Employees at an Eltham-based kids charity are preparing for an emotional last day following a row with Greenwich Council that has “killed” the organisation.

Wide Horizons will close its nine sites tomorrow, putting 75 people out of work, after an extensive crowdfunding campaign to salvage the outdoor education charity’s future.

Wide Horizons, based in Bexley Road, has centres around the country.

Cuts to school budgets, leading to a loss in business, meant the charity already planned to close four sites – but following a falling out with Greenwich Council, the entire operation will now be shut down.

Last week Peter Rogers, the charity’s chief executive, accused Greenwich Council of “U-turning” on a vital £200k pledge.

Council leader Dan Thorpe hit back with a statement on Thursday night, insisting the charity couldn’t manage its finances, and that it only provided its business model 48 hours before the deal needed to be reached.

Now, on the charity’s penultimate day, Mr Rogers has said the leader’s statement is “unfair”.

He said: “I will be closing nine centres tomorrow. We’ve been discussing the position with Greenwich for over a year and have always provided everything they asked for.

“They lent us £700,000 earlier this year – we were working on the same business plan then, why is it suddenly wrong now?

“And I can’t think of one good reason we wouldn’t share our position with them.

“I just think the statement is unfair. It’s unfair that we only found out a week ago when we have been in discussions with both Lewisham and Greenwich Council for so long.

“Lewisham told us three months ago it wouldn’t happen and that’s fine, but Greenwich were making different noises and we were relying on them. We can’t find £200,000 in a week.

“Greenwich Council can do what they want with their money – but by telling us with just a week to go, it’s killed us.

“Unless we can find the money, I will be closing nine centres tomorrow, losing 75 jobs and 44,000 children out of an education.”

This Is Local London: The Wide Horizons children's outdoor education charity is closing down

The CEO said the council has been “short-sighted” as once the charity goes into liquidation it will lose the money it loaned in January.

The charity, which has outdoor centres in Thamesmead, West Kindsdown and Shooters Hill, had raised more than £100k through pledges and supporting partners.

In his statement last week, Cllr Thorpe said it was not in the taxpayers’ interest to bail out the charity.

He said it was only months later the charity came back asking for more money on top of the agreed loan.

The clash over the situation has continued, with Cllr Thorpe saying today that business plan would have meant more cash would have been needed by Christmas.

Cllr Thorpe said: “When the trust asked the councils to underwrite the loan it was on the clear understanding that Wide Horizons had developed a working business plan. No one expected the organisation to come back saying it had a £400,000 shortfall less than six months later.

“The full and detailed figures with a breakdown of the core costs and salaries for senior staff was only received after close of business on July 20.

“The assessment of the council’s finance team is that those costs are so high that there is a high probability that the trust could have needed further financial support by Christmas.

“The council is absolutely committed to outdoor education but it would have been wrong to continue to back an organisation that is so unstable that it has had to request significant financial assistance twice in less than a year.

“That would not have been fair on our schools or on the trust and its employees.”

This Is Local London: The Wide Horizons children's outdoor education charity is closing down

Wide Horizons has continued to crowdfund ahead of its closure on Tuesday.

Mr Rogers said: “The reality will hit us tomorrow. It’s a very emotional day for the staff – who are all here delivering their best work.

“We have local children on site today, but soon 44,000 children won’t get an outdoor education.”