Runcorn scouts’ plea for hut cash

Dec 4 2008 by Oliver Clay, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

Scouts’ plea for hut cash

A RUNCORN Scout group is applying for lottery funding to replace its rotting hut.

Jim Maguire, 3rd and 9th Runcorn Scouts chairman, says the group needs £200,000 for a new centre on Moughland Lane for Scouts and Guides to share.

He said the current hut has suffered from rot for most of the 30 years it has been standing.

Furthermore, attempts to keep the rot at bay with steel cladding are temporary solutions and make the site look a “bit industrial”, he said.

Mr Maguire added that the future centre could be rented out to other community groups in addition to serving the 50 youngsters based there.

Fundraising starts this week with a Christmas bingo night at Pavilions, Sandy Lane, but Mr Maguire is hopeful about the Scouts’ lottery case.

He said: “We have got a really good case because the new unit there could serve boys and girls from ages six up to their early 20s.

“There’s no building in that area that can be used by the community so we could rent the hut out for other groups.

“The Scouts were formed in 1949, but we’ve been in that hut for 30 years and the floor just keeps rotting despite the steel cladding we put up, and now we can’t use the place.”

The bingo night is at 7pm, on Wednesday, December 10.

Tickets are £1.50 on the door.