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.

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