Empty Derbyshire boarding school to be transformed into retreat for poorly children

A Derbyshire boarding school that has stood vacant for three years is set to be transformed into a charity retreat for seriously ill children.

Over The Wall is a UK children’s charity founded by the late Oscar-winning Hollywood actor, racing driver and philanthropist Paul Newman.

It has signed a 40-year lease with the Moravian Union to take occupancy of the former Ockbrook School as its new headquarters and national location to run its award-winning residential camps.

The charity’s specialist residential camps help children living with serious illness, and their families, address the isolation, loneliness, low self-esteem, and confidence that often accompany childhood illness.

The charity’s free-of-charge programmes give children the opportunity to take part in activities often denied to them, in a fun-filled, positively affirming, safe environment.

The charity has been running residential camps at rented properties throughout the UK since 1999, serving more than 9,000 beneficiaries with more than 130 different health conditions.

Recently awarded an ‘Outstanding’ grade from Ofsted, Over The Wall plans to develop the former school site and commence residential and day camps in 2026.

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Over The Wall's Chief Executive, Kevin Mathieson, said: “We are super excited to have finalised the arrangements to acquire this beautiful site and plan to sympathetically develop it, in keeping with its heritage, to create a national centre for our life-changing programmes.

“It will be quite something to return children once more to this historic site, which until recently had been a vibrant school for more than 220 years.”

“We will shortly be submitting planning permission to reinstate the Mount, which was severely affected by water damage in 2022, to become a residential centre for our beneficiaries.

“This initial phase is set to pave the way for our plans to open in 2026 and thereafter further develop the site in later years.

“We plan to hold community engagement meetings at the former school during March and May to introduce ourselves to the local community, provide further information on our aspirations for the site and answer any questions.

“We very much want to be the best possible neighbour for the Ockbrook community.”

Over The Wall plans to significantly increase the number of children it can serve.

It has an ambitious target of serving more than 100,000 residential beneficiaries in the next 40 years.

Boost for local community

In expanding its operations and moving its headquarters to Ockbrook the charity believes it will create up to 50 new jobs for the area over the next three to five years as well as providing new opportunities for volunteer engagement at its camps.

For more information about Over The Wall visit their website by clicking here.