A RESIDENTIAL activity centre is hoping to add more indoor spaces to help make their business more financially viable.

Robinwood's Barhaugh Hall Activity Centre, near Alston, has applied to Northumberland County Council for permission to build two single-storey buildings which would be used for whole school meetings, dining and other activities such as games and quizzes.

Barhaugh Hall has been owned and used by Robinwood since 2002, providing activity courses for Key 2 students (aged 8 to 11).

A design and access statement submitted by the applicant's agents Countryside Consultants said Robinwood activity centres have been "very severely impacted" by 14 months of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

They said one of the four residential activity centres operated by Robinwood in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic has closed, and said Barhaugh Hall is the "next most vulnerable centre that Robinwood operates."

The statement said: "Central to the viability of Barhaugh Hall is the extent of indoor and sheltered provision, to enable activities to successfully take place all year round, without children getting too cold and wet, due to the extreme winter weather that the location can experience."

Directors of the Robinwood Centres Company said by improving their indoor provision, they hope schools will continue to choose to come to Barhaugh Hall in winter rather than go to another provider in the summer.

For more information, visit the county council's planning portal and search reference number 22/00126/FUL.