Holiday camp earmarked for women and children’s homeless shelter

A former holiday camp for underprivileged children is set to become a homeless shelter for vulnerable young mothers.

East Lindsey District Council leaders discussed a buyer who had been found for the former Leicester Boys and Girls Holiday Home, in Quebec Road, Mablethorpe, at a meeting of the executive on Wednesday.

The facility closed earlier this year after working for more than 80 years in the building.

During the meeting Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Richard Fry said: “We looked very long and hard at this, and we were very keen not to create a situation where we had a blight on the landscape in Mablethorpe.”

After he added: “We have a very keen purchaser for the property and they will maintain and utilise the property.

“They may even improve on it. It will be for quite an important community.”

He confirmed the new owning company, which was not named, already provides services to other authorities including Lincolnshire County Council.

“It will be a residential facility for the care of young mothers and other members of the community,” he said.

A memory of one of the holidays taken in years gone by. Photo: Leicester Children’s Holidays

A council report said bids of up to £250,000 had been received for the property and Councillor Fry confirmed the agreed price was in the region. The exact sum was not disclosed.

ELDC is set to receive 50 per cent of the sale price – once costs are taken into account.

It states the sale will also enable provision of ongoing social and community based services for the area.

It follows a decision by the trustees of Leicester Children’s Holidays, formerly called the Leicester Poor Boys’ and Girls’ Summer Camp and Institute, to stop providing educational seaside holidays for under-privileged children from Leicester and the surrounding area earlier this year.

The report says the charity had declared the service to be ‘no longer financially viable for various external reasons’.

The report says the property has been marketed for sale by the trustees of the charity.

The facility was built in the 1930s, with a 99-year rent starting from April 6, 1934 at an annual ground rent of £10. It still has 15 years left on that lease.

According to the reports, it replaced an earlier wooden building and includes four dormitories of 16-beds each.

It also holds a series of communal rooms including a refectory, a stage, a kitchen and laundry facilities.

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