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1st Sutton Scouts Activity & Recreation Field Fund

by 1st Sutton (Cambridgeshire) Scout Group in Sutton, England, United Kingdom

We did it
On 7th July 2021 we successfully raised £7,975 ( + est. £542.00 Gift Aid ) with 155 supporters in 28 days

To buy & prepare land adjacent to our Scout HQ. The land will become an activity & recreation field and enable outdoor activities & camping.

by 1st Sutton (Cambridgeshire) Scout Group in Sutton, England, United Kingdom

 New stretch target

With extra funding and/or stretch funding we can

  • Prepare the land for use as a recreation and camp ground including equipment hire, fertiliser, hedging and grass seed circa £2,500
  • Add Fencing £700
  • Running water & mains electricity into the site £1,000
  • Drainage £500

We’re already on our way to realising a replacement home for the group, and if we are fortunate enough to attract further funding this will allow us to reach our dream sooner. We plan a fully purpose built co friendly replacement hut, fit for today’s purpose to offer indoor facilities for developing young peoples skills for life.

Additional funding could help us to purchase equipment to make the most of our new area, we will need storage, canoes, more archery & fitness equipment, pop up marquees, the list is endless, and in August we will be demolishing our existing hut in preparation for building a new one in the years to come. Demolition costs are in excess of £7,000 so extra funding could come in handy here too.


Welcome to the Scout hut Squad
1st Sutton Scout Hut Squad have worked hard for a number of years to provide a secure future for our ever growing group of young people. Ultimately we aim to provide a purpose built safe and welcoming headquarters for both the Scouting family in the village, District and the wider community who are looking for facilities in our beautiful rural idyll.1624982151_7c78e0b3-b949-48f0-a6a2-bb281f662a68.jpeg

Community recreation facility

Having secured planning permission and receiving support from members of the scouting and the local community for the building we are now forging on to purchase adjacent land to be able to offer outdoor recreation facilities which will appeal to all young people but will increasingly appeal to our teenage members and thus encourage longer term commitment to Scouting, giving us better opportunity to support young people in developing skills for life.

The impact of our project on the Wider Community

Through the Covid pandemic we have all come to value open space so much more.

This project will help all generations in our village to stay active in different ways. Situated just 2 miles outside the village, together with our planned new eco-friendly building, this site will provide a great destination for:

  • local walking groups including our Healthy Heartbeat group
  • a wider range of more unusual outdoor activities e.g. Archery. We already have the equipment and the new land will give us the space to carry out the sport and offer it to others. Ely Archery Club are already supporters of our group and are keen to use our new site.
  • partner programmes e.g. with the local primary school to offer outdoor activities, cook out experiences, forest schooling and DofE opportunities.
  • our local G.P. surgery Social Prescribing programme - for the fresh air experience and helping with planting, just like at our village allotments.

We are a community-minded scout group that looks to work with and for our local village. Active and caring young people make great citizens!

Project Costs

  • Land Purchase £4,000
  • Legal Expenses £1,000

With Extra funding and/or stretch funding we can also :

  • Prepare the land for use as a recreation and camp ground including equipment hire, fertiliser, hedging and grass seed circa £2,500
  • Add Fencing £700
  • Running water & mains electricity into the site £1,000
  • Drainage £500
  • Total costs £9,700

and when the grass grows we will need a lawnmower too!

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Our poor old hut has served us very well, and sits neatly in the countryside, which the community are supporting us to replace and add to with the purchase of land around it.

Quarter Master Ben “is excited to be able to bring kit out of storage to be utilised by the group and the wider community such as our archery - which not only is hugely popular with our young people but helps to engage with familie1624982185_35053c2b-8213-46dc-9f48-919ea4e2c54a.jpeg1624982224_1eda1a2c-197a-4349-871c-3caec3f712c8.jpegs on open days.

A message from our Scout Leader

Scouts have an expectation of camping, and we want to be able to offer this opportunity without the children and their families having to leave the County. This land purchase would enable us to offer local nights away benefitting not only our group but also the wider district of scouting in Ely.   Additionally, having lost local facilities we can open up the facilities to school groups for DofE practice and forest schooling.

Bringing young people safely back together

Once we have secured increased land for recreation purposes with our rural scouting headquarters we look forward to our young people being able to participate in activities together.  Due to lack of current space and the pandemic, our beavers, Cubs and scouts must all meet separately.  Having the space to bring the groups back together will increase the mentoring opportunities between the age groups whilst our young people partake in activities such as raft building, archery and pioneering.  

Splashing about on the river

Our location close to the river, along with the support of specially trained leaders offers us the chance to partake in water activities without leaving the village making participation for all so much easier due to lack of onward travel. In an area surrounded by water teaching  our young people water safety is a very important skill for life and it’s great to award water activity badges. Extra funding would enable us to replace water activity equipment to ensure safe operation in the water. Our kayaks and canoes require replacement along with buoyancy aids. With more time on the river maybe we’d be able to defend our winners raft race title In Ely’s Aquafest! Maybe this attempt at raft building wasn’t our best1624982376_55bc36fb-cc10-484f-a269-228dc285a348.jpeg1624983009_7cc24a03-f51e-418a-8928-b830260e4265.jpeg!

Pioneering is a great opportunity for the age groups to work together - top team work!

Our leadership system encourages shared learning opportunities, across sections (we support children from 6 to young adults of 18). These opportunities are open to volunteers subject to our safeguarding guidelines and often volunteers start with a short term project to meet the likes of DofE but end up committed to serving, because it’s so rewarding.  Training and mentoring opportunities are offered to the local community.  A great many people have learned new transferable skills, under the supervision of leaders and other mentors.  Not only does Scouting help young people it also offers opportunities to engage with adults seeking to acquire new skills, build confidence and improve job seeking opportunities as they have so many new credentials.

Getting our community involved
Our young people love to partake in archery and indeed the villagers too as evidenced in our recent open day which was kindly hosted by a supportive village organisation, Sutton Cricket Club. At this event we were able to offer the community a go at:

  • First Aid, 
  • Archery 
  • Shooting
  • Whittling
  • Backwoods cooking and 
  • Physically active games like corn hole.

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    1624984680_96fe496c-5266-4e96-a37f-72ace938ab82.jpeg

 Life saving skills at our open activity day.


Some families1624985122_b7852c51-b9cc-4bce-a1d0-6c093885558f.jpeg really got competitive! 1624982783_8c5bb3f9-02e5-4466-bfb0-6cb4ebb2728c.jpeg

For many this family Activity day was the first opportunity to try new things including rifles, whittling and campfire cooking.

We’re offering a reward for a family or adult cookout experience in our new recreation field, what a great way to relax in the countryside away from every day stresses and strains - focus on well being and get back to nature.

Keeping our youth engaged

Having our extra recreational ground in a secluded rural area will make it far easier and safer to offer archery opportunities to both our youth and the village.  Activities which appeal to older children in a secluded location encourage young people to stay longer in the scouting movement, but also attracts families to take part in new physical activities, we love to run family sessions where the competition really heats up!

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1625598560_066fe976-bcef-4541-bc68-47f4de5a6b4c.jpegA view to the land we are to develop for recreational use.
Having our own space will allow us to hold more outreach opportunities within the village to get villagers involved in healthy outdoor activities. Our work with the patient participation group in the village has been a prime example of this, and we’re grateful of the groups support teaching heart health to our young people. Our facility would offer an ideal place to walk to, a tranquil place to stop and observe wildlife and a range of activities for all.  We love to hike from our location, deep in the countryside and we don’t have to go far to absorb a lot of the natural world. We’d like the local community to enjoy this too. With ever more need for better mental health for all, what better than this rural location to practice mindfulness, relaxing away from the hubbub of the village centre.

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Getting in our stride on a healthy heart walk working with the patient participation group at the surgery.

Community Minded

Scouting in Sutton is a very well supported and active part of the Community, and takes its place in the community respectfully, helping commemorate Armistice with not only the March, flag bearing and service, but also remembering the fallen in the village with commemorative artworks, working with the Royal British Legion.

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A joint community project with the Royal British Legion, gained press and TV coverage

We support other charities in the village offering catering and BBQs to the school, the village picnic feast group , the football and cricket club.  This not only brings in funds but raises awareness of the group and is beneficial in recruiting new boys and girls into the organisation.

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Teaching others our fitness skills

Using their fitness skills acquired during their badge work the group designed and helped run an obstacle course for the young spectators at the village 10k, run by the village feast committee,  everyone enjoyed the physical fun and the reward medals, even The Beast had a go!

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We love to bake 

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In an effort to support our villagers during the pandemic, we used our skills to provide  tea and cake delivery, with messages from our young people to lift the spirits.  We linked these events with fundraising for the nhs with a lovely thank you message, and garden tours in conjunction with the national open garden schemes, to bring some light relief to our viewers. For many this was a much needed doorstep conversation, and working with the village time bank we were able to help those very much in isolation.  We used the service to thank many key supporters along the way. 

Supporting the older generations 
Our group has enjoyed supporting the community cafe “nellies” helping serve the regular customers. Nellies welcome our help and their customers have financially supported our cause. This gives our young people the opportunity to help the more mature members of our community, who love sharing their memories of Scouting with our young people.

Nellie's Community Cafe

“We were delighted to be approached by the Sutton Scouts who asked if they could be considered as a worthy cause. (We ask groups to approach us rather than us approach them).

Support is a two way thing & the scouts proved to be the most engaged group of people we have raised funds for, coming along to events REGULARLY, bringing cakes to sell & helping out at the cafe sessions. We have been impressed by the dedication from all levels within the organisation to promote & sustain the future of the scouting movement in Sutton.”

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Putting the fun into FUNdraising

In recent years we’ve partaken in sponsored hikes, runs and swims, we’ve gunged leaders, designed and raced push carts and generally given our spectators as much fun as we’ve enjoyed.  We’re welcomed at many village events to cater, hold raffles, entertain, see the happy faces below.1624986350_010a6c27-393d-4919-bf84-538c8b526dda.jpeg

Looking after our environment 
We‘re mutually supported by the conservation society, learning about our environment, helping clean up the village and planting trees. You can see us here helping clear the graveyard.

 1624985553_f6759c63-e7c6-4de9-95c0-bc1aa545eb5f.jpeg1624987306_fb87a844-6b48-4437-86dc-8414f9e70c08.jpeg

We’re not afraid of hard work, we turn out en mass for litter picks.

Sutton Conservation Society

“The scouts have our full support for this project.

“We have worked with the scouts many times around the village to plant trees, bulbs & also planted fruit trees & cared for them by regularly watering them until established. As the scouts intend to offer the facilities for other users in the village, we will definitely be very happy to take up that offer.”

Scouts deliver Christmas 

The group has become a particular feature of the community in the run up to Christmas, with our visiting sleigh and tea with Santa, a local artist even depicts us in a Christmas card with the village church!  Supporting our community we run a postal service around the local villages, a service very much needed to keep our more isolated members of the community in touch.

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Each year the group tour Sutton and other local villages spreading good cheer and raising awareness of the group with the next generation of scouts.

We look forward to making the most of these new facilities for young and old, for:

  • Sport
  • Mindfulness,
  • Recreation,
  • Better physical and mental health 
  • Education
  • Camping
  • Wildlife and nature

and we will continue to work with many groups to achieve the best for our community.  We’re Scouts - we promise “to help other people”


Some of our supporters worry that we won’t be so active in the community once we’ve raised enough funds - no chance, we wouldn’t miss out on this amount of fun and being made to feel such a special part of Sutton’s Community. We look forward to welcoming you to our new home for even more fun. Not having our own home and outdoor space has made so many opportunities cost prohibitive. Now just think what we could achieve if we had our own home in which to practice, learn and deliver skills for life, which can be shared among the community - 1625588352_75cf0151-93c5-403f-9d82-21f898b1f468.jpegScouting in Sutton, be a part of it.

THANK-YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT1624990129_e8d70a7c-1712-4bb2-ad2c-0dc9a221804d.jpeg

Rewards

This project offers rewards in return for your donation.

£2 or more

24 of 200 claimed

£2 limited edition cloth 2021 supporter badge

A limited edition woven cloth badge you can sew onto your camp blanket to show you’re a proud supporter of 1st Sutton Scouts. The badge, edged in blue with amber writing to match our neckers, depicts our scout hut and displays the year of support as 2021. Be the first to get one! A reward for not only members but all supporters, to whom we are very grateful. We’ll keep up the tradition if there’s enough support. Thank you for pledging.

£10 or more

£10 commemorative plaque Reward

Donors name to be added to our list of supporters to be proudly displayed on our commemorative plaque for years to come.

£10 or more

0 of 16 claimed

£10 ADULT ONLY COOKOUT REWARD

ADULT ONLY Campfire Cookout Evening (OVER 18’s) A 90 minute experience of fire pit cooking at its best. To include a campfire experience complete with: Cowboy Dinner, Dampers, s’mores, Hot drinks, BRING YOUR OWN ALCOHOL Dates to be mutually agreed for weeknights during September, subject to ground conditions, run in accordance with government and scouting guidelines at the time.

£10 or more

1 of 25 claimed

£10 supporters afternoon tea July 11th local only

Afternoon tea prepared delivered to Sutton, Mepal or Witcham on Sunday 11th July. Book your reward and we’ll call you to take details of dietary requirements and delivery. Great idea to send as a gift to a family member, friend or good neighbour, or just indulge yourself. The tea for £10 a head includes: 3 rolls sausage roll scone jam and cream strawberries and cream 2 tennis themed cupcakes Limited edition supporters badge

£30 or more

5 of 16 claimed

£30 family cookout Reward

Family Campfire Cookout Evening (2 adults and up to 3 children) A 90 minute experience of fire pit cooking at its best. To include a campfire experience complete with: Cowboy Dinner, Dampers, s’mores, Hot drinks. Dates to be mutually agreed for weeknights during September, subject to ground conditions, run in accordance with government and scouting guidelines at the time.

£50 or more

£50 commemorative plaque Reward

Donors name or company name and logo displayed in full colour on our commemorative plaque for years to come.

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