Charity For Seriously ill Children ‘Is Being Priced Out Of Scottish Camps’

A charity inspired by the actor Paul Newman claims it has been unable to send seriously ill children on holiday in Scotland because it faces too much red tape and high registration fees from the country’s care sector watchdog.

The English-based Over the Wall charity had planned to hold a residential camp next month at Glenalmond College in Perth for more than 80 children, aged five to 17.

However, the charity has been told by the Care Commission, which regulates the care sector in Scotland, that legislation north of the border means it must register as a care home if it wants to proceed. This means it will face registration fees of about £4000, which will impinge greatly on its limited funds.

Organisers with the charity also claim the lengthy process of applying to hold camps in Scotland is an “additional pressure” for the volunteers who run it.

Over the Wall has now scrapped plans for a week-long camp for 60 seriously ill children at the Perthshire venue. It now plans to bus them almost 350 miles to another camp near Kidderminster in the Midlands. It claims, however, that it will still be allowed to hold a camp for 60 siblings of the children at Glenalmond.

The fees are necessary to pay, in part, for the running of the Care Commission, established in 2002 by the government to regulate adult, child and independent healthcare services in Scotland.

Over the Wall is the only residential camp provider in the UK modelled on Hollywood actor Paul Newman’s renowned Hole in the Wall gang camp, and is a member of the international Hole in the Wall Association.

It has held camps for more than 2500 children since it started in 1998. The week-long camps are staffed by highly trained volunteers and a medical team, and give parents a welcome break.

Clive Clifford, chief executive of Over the Wall, said: “We ran a camp for 35 children at Glenalmond last year and were not aware then that we had to register with the Care Commission.

“The commission wrote to us this year asking us to register as a care home which we object to because we are not a care home. We have since been told we can only operate our camps in Scotland if we pay a registration fee of about £4000.

“That would have to be paid from hard-raised charitable funds. Next year the commission will charge a flat fee of £161 for each child which would cost us £10,000. The only thing we appear to be getting for the financial outlay is certification. The demands are disappointing.”

A second charity, the Newman Trust, which is not connected with Paul Newman, has also claimed its plans have been hampered by the fees being charged by the commission. However, it is still hoping to take 22 children to Glenalmond.

It says it has been asked to pay an interim registration fee of £1900 to the Care Commission but could be forced to pay double this, placing its camp in jeopardy. Both charities are registered as charities in England and Wales. The Newman Trust provides holidays for more than 120 disabled children, aged five to 16, each year at various UK locations.

A Care Commission spokesman said: “We have been in contact with this charity since February and it has been advised by the Care Commission that it must register and be approved as a safe and fit organisation to provide a care service in Scotland.

“To date, no application to register has been received. Until that happens, the Care Commission cannot consider any appeal to waive or reduce registration fees. All credible applications for reduced or waived fees are treated extremely sympathetically.

“Under the exact letter of the law an application to register a care service is only competent when the registration fee – in full – is attached. However, we have proven flexible in this case and agreed that we would be prepared to process the registration with just half the fee attached.”