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Children could miss out on summer adventure as Highland outdoor activities are cut

Highland Council's leisure provider will stop providing in-house outdoor activities at the end of April.

Paddle boarding is one of the outdoor activities enjoyed in previous years.  Image: Shutterstock
Paddle boarding is one of the outdoor activities enjoyed in previous years. Image: Shutterstock

Children across the Highlands could miss out on outdoor adventure this summer due to cuts in services.

High Life Highland (HLH) has announced it will stop providing in-house outdoor activities at the end of April.

The local authority’s leisure provider has blamed rising operating costs.

Children mountain biking through a Highland forest. Image: Shutterstock

This means that families who pay a monthly fee for membership, and those who get activities at subsidised prices, have less choice.

HLH runs a School’s Out holiday programme of over 1,000 activities. These previously included outdoor activities.

Activities no longer available through HLH this summer include surfing in Lossiemouth and Thurso.

School’s Out – but so are these activities with High Life Highland

Mountain biking in Fort William, Abriachan, Grantown, Kingussie, Alness, and Invergordon is also off the cards.

As is stand up paddleboarding in Bettyhill and orienteering in Fort William and Kinlochleven.

A spokeswoman for the north charity said these activities are reliant on external funding. So they could return in future programmes if applications are successful.

Sara Ramsey of children’s cycle group Kidical Mass in Inverness expressed her dismay.

Cyclists taking park in a Kidical Mass event in Inverness. Image: Michelle Henderson

She said: “It is such a big loss. This gave exposure to a lot of different sports that parents don’t always have the skills or ability to teach.

“HLH have always provided reasonably-priced sports and activities.

“This doesn’t help to make a more equitable service for all children who are not getting the chance to get outdoors – rather than sitting at home playing their X-boxes.

“For a lot of families, holidays are a really tight time for money. It is going to be a real shame if children don’t get the chance to get out and try those activities they might not otherwise be exposed to.”

‘It’s a shame’

Donald Peace, of New Wave Surf School in Lossiemouth, has taken bookings through HLH every summer for several years.

He said: “It’s a shame, especially for the subsidised sessions, if there are kids that wouldn’t get to take part otherwise.

“The summer programme was a pretty good way of promoting what was available.

Surfing at Lossiemouth. Image: Shutterstock

“I imagine other external providers including myself will still be running similar activities available to book. But not through HLH. So will parents find out what is available so easily? I hope so.”

Last week angry parents spoke out about having to “pay twice” for holiday activities at local leisure centres.

Most sports and activities on the HLH School’s Out Easter programme were previously free to parents with a membership.

This time round, they are having to pay extra.

Why is this happening?

A spokeswoman for HLH explained the reasons behind its latest unpopular decision.

She said: “Being the Highlands’ biggest charity, and a large employer across the region, has meant HLH has faced the same challenges as other publicly-funded organisations since the pandemic.

“Like so many other organisations, HLH has seen its operating costs rising over the last year. As a large employer, HLH has remained committed to offering its staff a fair wage against an increasingly challenging cost-of-living crisis.”

She said the charity had no alternative but to review what it offered to ensure its “ongoing sustainability”.

The spokeswoman said they have worked to help protect jobs.

The spokeswoman added: “As part of the review, however, HLH has had to take the decision to cease the in-house provision of outdoor activities at the end of April 2023.

“This decision will enable us to further protect the services that we know are so valuable for our local communities.”

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