Scout Group celebrates grant award to complete fundraising for new hall

A picture of the entrance area

Artist’s Impression of the new Scout Hall

1st Lady Bay Scout Group is celebrating after completing fundraising to build a new, state-of-the-art hall.

The Group has raised £320,000 for the new headquarters – thanks to a final grant of £49,950 from WREN.

It ends over 20 years of fundraising to replace the current, crumbling Scout building on Mona Road in Lady Bay, West Bridgford.

The old scout hut hosts weekly meetings of local community groups, as well as the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. Built in the 1960s, the prefabricated structure is now beyond economic repair and no longer fit for purpose, with a leaking roof, eroding external walls, very little insulation and poor kitchen and toilet facilities. It is also unsuitable for people with disabilities.

Money has been raised over the years by regular fundraising events, along with donations from former Scouting members and local individuals, organisations and businesses. A generous donation was made by members of 6th West Bridgford Scout Group on its merger with 1st Lady Bay Scouts.  The fundraising has been completed with grants from the WREN Community Action Fund, Veolia Environmental Trust, Nottinghamshire County Council Supporting Local Communities Fund and Rushcliffe Borough Council.

Elaine Clarke, 1st Lady Bay Cub Scout Leader, said: “Reaching our fundraising target is wonderful news! We’ve been working towards this for many years. It’s amazing.

“Our current building is in a really poor state and can’t be patched-up any longer. We’d raised a substantial amount of the money, but recent grants from local councils, Veolia and this final one from WREN allows us to start work during June and means that our dream of a new headquarters will definitely become a reality.”

Richard Mansfield, Chairman of the 1st Lady Bay Scouts Committee, said: “We’re thrilled to have hit our target! The grant from WREN now means building work can start on our new Scout Hall.

“We want our new building to continue to be a community hub for everyone to use. As well as the weekly meetings of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, the hall is used by lots of other people – from the Morris Dancing side that meets weekly, to the women who meet, and make new friends, during their pre-natal exercise classes.”

Elaine added: “Hundreds of children have benefited from scouting at 1st Lady Bay over the last 90 years. We’re delighted that we can now protect our local Scout Group and secure its future for the next 90 years in a modern building that is fit for purpose.”

Cheryl Raynor, WREN’s grant manager for Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, says: “We are delighted to be supporting the 1st Lady Bay Scout group project and pleased that our funding will provide such a fantastic facility for young people. WREN is always happy to consider grant applications for projects that make a difference to local communities and we’re really looking forward to seeing this one take shape soon.”

Building work is due to start in the summer, to be completed before the end of the year. Regular updates on the new Scout Hall can be found at the 1st Lady Bay Scout Group website www.ladybayscouts.org.uk

1st Lady Bay Scout Group has been encouraging children to learn and develop through fun activities and games for 90 years.

We run three sections for young people from the age of six up to 14:

  • Beavers (age 6-8)
  • Cubs (age 8-10 ½)
  • Scouts (age 10 ½-14)

There is an ongoing effort to recruit enthusiastic volunteers to strengthen the existing 1st Lady Bay leadership team in order to provide the wide range of interesting, exciting and educational activities and outdoor adventure that benefit the young people in the Group.

Anyone interested in finding out more about how to get involved with the 1st Lady Bay Scout Group can contact Elaine Clarke, on 0115 933 3001 or by email at elaine@ladybayscouts.org.uk

Notes to Editors

WREN is a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community, conservation and heritage projects from funds donated by FCC Environment through the Landfill Communities Fund. Since 1998, WREN has granted over £200m to more than 7,000 projects which benefit people living within 10 miles of a FCC Environment landfill site.  For more information please visit www.wren.org.uk

FCC Environment is the leading UK waste and resource management company and is part of a global group with a strong heritage in providing services for communities and business. Its vision is to be the environmental company of choice, delivering change for a sustainable future. It employs 2,400 people and operates more than 200 facilities across England, Scotland and Wales.  FCC Environment donates the LCF tax credits that are generated by its operations to WREN, in order to add value to the environmental and social infrastructure of the communities around landfill sites. www.fccenvironment.co.uk

The Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) is an innovative tax credit scheme enabling operators (LOs) to contribute money to organisations enrolled with ENTRUST as Environmental Bodies (EBs). EBs use this funding for a wide range of community and environmental projects in the vicinity of landfill sites. LOs are able to claim a credit (currently 5.7%) against their landfill tax liability for 90% of the contributions they make. Since its inception in 1996, over £1.4billion has been spent on more than 53,000 projects across the UK. For further information please visit www.entrust.org.uk or see HMRC’s general guide to landfill tax (https://www.gov.uk/business-tax/landfill-tax)