Friends of 6th Redcar Scout Group

At last - action!

2007-07-26T20:09:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I'm not the quickest at keeping this site going, but to be honest there's been little action to report. There has been a significant amount going on behind the scenes and as we speak, the site has been cleared and the footings are in ready for a structure to be 'dropped in' to the site.

A total of £10,894.52 has been donated to the fundraising account. We have decided to close this account and place it all in the official 6th Redcar bank account in order for the Group to be able to pay the bills coming in for the new building.

Thankyou to all who contibuted personally or who, through other contacts, were able to help.

As the picture shows, the Rugby Club have fenced off the rugby field and railway sides. What isn't shown is the driveway and the obvious difficulty the site clearance vehicles had in accessing the site. The old gateway had to be removed (with the original plaque saved) as did the hedge on the rugby field side.

The new building will be similar in size to the old one - I'll post photos as soon as I can.

Help needed!
The water and electricity boards have hit us with an unanticipated additional cost. Another £5000 is needed to locate and connect their services. Although the fundraising and insurance money covered the work to date and the installation of the new building there is currently not enough in the bank to cover this extra expense. We plan to do some of the work ourselves and dig a trench to locate the old services, then if the water pipes are still the old lead type, dig a trench to the edge of the property. We also need to build a brick structure to house the elctricity connection and meter.

If you can help with a load of bricks, mortar or sand or can give some time, probably in the next few weeks, then let me know. If you also fancy running another fundraising effort or know of a source of funding then also please let me know.

See you all soon!!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-24T17:47:00.000Z

Hi all! Its been a while since I've had chance to update the blog. Firstly, recent donations include; £100 from Redcar Masonic Club, £500 from DeBrus Almoners Account, £500 from Marwood Lodge, £50 from the Lodge of Philosophy, £100 from Coatham Lodge and £100 from the Saltscar Charity Box! That takes the total to over £8700!.

Next, you'll probably be wanting to know what's happening regarding the rebuild. Well, costs for site clearance and rebuilding are enormous, as mentioned a while ago. Alan Blunt is still beavering away ('scuse the pun) in the background and I'm assured there will be activity soon! If you're a parent reading this blog, you'll be receiving a letter from June, Group Chairman, soon. Once I know what's in it I'll let the rest of you know!

Ta ta for now!

Season's greetings and thanks!

2006-12-19T12:35:00.000Z

Thanks to the hard work of Sally, Tracey, Jean and Chris a total of £477 has been raised from the sale of 2007 calendars featuring artwork of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. This is a great amount and the 'run' sold out at the Ceilidh a fortnight ago. This, together with recent donations from Uniqema and Huntsman brings our total to £8300.

As I'm busy working panto at Middlesbrough Theatre (Peter Pan - tickets still available until Jan 7th!) this will probably be the last update this year. Keep the information flooding in(!) and it'll get posted here. Hope you all have a pleasant Christmas period and Santa brings you all you'd hoped for!

Merry Christmas!

Fantastic!

2006-12-03T20:09:00.000Z

I understand that the Ceilidh held at the Redcar Bowl on Friday night (1st December) raised £2105 on the night! This together with support from Barclays Bank brought the total from the event to £2855! This is a magnificant effort, particulaly from Jackie Carling and helpers.

Other than that great news I haven't heard any tales from the evening - if you have any, or photos - please let me know and I'll upload them here.

Hut and fundraising update

2006-12-01T17:52:00.000Z

As many of you will already know Alan Blunt has kindly agreed to take over the co-ordination of the Headquarters rebuild. Alan, who was a Cub Leader with the 6th in the 1980s is a structural engineer by trade and, although recently retired, is a great asset to the Group. More on that soon.....

On the fundraising front, we are now up to £3800! This is a great figure and the fund has been swollen recently with a donation of £500 from Uniqema Wilton. Tonight's Ceilidh has sold over 400 tickets and Barclays Bank have agreed to match the profit from the event up to £750. An update on the Ceilidh will follow soon (if someone would like to write me a review please!).

Thats all for now - thanks for your continued interest!

Thanks

2006-12-01T17:27:00.000Z

Can I thank all those who turned up at Alan's funeral last Thursday. St Bede's chapel at Teesside Crematorium can rarely have seen so many people.

Thankyou also for helping to make it a celebration of Alan's life rather than a dour and mournful occasion. The laughter and quality of singing were what Alan would have wanted and were a fitting send-off.

Thank you also to those who came back to the Theatre Club afterwards and helped us share some memories!

Sad news

2006-11-20T20:23:00.000Z

As some of you will already know, Alan Charlesworth, Group Scout Leader of the 6th Redcar Scout Group, died peacefully in hospital last Wednesday after a short illness. Alan started his involvement with the Group in 1977 as Assistant Scout Leader to Dave Hogg, leaving to become firstly Assistant District Commissioner for Scouts for the North Langbaurgh District, then District Commissioner on the retirement of George Walsh.

After the maximum 10 years in the post, Alan took over as GSL at the 6th on Dave's retirement. Alan was heavily involved in the extension of the Scout Hut in 1981 and for the last 20 years utilised his civil engineering skills during 5 county expeditions to Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Tanzania where he designed and led the building of school or clinic buildings.

Like Dave, Alan was an old-fashioned Scouter who was passionate in bringing traditional Scouting skills to future generations of Scouts. He became Scout Leader again when the departure of the previous leader threatened to close the Troop, and was still taking young Scouts to camp, sharing his skills and giving them the experiences that most of their age would dream of.

He will be missed; as a husband and father, but also as a friend to many

October update - 23/10/06

2006-10-23T15:09:00.000+01:00

Hi all

Yet again its been a while since the last posting. Progress is slow but there are a couple of things to report.

Firstly Alan has been in hospital for the last week, undergoing various tests and examinations - more info on that as soon as we have it.

With regard to the building; rather than having a professionally built wooden-framed building on a concrete slab with external brickwork carried out by friends and volunteers, we are now looking at a total-build by a construction company, who would be responsible for the whole project, including security. This would have the benefit of being erected more quickly that the previous proposal. We would carry out the internal works ourselves, in a secure building. Costs however are outside the insurance figure so we are looking at lottery and grant funding. Its vital we get a HQ that is fit for purpose and is relatively maintenance-free - not a feature of the old hut!!!!

To help, the BO Davies Charitable Trust has kindly donated £1000, and the Yorkshire Bank are donating £500. There have been many other smaller donations for which we are grateful, including 36 footballs from Nike, courtesy of Jill, an ex Venture Scout.

So, all three Sections continue to meet in their temporary accomodation and, I understand, are coping well. Thanks to the leaders who are having to adapt to their new surroundings and also carry on the fundraising effort.

All that's left is to remind you to get your Ceilidh tickets for December 1st at the Redcar Bowl. Contact Jackie on 01642 478518 for tickets. Why not bring a tablefull of work colleagues, mates or neighbours?

See you soon!

Oops!

2006-09-26T17:40:00.001+01:00

26/9/06

Hi all, sorry its been a while since the last blog, but to be honest there's not been a huge amount to share with you until now. There's a bit of good news and some not so good news - not sure which to give you first!!!

...decided on the good news first! Fundraising is now about at the £1000 mark! A busy little team of Cub and Beaver leaders have been sending letters to local businesses and High Street stores asking for some support. To date, thanks to Wilkinson's and Tesco for sending a donation. Hopefully more to follow! We've also been asked to submit applications to the B. O. Davies Trust, Redcar Rotary Club and Stokesley Round Table. Also waiting for responses from the Co-op Community Dividend and Ladbrokes Community Charity Trust.

I mentioned in an earlier blog that we had heard from people far and wide who've had a connection with 6th Redcar. Recently we had donations from Mr Harold Tarn, who was an ex Scoutmaster in the in the Group in the 1950's and Mr Ray Wright, District Commissioner when the original Hut was built! Some older readers may remember Mr Tarn from Sir William Turner's school and sixth form days! Other donations from an ex-County Commissioner and another from Niagara Falls, Canada!! I'm also expecting a donation of some sports equipment from Nike, courtesy of an ex-Venture. Thanks to you all for your donations and letter writing!!

So, now the not so good news!!

The costs to clear the site and rebuild are likely to be more than we anticipated. Estimates so far are up to £10,000 (yes, that's right!!) to clear the site, then another £15,000 (ouch!) just to prepare and lay the concrete slab. Alan is still meeting other potential contractors and exploring other methods of achieveing our end result of a spanking new Headquarters! So any bright ideas - please contact Alan on alanc13@onetel.com.

Finally, don't forget the Ceilidh on Friday 1st December at the Redcar Bowl. Tickets are £6 from Jackie Carling on 01642 478518. Barclays Bank have agreed to double our profits for the night so bring a table-full and have a good cheap night out!!

All for now - I promise I'll update you all as soon as I know more!!

2006-08-28T20:56:00.000+01:00

28/8/06

A lot's been happening since the last update. The flagheads we found in the ashes of the old HQ have now been cleaned and will fit onto new flagpoles (with new flags of course!). Aside from the sentimental value, to replace these two would have been £90 alone!

Fundraising has started to take off. The ladies of Park Court in Dormanstown (all pensioners) raised over £120 in a Bring and Buy evening, and nearly £60 was raised at the Danby Antique and Collector's Fair from the sale of items donated. We've also had two donations totalling£300. People's generosity still astounds me. We can now obtain Gift Aid on all donations. If you are a tax payer, then your donation can generate an additional 28 pence in the pound, at no cost to you! More details from me or Joyce Charlesworth.

We've had a great offer of equipment from a redundant Group in Solihull. We are now looking for somewhere to store it before going to pick it up. It's great how the Scouting community helps those in need, even outside the immediate county.

If anyone has contact with a fencing company please let me know. Whilst we're still waiting for the insurance company to sort things out, our first task after clearing the site is to fence the boundary with 2 metre high steel pallisade fencing - the same as the rest of the site and Rugby Club field. We need 60 metres (its £40 per metre!), and the insurance doesn't cover it. So we need to raise £2400 to cover that. We are talking to the Rugby Club to see if they will help to fence our mutual boundary.

Don't forget the Ceilidh on December 1st at the Coatham Bowl. Tickets are available now from Joyce on 01642 485753 or Jackie on 01642 478518. They're starting to sell so get yours soon!

The Beaver, Cub and Scout sections will soon be starting again after their summer breaks. A letter to parents with the arrangements for temporary meeting places will be sent out this week. If anyone has a source of pens, paper, pencils, craft materials, etc., to help the Leaders with the weekly activities then let me, Alan or any of the Section leaders know.

Anyone got any photos of activities around the old HQ? Send me them and I'll publish them here. This site should be more than 'I want your money'! Nothing wrong with a good old reminisce!

Lots of interest!

2006-08-16T20:26:00.000+01:00

Evening all!

Lots of offers to help. The parent of an-ex member of the Group is organising a Ceilidh in the Redcar Bowl on Friday 1st December. Not sure of ticket prices yet, but it will include dancing to the 'Cleveland Bays', pie and peas and licenced bar till 11pm. We have had offers of great raffle prizes from local businesses. Come along, enjoy yourself and benefit the fundraising without realising it! More info soon, but we need you and your friends there!

Over £200 donated so far, and we still haven't heard from the bank about the account details! Also given an interview to the East Cleveland Advertiser who are keen to help fundraising. We now have a definite need to fundraise, regardless of the insurance company's decision. They will not pay for the completion of the pallisade fence around the property. The fence is essential before we start work on the new Hut. The railway side, part of the rugby field side and the side backing onto the Laburnum Road houses need fencing. No ideas on prices yet, but it won't be cheap! Anyone know a friendly fencer........?

A week on - Update

2006-08-13T17:30:00.000+01:00

So what's happened in the last week?

Well there's been plenty of support from both the general public and many, many people in some way related to the 6th. Some have been ex-Cubs, Scout or Venture Scouts, some parents of ex-Scouts, some friends of leaders past and present.

Whilst some of the responses have been from the "birch 'em and hang 'em" brigade (presumably referring to the arsonists!), the overwhelming majority have been referring to the pleasure that being part of 6th Redcar brought to their lives.

It appears that modern banking isn't what it used to be! We've been told that the fundraising account will take about a week to process and open - I promise that as soon as I have details I'll publish them here. I know some of you, particularly those who live away from the area, are wanting to help and have requested the fund details. We are still awaiting quotes to forward to the insurance company and then start the process of tendering and rebuilding. It looks like we'll need to physical support once the main building is up - from ground clearers to plasterers, bricklayers to tea makers.

Co-incidently there have been two gatherings of ex-members in the past week. 17 old ex-members were spotted in the Plimsole Line pub in Redcar on Wednesday night, there mainly to celebrate Andrew McPherson's birthday. A further posse of even older ex-Venture Scouts were to be found at Newlands Valley in the Lake District at the weekend, dragging old bones up hill and dale. At both events fond memories were shared, of people and events that helped shape our lives. Anyone fancy a reminisce? Send a blog! Even photos of bad hair, cars and shorts!

As you can see I found a couple of pictures the other day.

Can't say I remember the top picture, but certainly can picture the pre-1981 interior of the hut looking like this!

The opening ceremony from 1957

2006-08-06T21:23:00.000+01:00

3/8/06

Not the old familiar picture of the front door to the Hut!

This, and the following pictures show the sad sight that was the result of an arson attack on the 1st August.

The fire brigade were called by two residents of houses that back onto the Hut at around 2am. By then the Hut was well ablaze. Local residents were evacuated because of the gas risk and trains were halted on the Saltburn-Darlington line for a while.

As you can see the contents were completely destroyed.

Luckily the Group was insured for both buildings and contents BUT perhaps not to the full value. Remember all the tentage, stoves, the maps, compasses, etc? All gone. Do you older ones amongst us remember the tilley lamps at Summer Camp? The Primus stoves in biscuit tins or double burner gas stoves? All gone. Of less sentimental value, but perhaps more important to today's Beavers, Cubs and Scouts are the equipment, books and records that they used every week.

Today, Alan Charlesworth (who for those who have been away from the Group for a while may not know is now both GSL and Scout Leader), is talking to the insurance company about rebuilding. Don't know yet if we can afford to do it.

5/8/06

Well the insurance guy has been round and agreed the Hut is a right off! Looks like we'll be able to replace the Hut, with a similar design to the old Hut (but hopefully more fireproof!). First of course the site has to be cleared and made secure.

6/8/06

Yesterday Alan Charlesworth (or Dad to me!) went down to search for the old brass flag heads. After some digging through the ash we found the Scout flag head and the Cub one. Don't know if anyone remembers the Cub flag was from the old Wolf Cub days and had a brass wolf as the head. They've been cleaned up and will go onto the new flags. I'll post the photos when I get them.

Had loads of support from people. We're opening a bank account tommorow to start saving for the re-equiping of the new Hut as it appears that although we may be able to rebuild the Hut from the buildings insurance, the contents insurance is unlikely to cover the equipment replacement. Already got £70 in donations!! Had a phone call tonight from a parent of a 40 year old ex-Scout offering to buy a new Union Flag!

As soon as I have the details I'll post the bank details here.