procedures to ensure they are Covid-safe.

"We're working hard on this but it is a huge ask and a situation which could have been avoided had there been more timely and robust communication with the sector as a whole.

"Sadly it is the children who would really benefit from the experiences we can offer who may miss out because of this late change of heart," he said.

Huw Antur, director of Urdd centre Glan-llyn in Bala, told BBC Radio Cymru: "Setting up a residential course is a process that takes some weeks, so not sure how much of an effect this will have for the next four weeks or so. At least it's in the right direction for the autumn term.

"The situation is still uncertain, both from our side and the schools. Our arrangements at the moment are informal ones.

"It's not going to be easy. We have lost a lot of staff eight or nine months ago and many have been on furlough and not working. It's not going to happen overnight. There are many challenges, many we don't know about until reopening."