Support scouts sports!

The Scout HQ at Duxford opened earlier in the year after many years of hard work raising the funds to build it. When I was chair of Whittlesford Parish Council I was proud that we did our bit too, but really it was a huge effort by a great many people. I was very interested to have an update on how the building is being used when I was at the Duxford Annual Parish meeting, attended by some 70 people, last month.

The great thing is that the cubs and scouts have a premises that is their own, with lots of inventive use of space, such as climbing walls, bringing adventure and excitement forward into scouting. My own cub and scout pack back in the 1970s had a school hall to use, with an irate ex-Desert Rats janitor keeping an eye open to make sure we didn't scuff his polished parquet flooring. Ho-hum!

I'm very pleased to support the application that has now gone in to the District Council Community Chest for equipment to allow access to minority sports, such as fencing, caving and archery.

Here is what I said to support the bid: 

 I'm very happy to support this application - the scouts have worked very hard in terms of fund-raising to get this building opened, and there is a huge demand locally from young people to make use of the facilities provided. I recently saw a very good presentation on the use being made of the building and it is an excellent community asset - providing access to these sorts of sports encourages young people to try new things and might lead to them taking up sports they would otherwise not have access to. 

Regards

Peter