Ashby de la Zouch Scouts

ASHBY ROTARY DONATES £5000 TO 4^TH ASHBY SCOUTS

The Rotary Club of Ashby de la Zouch donated £5000 to the 4^th Ashby Scout group on 12 March to help replenish the funds that had been used to renovate their new headquarters.

The Group had to find new premises, as their shared building in Ashby could not accommodate two scout groups. Their new building in Donisthorpe, previously used by Donisthorpe scouts and owned by the District Scout movement, was vacant as the local scout group no longer existed.

The building was in a poor state of repair and the 4^th Ashby Scouts used most of their available money on essential repairs such as electrical and plumbing work, heating and decorating. The donation from Ashby Rotary will replenish the Scout Group’s funds and is expected to help with further renovation.

The money from Ashby Rotary came from the Eric Bradford Charity Fund, a legacy to the Club from Eric and Betty Bradford, an Ashby family who owned the Chinacraft shop in the town. Eric had been a member of Ashby Rotary Club for many years while Betty was a Girl Guide District Commissioner. It is thought that the donation would have received their enthusiastic support.

The 4^th Ashby Scout Group now has 150 members and it is expected that the number will grow to around 200 by the end of the year. 24 volunteers lead the scouts in their activities but more volunteer leaders are necessary to manage all of the wide variety of activities enjoyed by the group’s members.

Group Scout Leader John Bloor received the donation from Paul Cook, President of Ashby Rotary Club.

John said ‘we are enormously grateful to Ashby Rotary for this generous gift. The work we had to do to make these premises habitable has been greater than we expected and there is still more to do. We now know that we will be able to continue the work.’