The
Existing Hall
The 1st Halesworth Scout Group has had a number of headquarters
since it was formed in the nineteen twenties, For many years
we have used our present building, once a Church Mission
Room built about 1899 and once used as a Salvation Army
Chapel. It is a typical 'Tin Chapel' of its day, and now
not fit for purpose as an activity base for a Scout Group.
In its favour is that the land is freehold and owned by
the Group. The site is well placed in the town and has a
reasonable amount of land around it, allowing outdoor activities.
However it now costs a lot to insure, maintain and service;
costs that will increase over the years.
For years it has been evident that a new building was needed.
We have now asked an architect to design a building for
us.
The
New HQ Plan.
The proposed Headquarters consists of a main hall with a
lobby and store rooms at the front of the building and toilets
and a large kitchen at the rear. Although the HQ is roughly
the same footprint as the current one, the new hall will
be wider as it encompasses the existing storage rooms. A
store room will be set below the kitchen and the toilets,
making use of the natural fall in the ground level. Access
to the store will be at ground level.
The main hall will be the focus of the building. The hall
will have a pent roof which will allow roof lights to be
used, rather than conventional windows. The building will
be well insulated both thermally and acoustically. Not having
windows at ground level will help the insulation and security.
The pent roof means that one wall will be higher than the
other which will allow us to use the taller wall as a climbing
wall. There will also be four small store rooms, one for
each sections basic equipment and storage of projects in
hand.
The design will incorporate good environmental building
standards, such as energy efficient heating, a grey water
system for the toilets and possibly solar powered water
heating.
The
Scout Group
1st Halesworth Scout Group was founded, initially as a Scout
Troop, in the 1920's. It now has four sections: Beaver Scouts
(6 to 8 years); Cub Scouts (8 to 10½ years) Scouts
(10½ to 14 years) and Explorer Scouts ((14 to18 years).
In the last few years our numbers have grown from 41 to
61. This includes ten adult, volunteer leaders. Our membership,
including both boys and girls, join in weekly meetings and
additional indoor and outdoor evening or weekend activities.
Camping is still a major part of scouting, encouraging young
people to be self reliant and to lead others. The
Group has been looking at additional activities to offer
to our scouts and perhaps others in the community. The first
new activity is Archery and we have purchased over £2,500
worth of equipment. We have one trained instructor and will
be training more this year.

With a growing Scout Group we need to provide an attractive
and versatile facility as an activity and training base
for young people from six to eighteen. We also need to attract
the adult volunteer leadership on which Scouting is based.
The HQ will not be for the exclusive use of our Scout Group.
There is a lack of small meeting venues in Halesworth and
the new Scout HQ will be a new and attractive meeting place
for others in the town. Currently the present HQ is used
by Yoga Classes has also supported Street Parties and will
be used by the HighTide festival this year.
The
Cost
The build cost has been estimated at £300,000 which
includes the demolition of the current building, the build,
security fencing and landscaping. In this budget we have
included new furniture, china and cutlery, in all a ready
to use facility.
We need £20,000 as an initial sum to allow us to start
to approach the various grant bodies from which we hope
to raise most of the funds. We will be running a number
of fund raising events and hope to attract interest in local
individuals and organisations which have an interest in
our young people.