National park visitor centres saved after anonymous donor steps in

A decision was due to be made on the future of the Peak District centres in July.

Four visitor centres in the Peak District National Park have been saved from potential closure thanks to an anonymous donor (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Archive)

Four visitor centres in a UK national park have been saved from potential closure thanks to an anonymous donor.

The centres in the Peak District National Park could have been shut due to funding pressures but have now been saved, the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) said.

A decision on whether to close the centres was due to be made on July 28, and, while chief executive Phil Mulligan said the donation is “very good news”, he added that “deep-seated financial challenges” remain.

The donor, who has chosen to remain anonymous, has now funded the centres in Bakewell, Bamford, Castleford and Edale, all in Derbyshire, so they can become more financially sustainable.

Whilst we are incredibly grateful to the donor for their generous offer, allowing us to continue visitor centre operations for up to another three years, our deep-seated financial challenges as an organisation do remain and other colleagues within additional teams may still be impacted in the weeks and months ahead

Phil Mulligan, PDNPA

Mr Mulligan said: “This is certainly very good news and I appreciate the relief it will bring to the many colleagues who will have been affected by the proposals for our visitor centres so far.

“Whilst we are incredibly grateful to the donor for their generous offer, allowing us to continue visitor centre operations for up to another three years, our deep-seated financial challenges as an organisation do remain and other colleagues within additional teams may still be impacted in the weeks and months ahead.

“After a decade of real-terms cuts to our core government grant, it is vital that we continue to maintain a spotlight on our affordability and resilience as an authority; but this unexpected support potentially gives us time to explore and develop ways for our visitor centres to become financially sustainable in the future without such additional funding being needed.

“Our donor recognises that visitor centres need to be financially viable and we will need to start work straight away on creating that long-term viability.”

The BBC had previously reported that at least 65 jobs were at risk due to the potential closures. These have now been secured, with employees told on Monday about the donation.

The PDNPA would not disclose how much it costs to run the centres, which welcome around 400,000 people every year.