New £3.2m accommodation has been officially opened at Bewerley Park as part of a major investment to modernise the outdoor centre which was feared to be at risk of closure.
Two accommodation blocks featuring beds for 84 young people have been built at the North Yorkshire Council-owned site.
As well as 14 ensuite bedrooms each hosting a maximum of six young people, rooms for visiting staff, a drying room and break-out spaces have been created.
The building has been designed to blend with the existing property and its natural surroundings, with solar panels and ground-source heat pumps installed to reduce its environmental footprint.
Staff, council chiefs and guests attended the official of the accommodation yesterday (Wednesday).
The guests included 85-year-old Margaret Mosley, who was 14 when she visited the centre in 1954 with classmates from Woodlands Secondary Modern School, based in the then pit village of Woodlands, near Doncaster.
Mrs Mosley, who now lives in Redcar, said she developed a lifelong love of birds thanks to the childhood trip.
She said:
“Because of all the coal dust, birds where I lived were all black — I didn’t realise they were different colours until I came to Bewerley Park.”
Mrs Moseley said she was delighted to see the investment in the centre, adding:
“I think outdoor education is so important. It gives children the chance to see and experience open spaces and the countryside that they might not at home.”
The investment was agreed by the council amid concerns about the future of the centre after it was mothballed during the covid pandemic.
Almost 19,000 people signed a petition urging the council to keep Bewerley Park and its other outdoor centre at East Barmby, near Whitby, open.
A second phase of investment in Bewerley Park has been discussed, but council bosses say the centre will need to show it can be sustainable before this is agreed.
On the decision to invest in centre and outdoor education which is not a statutory service, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for education, learning and skills, Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, said:
“We had a strong business case in the beginning and it was a difficult decision, but we’re so glad we did it. Just look at it now — it’s wonderful.”
Cllr Wilkinson said the centre had a large number of bookings going forward, with the first schools using the new accommodation next week.
On the likelihood of further investment in the centre, she added:
“We just need to get this going first.
“It’s doing really well and we’re really hopeful that we’ll be able to look forward to the (second) stage soon, but at the moment everything’s up in the air.”
Sir Stuart Carlton, the council’s corporate director for children’s services, added:
“The centre has seen generations of children who have now become adults and community leaders through North Yorkshire, and it’s remembered with huge fondness.
“We’re all delighted we have been able to invest in the centre and delighted to give it a fighting chance to remain sustainable and fit for the future and used by residents of North Yorkshire and beyond.”
The new accommodation was designed by architects and engineers at Align Property Partners, the council’s property consultancy.
It was built by Northallerton-based Walter Thompson.
Improvements are also planned at East Barnby, although work is yet to start.
The original budget for the work at both centres was set at £4.2m.
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