Now operated by Burnley FC in the Community, Whitehough Outdoor Centre has recently had a face lift with new facilities installed.

The 22-acre site includes classrooms, 40 seat conference suite, 90 bed accommodation and amenities, catering kitchens, social rooms and camping fields.

Built in 1936, Whitehough Outdoor Centre contains several individual buildings, consisting of part timber construction and is set in a secluded area, surrounded by extensive fields.

Whitehough was unoccupied for 12 months to 2017, before Burnley FC in the Community took ownership from Lancashire County Council.

Adopting an unmaintained fire and security system at the time of the take over, centre manager Sara Parson had a plenty of Fire and Security considerations to identify, in order to adhere to strict health and safety regulations and insurance cover.

Alert Fire and Security were commissioned to provide a critical analysis of the facilities and existing fire and security systems.

We completed an on site survey and assessment report taking into account the age of the property, building materials, accessibility, use of the property, visitor types, age groups and the functional condition of equipment in relation to required standards and usability.

The survey and Fire Risk Assessments were provided to Whitehough Facilities Manager Matt Hargreaves, who was delighted with the report.

Matt explained “We knew there were areas of the centre that would require investment and upgrades. It was important to us that we used trusted, knowledgeable and certified providers to ensure we had the best advise and provision in place and ensure the safety of our guests and employees.”

“The report that came back from Alert Fire and Security was detailed, but just as important was informative and easy to understand.”

“The Fire Risk Assessment provided clear advise and practical recommendations that can easily be overlooked, if you’re not qualified in the field of fire prevention.”

“With a lot of wooden structure in the buildings, simple but critical observations like placement of waste bins (a source to ignite fire) and the type of paints we should use, were particularly important.”

Matt continued, “Our number one priority is to look after our visitors and employees.”

“As a Charity we also have to manage budgets closely, so we were pleased Alert Fire and Security appreciated this.”

“Alert provided a list of recommendations and options, meaning we could clearly identify what was needed and why. That included the suitability of an existing system take over vs new installations, which considered both cost and practicality”.

“We also had visitor bookings in place, so a quick but quality turn around was required and Alert excelled in this area too”.

“The Fire Panel and Security Panel training was clear and thorough for all employees and the Alert Engineers have completed a professional install of new signaling equipment.

“We’ve also been able to take advantage of Alert’s business network, as they have been able to source other services for us including legionella and asbestos testing”.

Alert Fire and Security Account Manager Lindsey Robinson added “Whitehough Outdoor Centre is a famous centre to so many people in and around East Lancashire and West Yorkshire.”

“Thousands of local school children have visited for activity weekends over the last 50+ years; I was one of them, so I was delighted when I heard Burnley FC in the Community were re-opening the centre”.

“As a parent, you want to know your children are safe and secure when they are away from home. The staff at Whitehough Outdoor Centre have welcomed our advise and applied all elements to be fully compliant.

“The centre is now so well equipped with a Monitored Fire System, Fire Extinguishers, lighting, signage and staff training that we have even hosted an Alert Fire Marshal Training programme at Whithough for other businesses to attend”.

To find out more about Alert Fire and Security and how to make your business safe and fire prevention aware, contact us on 0330 056 3551