A school coach trip to Paris was cancelled by a tour operator with just 24 hours notice, leaving 138 teenage pupils and staff devastated. The trip for Year Eight pupils at Stretford Grammar School was 12 months in the planning, said one mum who revealed her son was in tears at the news.
The pupils - mostly aged 13 - were due to leave the school - on Granby Road, Stretford - on coaches at around 11pm on Thursday evening, driving to Dover ahead of a ferry to France and coach drive to Paris, where cultural trips to the Eiffel Tower and other attractions were planned ahead of their return next Tuesday.
It's understood the trip cost parents and carers around £500 each, without factoring in clothing and other essential items for their children. But the school was contacted by the company, PGL, at 9.30am today - Wednesday - saying they had to cancel because 'we have been unable to source coaches for the trip'. The children were told the news in a morning assembly today (Wednesday).
A spokesman for PGL told the Manchester Evening News they apologised for 'being unable to solve the problem' and they are trying to find alternative dates for the trip.
In a heartfelt email home to parents and carers, headteacher Michael Mullins said there was a 'tangible level of disappointment and anger' inside the school. He also called for compensation and accused PGL, an outdoor education provider specialising in school trips, of 'chasing profit over practicalities', saying 'repeated assurances' had been given to the school.
Mr Mullins wrote: "This is an extremely difficult letter to write given the timeframe we have been provided to communicate this information to you. I am so sorry to have to inform you that this morning at 9.30am we were told by our tour operator, PGL, that they are unable to honour their obligation to run the trip to France which was due to depart tomorrow evening.
"I cannot put in to words how angry I am that the company have left this announcement until the 11th hour to inform school of this decision. It appears that they have chased profit over practicalities and placed the school in an impossible position.
"Despite repeated assurances that they were able to overcome 'logistical' problems regarding coach services, PGL have today informed school that due to the impact of the pandemic, they do not have the necessary coaches or the drivers to enable the trip to happen.
"I have spoken to the tour operator this morning and I am awaiting their response, in writing, of the level of compensation. I have made it very clear that this compensation must reflect the tangible level of disappointment and anger the school community will feel due to such a late announcement and should also go some way to compensating parents and carers of the additional costs you will have incurred in trying to ensure your child has an enjoyable trip after what has been a dreadful two years."
He said staff and teachers have worked 'extremely hard' in the background - and had given up their time to accompany the children on the trip.
"The actions of the company in providing reassurances, which they now cannot honour, have added to their anxiety over the last few weeks; as such I know that you will appreciate that this is not of school's making," Mr Mullins added. "I will update you when I know more, but hope that you will appreciate we are doing all we can to find alternatives for our students."
Full refunds are being supplied from the school's account.
One mum said three coaches had been promised - and that year group had been hit worst by the coronavirus pandemic, with previous trips having been cancelled. She told the Manchester Evening News : "It was booked 12 months ago. It's just appalling.
"These are the kids who left primary school when the schools were closed. They have had an incredibly hard time and this is unbelievable. The school has been so good and the children were so excited. To give 24 hours notice to the school is just not on. The school had to have an assembly this morning and apparently there were tears. They shouldn't have taken people's money if they can't plan a trip."
In an unsigned letter to the school from PGL's 'customer services team', the company said: "Like many travel businesses across the UK, we've been experiencing issues across a number of different areas, mostly relating to sourcing transport.
"You will have seen reports in the media of the national shortage of drivers and difficulties with travel. The transport industry has severely struggled to meet the staffing demands, following Covid, and this has led to coach companies confirming bookings very late. Coach and ferry companies previously took bookings up to 12 months in advance however due to the uncertainty around school travel, they have not been taking advance bookings.
"This has meant that we have had to source and book coaches very close to travel. We believed we would have been able to source coaches for the trip but despite our best efforts, this has unfortunately not been the case.
"We know that these are our challenges and not yours, but we have had to make the unprecedented decision to cancel the trip as we have been unable to source coaches for the trip. We would like to offer our most sincere apologies."
In a statement to the Manchester Evening News, PGL said: “We share the sentiments of the students, parents, and teachers. There is a national shortage of drivers post-Covid and the transport industry is struggling to meet demand.
"Transport operators have been running on very short lead times and have been unable to honour advance bookings. We are very sorry that we were unable to solve the problem and are actively communicating with the school, providing a full refund and working with them to look at alternative dates.”
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