The Scout hut
A new scout hut will benefit the local community by providing 1st Newbury Sea Scouts and other Scouting Groups across West Berkshire with a modern, secure and exciting base in the heart of the community. It will promote their growth and extend scouting activities to a larger number of young people in the town and county over the life of the building. As a training centre with its own land, the HQ will be better able to host district and county outdoor scouting and fund raising events.
The existing buildings were very decrepit and insecure and no longer of a sufficient standard for their modern role as a centre for scouting activities. The Group owns the plot of land which the buildings occupied and, although in 2006 we gained planning approval for a very substantial new building, spiralling building costs and a shrinking grant market caused us to re-think our options.
The The King Edwards School, Bath, donated a three year old terrapin building with slate roof, 18m x 7.5m, worth around £70,000 for free, but it needed to be moved to our site, otherwise it would simply have been demolished. The building is in excellent condition and suits the needs of the Scout group and district very well.
We kindly received £15,000 from the Greenham Common Community Trust for the dismantling and transport of the building. A specialist contractor was appointed for the initial works.
Visitors now cannot fail to be impressed by the new building. It is due to many years of fundraising, planning, working parties and of course all the sheer hard work by a few individuals,
