Stonesfield is a village in rural Oxfordshire, about 3 miles from Woodstock and Blenheim Palace and 10 miles north of Oxford.

The Stonesfield Scout Group has been running since 1948. It has 3 packs Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, which cater for children between the ages of 6 to 14 and it has over 100 members. Such is the demand for places that there is a waiting list. There is no scout troop in Woodstock and children from there and several of the smaller villages nearby also join Stonesfield.

The location of our hut, if not unique, then something very special for an organisation such as the Scouts. It is situated within a large area of deciduous woodland, in which generations of Scouts and Cubs have explored, played games, made dens, learnt about the resident flora and fauna, built fires and cooked marshmallows! It is about a quarter of a mile from the River Glyme, which has provided the venue for raft building, crayfishing, team building activities and the Scouts annual Duck Race. There is space outside the building for building campfires and barbeques. The site is accessible to wheelchair users.

Now the problem! The old scout hut started life as temporary wartime accommodation at RAF Bicester. Having survived bombs and bullets during the war, in 1958 it was dismantled and moved on the back of a lorry to its new location in the woods at Stockey Bottom. It has provided a home and shelter for the Scout Group for over 60 years, however it was showing its age and becoming both unusable and dangerous, despite attempts at repairs and maintenance. Asbestos was widely in use as a building material 80 years ago when the hut was first constructed and it contained plenty of it. The facilities within were basic to say the least inadequate toilet facilities, unsuitable for disabled users, very basic cooking facilities and poor storage areas; rats and other rodents were frequent visitors. The building was a dilapidated health hazard that had reached the end of its life. It has now been taken down and the site cleared.

All options for homing our Scout Group have been considered and there has been widespread local consultation with local people and other organisations. The decision to build a new, safe, modern, secure scout hut has been taken. This building will not only be a home for 1st Stonefield Scouts and protect the future of Scouting activities for our young people now and for the future but it will also provide the perfect space for a range of other groups who will benefit from its facilities and location. The hut will be an Outdoor Education and Environmental Wellbeing Centre and we cannot wait to get it built!

Our target of £175 000 will be reached through a range of sources including a portoflio of grants that our fundraising team are hard at work applying for. You can help us reach our target by donating directly, purchasing a piece of Stonefield history with our Buy A Brick Scheme, by hosting a fundraising event or simply spread the word.

Many thanks from us all, 1st Stonefield Scouts