AFTER five hard years of tireless fundraising the dream of a new headquarters for Burley Scouts and Guides is about to become a reality.

The new building in Peel Place, Burley-in-Wharfedale is due to be completed in the next few weeks.

It features two large meeting rooms, each with its own kitchen and breakout space. With over 350 youngsters using the building each week it is a superb facility for the young people of Burley-in-Wharfedale now and in the future..

Guide leader Sue Vine said the Scout & Guide Group were extremely grateful and overwhelmed by the generosity of the local community.

“We would like to thank all the local people who donated or raised funds to make this possible,” she said. “We are having the official opening of the new Burley Scout & Guide Headquarters on Saturday, September 28 and this will be followed by ‘open house’ from 3.30pm to 6pm for anyone to come look round, and enjoy tea and cakes.”

“We are amazed that so many people have helped us over the last five years by raising money and supporting us in so many ways. Much of the money has been raised by hard fundraising and by local community and individual donations. We want to thank everyone who has helped us however small by inviting them into our HQ so we can say a very big thank you for all their support. Everyone is most welcome.”

She added: “We still have around £27,000 to raise but with continuing fundraising – running the village bonfire and fireworks night, Santa sleigh and taking part in local events, we will manage to raise the remaining amount.

“Leaders are delighted that Rainbows, Beavers, Brownies, Cubs, Guides, Scouts, Rangers and Explorers have now started meeting in the new building and are thrilled with their new home. With more space we have already opened another Brownie unit and hope to open more units in the future. We would welcome any new volunteers to help run a unit.”

https://www.ilkleygazette.co.uk/news/17908074.dream-hq-becomes-reality-burley-scouts-guides/

Burley-in-Wharfedale residents are celebrating a £1million investment in community facilities.

This has ben made possible by almost £500k of fundraising by supporters of Burley Scouts and Guides, and a £500k programme of refurbishment in the Queens Hall and library was made possible by the Parish Council.

The new scout and guide hut was made possible thanks to the tireless energy of volunteer fundraisers. The HQ has been built on the same site as the old building in Peel Place but the size and layout better reflects current requirements for modern day Scouting and Guiding, and its rooms will allow different meetings to be held concurrently. The building has two large meeting rooms, and each meeting room has its own kitchen space, and its own breakout space.

The new headquarters sees its official opening on September 28. Bryan Collins, chairman of the Scouts and Guides, said: “At the end of the project we hope you will agree that we have created a fine facility for helping us to run our training programmes, to encourage village youngsters to develop into responsible citizens and that we have also provided a valuable community facility.

“I would particularly like to thank the many volunteers who have driven this project and also the generosity of local people who donated or raised funds.”

Cllr Wild, who is also an executive committee member of the Scouts and Guides, added: “These projects have made a long-lasting positive impact upon the lives of many people in the Burley.

“With limited resources we focus on areas where we think we can make the biggest positive impact in the village, and these projects are fine examples of what’s possible with a strong community spirit and the support of many volunteers and supporters.”

https://www.ilkleygazette.co.uk/news/17865486.1m-boost-village-facilities/

Burley-in-Wharefdale Scouts and Guides is delighted to announce it has bagged £2,000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme.

Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees grants raised from the sale of carrier bags awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £40 million to over 9,700 local community projects.

Millions of shoppers have voted in Tesco stores up and down the country and it can now be revealed Burley-in-Wharefdale Scouts and Guides has been awarded £2,000

Alec Brown, Tesco’s Head of Community, said:“Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers. It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community. We can’t wait to see the projects come to life.”

Voting ran in stores throughout September and October with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the checkout.

Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups each time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions are awarded funding.

Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said: “Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down the UK to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them. The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”