Our Scout Group consists of around 150 boys and girls aged 6-18 and is made up of two Beaver Scouts sections, two Cub Scouts sections, a Scout section and an Explorer Scouts section. All are run by volunteer leaders who give up loads of their time and make a great effort. This is supported by a small committee of volunteers. Many of our Scouts move on to Explorer Scouts and many help in the running of the younger groups' meetings as Young Leaders. A key aspect of our group is our scout hall located in Whitehill Woods in the heart of our community. Being in a woodland its an ideal base for our weekly outdoor activities and is the envy of scout groups across Glasgow.

In addition, the scout hall is let out to local groups including a Lizy Dixon Gymnastics, Encore Dance, Yoga with Joyce and Killermont forest OSC. Our local community benefits from having these classes within walking distance of so many in our community.

Earlier this year we undertook our five yearly fixed electrical test at the hall, and found we needed a complete rewire costing £8,880. This wasnt unexpected and we had funds put aside: however, when the new external lights were fitted the electricians found that the front hall wall moved when it was pushed. Following further investigations by a structural engineer, the wall was found to be misaligned and deemed as being at risk of imminent collapse. We immediately erected HERAS fencing to keep everyone safe and away from the wall, and are undertaking emergency repairs comprising a complete rebuild of the front wall. The old wall has now been taken down and the new wall has been built. Without rebuilding the wall immediately we would have to had shut the hall to both scouts and the other groups.

We had some reserves put aside for maintenance, but these have been depleted by the planned rewire in August. The emergency rebuild cost of the wall is £15,000, and comes on top of the planned rewire. Due to COVID we have been unable to fund raise as we have in the past. We are finding that for many of the grants the work cannot be completed before the grant is received, and because we have had to had to move so fast to keep the hall open this is a problem. In addition, grants we have accessed in the past are now closed due to so many applications, or dont support building works (ie lottery, glasgow flightpath fund). We havent given up though and continue our search for grants we do qualify!

We know that our hall is valued by so many in our community, and we are hoping that you - former scouts, current scouts, dancers, gymnasts - and families of all those hall users will dig deep and help us! So buy a brick - or even two - or one for your gran, or your dog or a brick for every family member! Please help us to make sure our hall is still here providing a venue for scouting for years to come, so if you can buy a brick!

The 183rd Scout Group