Hillary Outdoors to close education centre on Aotea Great Barrier Island

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Great Barrier Island
Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles

The Hillary Outdoors education centre on Aotea Great Barrier Island will close in May, ending a nearly 20-year-long relationship with the area.

Hillary Outdoors offers outdoor education for schools and community groups, including programs for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award.

Chief executive Hillary Campbell said increased costs are to blame for the closure.

She said the cost of running services on the island has as much as tripled since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Basically since Covid first hit, operating from Aotea has faced challenges, and also impacted our ability to deliver programmes at times.

“The challenges of operating on a remote island, in the Hauraki Gulf, has compounded tougher economic times that have persisted, and that’s just resulted in increased costs across nearly every faucet of our operation.”

Campbell said they have put the price of education programmes at Great Barrier Island up, alongside increases in the cost food, accommodation, and travelling to the island.

She said this has made education programmes at the island unaffordable for some, with 36 schools leaving Hillary Outdoors in the last 18 months.

There are over 400 schools that work with Hillary Outdoors, 200 of which come to the Great Barrier centre.

Those students, alongside 10 community groups, will be relocated to the Tongariro Centre.

“The community and our schools, they’ve just had a real sense of understanding – heartbreak, as well, it’s a beautiful centre – as well as a willingness to figure out how to make it work at another centre.”

Campbell said the Tongariro Centre will temporarily expand to accommodate students from Great Barrier, but they do not have plans to permanently grow the centre.

Staff at Great Barrier have had their way of life changed by news of the closure, Campbell said, and have all been offered relocation to Tongariro, retaining their current roles.