Hi there and thanks for considering supporting our cause!
Kintore Scout Group has undertaken an ambitious project over the last year of lockdown called Project Phoenix! We have undertaken work to improve our facilities and although we have covered the majority of our £25k costs, we are still looking for around £5k of funding to complete the kitchen refurbishment and installation of CCTV to protect the facilities after recent vandalism.
We hope that you will be able to support us in some way and assist in bridging the gap we have in funding.
So you know what we have achieved so far and what we still have planned for the building we have given a comprehensive overview below.
Thank you for considering supporting Kintore Scout Group and we hope that your donation will make a significant difference to the youth of Kintore and provide them with Skills For Life.
The Project Phoenix Team
Original Objective: Project Phoenix - the aim was to transform our outdoor area so Kintore Scouting could rise from the challenges of Covid-19 allowing the leadership team to deliver an adapted and ultimately stronger program for our young people in years to come. Scouting will also be required to have lots more outdoor activities in the program after the Easter holidays.
These changes will allow more camping, more activities during regular meetings, the ability to cover more skills with the young people (YP) outdoors during winter months with improved lighting and shelter from the elements. In addition to the above, we would also like to make the facilities more community-focused and allow the lawn area to be used for birthdays/events with access to water, shelter and power.
Methodology: we formed a project team consisting of our Beavers, Cubs & Scouts parents who had a specific trade, Scout leaders and willing participants. We kept as much if not all of the work for local businesses so the Covid-19 grant received by the Scout Group went towards helping the local economy.
Funding: on top of the money already raised and a grant awarded, we have now set up a crowdfunding page as traditional fundraising methods of bag packs etc are not available to us. We had enough to carry out most of the outdoor developments but are falling short of funding to complete the kitchen refurbishment and install CCTV after recent vandalism.
Developments: The main changes that Project Phoenix has delivered
- Public Access – the public used to walk directly through the lawn area of the grounds. This presented a potential risk when camping with YP. It also presented a risk when dog walkers were not so diligent as we needed to inspect the lawn area for ‘presents’ before carrying out any activities. We have now installed a new fence along the perimeter wall and provided a pathway that has eliminated the current challenges faced.
- Lighting & Power – previously there was no lighting outside the hut over the lawn area, so Crabb Electrical installed led lighting here along with additional lighting over the fire pit area of the grounds. We installed outdoor sockets on both sides of the hut which will be isolated inside. These changes will help with winter activities, camping and improve overall security for the Scout Hut itself.
- Wood Storage – we plan to build a simple lean-to shelter at the back of the hut which will act as a wood store to the fire pits but also a store for pioneering poles to erect structures on the lawn.
- Shelters – MJM Joinery helped us erect a 20m long wooden lean-to structure on the firepit side of our hut which will extend 3 m out from the hut wall. These changes will help with outdoor activities, camping and general meeting space for all ages of young people.
- Water & Drainage – the shelters outside now contain sinks with both hot/cold water and drainage. This will allow so much more capacity for activities and camping so that the YP can wash up without the current bottleneck of the one sink in the kitchen. We were forever filling wash hand basins during activities.
- Firepits – our 3 x firepits used to consist of a circle of stones and bricks along the grassy area of the hut. We are in the process of installing purpose-built firepits from our local Smiddy Peter Strachan on top of hearths supplied by Inverurie Precast.
- Hall Floor – the main hall floor was posing a risk hazard as a small hole had appeared in the existing flooring. This has now been replaced with new safety flooring from Moar Furnishings and the team prepared and painted the whole hall.
- Electrical – the existing mains board is outdated and will need to be replaced by Crabb Electrical whilst adding additional capacity for our new oven. The existing extractor fans are broken and the electrical heaters in the hall are very old, inefficient and take a while to heat up the hut too.
- Kitchen – finally we are also looking to replace our existing kitchen through Grampian Catering Equipment as it is falling apart. This will make the kitchen fit for purpose and allow larger community events and camps to be catered for.
These are some of the exciting changes we have been working on for the outdoor and indoor space at Kintore Scout Group. These will enable us to deliver a fantastic program for our young people in years to come. We hope that we have been able to give you an insight into our exciting project and trust that you can see the overall benefits that they will provide to our young people in Kintore.