Swindon North & Swindon Ridgeway Scout Districts
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Swindon North & Swindon Ridgeway Scout Districts Do more. Share more. Be more. Introductions A presentation by… Who are we? Robert Morris, District Chair, Ridgeway Supported by… Our Situation Geoff Begg, District Commissioner, Ridgeway Proposal & Discussion Kelvin King, District Commissioner, North David Kilminster, Quantity Surveyor Benefits & Next Steps Q&A Skills For Life Scouting gives young people the skills to succeed. These include: •Character skills like resilience, initiative, independence and tenacity •Employability skills like leadership, teamwork and problem solving •Practical skills like coding, cooking and First Aid. •Qualifications like Climbing Wall Instructor, Outdoor First Aid. Who are we and how are we organised? • Scouting is organised at a National, County, District and Group level. • Swindon North & Ridgeway Districts are part of the County of Wiltshire, which comprises seven districts in total. • Across the UK, we have approximately 500,000 members; 400,000 young people and 100,000 adults in a variety of roles. • Scouting in the UK started in 1907. Our Chief Scout is Bear Grylls. North Ridgeway • Swindon North has 1600 members across 13 • Swindon Ridgeway has 1200 members across 12 Scout Groups. Scout Groups. • 1200 young people supported by 400 adults. • 950 young people supported by 250 adults. • Two Scout Groups in Stratton St Margaret. • One Scout Group in Covingham & Coleview meets the needs of young people in Stratton St Margaret. • The two districts broadly cover the borough of Swindon, taking in a number of outlying villages e.g. Cricklade and Royal Wootton Bassett. • The boundary between the two districts is the railway line. • The two districts are managed and led entirely by volunteers. Our Current Property • We currently own a shared headquarters at 28 Milton Road, Swindon. • The building has been under our ownership since 1972, but is no longer fit for purpose and in 2017 the decision was taken to dispose of the building. • The property is not DDA Compliant, has steep staircases and the space inside is not ‘agile’ enough to meet current member needs. • The property will be auctioned by Strakers on Thursday 2nd April and there has been significant interest from commercial investors looking to convert it into a HMO. • We are anticipating the sale to achieve in the order of £300,000. • The sale proceeds will then be ringfenced to invest in a new property. Our Proposal ~ What are we looking for? • A share in a new, modern, single storey community building. • The building needs to be broadly central, have good transport links and car parking for up to 25 cars. • A multi-purpose large hall for activities and large meetings with AV facilities. • A multi-purpose small hall for activities and large meetings with AV facilities. • 2/3 multi-purpose rooms for small meetings. • A break out space, including durable soft furnishings • Toilets, suitable in design and quantity for up to 10 simultaneous users from aged 6 upwards, including disabled users. • A kitchen that can be used by all building users, including when more than one group is using the building. • Adjacent to a recreation ground or green space, that is protected from development. • The building will need to have a useful life of at least 50 years. • The building will need to operate on a financial model that means it is self-sustaining. Why is the Greenbridge Road site ideal? • It is important to us that we build a new headquarters that is accessible, has good transport links and is adjacent to protected green space. • Scouting is growing and a site broadly to the East will help us take advantage of the Eastern developments, as well as support our continued growth in the North. • As our movement grows, it is imperative that we have a good quality building to deliver training and run activities to support our young people. How will we fund the project? We are anticipating a total project cost of c£1m. • Swindon North & Ridgeway Districts will contribute c£300k. We will then look to the following to finance the remainder • The Scout Association (Headquarters Funding) • Large Grant Providers (Garfield Weston, Lottery, United Grand Lodge of England) • Local Authority Grants What benefits will this bring to the local community? • A new, modern space open to approved groups across the community. • A building that secures and supports the long-term future of voluntary groups across the area. • It will be ready in at least 3, but no more than 5 years. • Shared ownership* (ideally), giving more than one group the benefit of a secure location. For Scouting, this means: • A space that supports the growth ambitions of the movement through providing training of our adults and young leaders as well as activities. • A space in which we open a new Scout Group, Explorer Unit and locate our Network and Active Support. • A space that helps us project a modern and outward looking profile to the local community. • A building that is jointly owned and managed, giving our volunteers the time to focus on the growth of the movement rather than property management. Project Team • We have formed a project team in Scouting that are prepared to take this forward • The project team includes a number of individuals with the requisite skills we believe are right to take this forward (architect, surveyor, accountant, solicitor). • If the proposal is viable for you, we invite a member of SSM PC to join the team. Next Steps • Complete the sale of Swindon Scout Centre (By the end of April). • Initial meeting of the project team by the end of May – agree scope, terms of reference, constitution. • Thrash out and agree the high level business plan, including funding and designs. • Meeting two-monthly to drive progress. Dwayne Fields Helen Glover Tim Peake Bear Grylls Scout Ambassador Scout Ambassador Scout Ambassador Chief Scout Dwayne is a polar explorer Helen is a two-time ESA Astronaut Major Tim Bear was appointed in and speaker. He is the first Olympic champion and Peake is also a former Cub 2009 as the youngest ever black Briton to reach the triple World Champion, Scout and an advocate of Chief Scout of the United North Pole, and only the winning British women’s the power of Scouting to Kingdom. He has inspired second black man in the rowing’s first ever gold help young people develop hundreds of thousands of world to achieve this feat. medal at London 2012. skills for life. young people with his Born in Jamaica, he grew positivity, passion for up in Hackney, London. adventure, courage and leadership. •Thank you.