We are very lucky to have our own Scout and Guide hut right in the centre of our lovely village next to a large play park. And we are running a long term project to extend and refurbish this into our Big New Hut. This will better meet our current needs for young people in Aldbourne, and ensure Scouting and Guiding can carry on in the village for many years in the future.
The existing hut was built in the 1960s and is structurally very solid, but a little tired around the edges, and too small for our modern needs with so many children now in the various Scouting and Guiding groups.
The hut is built on land leased from the Parish Council (with a recently renewed lease until 2054), and is run and maintained by an independent committee called the Aldbourne Scouts and Guides Supporters Committee.
We are a Registered Charity (Number 1200440).
We have been fundraising for several years, and have now been granted full planning permission to proceed and build the hut.
APRIL 2024 UPDATE
We have now completed PHASE 3! This is a self-build project with volunteers from within the local community, and we have had tremendous turn-outs of helpers over the last two years to help us get to this stage. After the Phase 1 stage of design and planning, and Phase 2 of the (dreaded) groundworks, we have now complete our Phase 3 – getting the building fully constructed and watertight. We were very proud to all drink a beer together standing on the highest point of our lovely new roof as our “Topping Out” ceremony in September 2023. Work is now rapidly progressing inside the new extension with the internal fit-out of plumbing and electrics – we aim to have the inside finished by the end of 2024, and can then start to think about Phase 4 – renovating the inside of the existing 60 year old hut and Phase 5 – the final external groundworks.
Plans
History
We first started talking about this project in 2012, and our fundraising began in earnest in 2013 with a huge Gang Show that the whole group took part in. Since then we’ve held beer festivals, ceilidhs, firework displays, race nights, and cooked more burgers at village events that you would ever dream of eating.
Palmer’s Field
For several years we discussed the idea of moving the Scouts and Guides over to Palmer’s Field on the other side of the village and building a new hut from scratch. But after very careful consideration of the pros and cons, we all finally agreed that this would not be the best fit for us, and creating a Big New Hut by extending and refurbishing what we already had would be the most realistic, the most achievable, and would better serve our long term needs.
Our fundraising was slightly held back during 2020/21 (for obvious reasons), but now we have finalised our plans and been granted planning permission, we are back trying to find all possible sources of funds. We’re thrilled to now be making good progress towards our grand total of £100,000, and are extremely grateful to all the kind and wonderfully generous people in the village who have made donations to us.