After a busy spring, we are now enjoying a quiet(ish) couple of months and planning to restart fundraising activities. There is always something to do!!
Thankfully, everything went smoothly with the works and, as planned, the builder finished on site just before Christmas. Along the way, both of our heating boilers broke down in November and we had to replace them. This was an unwelcome additional cost which ate into our contingency budget.
After the builder left, we held several a volunteer parties to repaint the existing hall and re-coat the floor. Following Christmas/New Year, we continued work parties inside the building, and, in spring, we moved on to the grounds.
We were also fortunate in receiving a grant from Edinburgh University COP 26 fund. This helped us replace the internal and external lights with new, energy efficient, units.
Our next steps are as follows:
1) we were grateful to receive a grant from Forth Community (City of Edinburgh Council) which will allow us to purchase a prefabricated metal building to will be used to store both large adventure equipment (i.e. Kayaks etc), and large garden equipment, to allow us to keep the grounds in great shape for both ourselves and the local community to enjoy.
2) our next big project is to replace the roof of the existing building. We are now fund raising for this project and, funds permitting, hope to be able to start work on this next spring/summer.
Work continues at pace for the refurbishment work at 104th ENE. Outstanding items are fairly minor and the team hope to complete around the 17th December all being well.
As with any major works surprises crop up! The team did have one very unwelcome surprise when both their heating boilers failed in early November. As a result they had to replace them and incur an unplanned £7k expense. This, plus an increase of around £14k in materials/build costs (Brexit and supply chain related), has stressed the budget, and will delay the move onto the next phase whilst they re-build funds.
On a positive note, the below summarises what the amazing team have achieved to give some idea of where they are:
We look forward to the grand final reveal in due course.
Construction started on 30th August and we were fortunate that good weather allowed a lot of progress to be made.
In the first few weeks, the upgrading of the electricity supply has been completed, a new surface water underground drainage and soakaway system have been completed and commissioned, and the foundations and timber frame for the new toilet/shower block has taken shape. Work will now continue to build out the timber frame before starting work on the current toilets which will be linked to the new construction and will eventually form a disabled toilet/shower and a baby changing room.
Additionally, the Group volunteers have had further work parties at the hall/grounds in order to make necessary repairs to the existing roof and to finish off the wall area which was impacted by the installation of the new electricity supply. Once the current phase is finished, our next phase is to renew the roof.
It is good to see progress is on track and we are still targeting to complete this phase of the works prior to the Christmas break.
The below is our August update – more news about works in September to follow.
The 104th Edinburgh North East Scout Group is embarking on an exciting upgrade of their Scout Hall at 34 South Trinity Road, Edinburgh!
Image courtesy of McLaren Murdoch and Hamilton, Chartered Architects. Edinburgh
The works are part of a large plan to update and improve the facilities. The original hall was built in the 1950’s and the facilities are now in need of a general update. The key rationale are:
1) the hall and grounds currently offer only limited provision for the disabled community. The works will include accessible access and facilities making the hall more attractive for a wider community of scouts and other user groups.
2) the new toilet/shower block has been designed so that it can be used as a separate utility without accessing the main building. This allows us to offer our field as a weekend urban campsite which scout groups from the UK and overseas can use as a base when visiting Edinburgh. It is not an adventure/activity camp location (like Bonaly) but has the advantage of being close to the city centre.
The remaining phases of the works will include a new store for large adventure equipment (i.e. Kayaks etc); a new storage area to the rear of the building, partly to help other users who rent the hall; and the re-roofing of the whole hall building.
The team have already completed the enabling works to allow the builder to start. This has involved:–
1) ground clearing – see some images below via a team of Leaders/Executive Committee members working over several weekends; and,
2) an upgraded of the hall electricity supply to cater for the increased load which will be seen from the 3 new electric shower units (and to create additional capacity when/if in the future we need to change the heating system from gas to electricity and/or charge up electric cars!)
The costs for Phase 1 (showers/toilets/disabled access/showers/surface water drainage etc), will be in the region of £190k; so a lot of fund raising has gone on the get us there, including a lot of help from Rob Whitelaw, District Commisioner, and the entire ENE District. They have also received grants several sources, the major ones being the National Lottery and Garfield Weston Fund. Thank you to everyone for your support and contributions so far.
The provisional completion date is Christmas 2021 and we plan to chart the progress of the work and mark the grand opening in due course.
District Commissioner in Edinburgh North East, Rob Whitelaw said: “Edinburgh North East District Scouts are delighted to be able to support this important investment in the 104th Scout Hall. They are a thriving group where demand far outweighs provision and I hope that raising the profile of the group may bring forward some more volunteers. This will help us to provide scouting for all the young people who are currently on waiting lists. My thanks to the team at 104th who have worked hard to make this happen. I look forward to seeing the finished job!”
Edinburgh North East District covers the geographical area of Portobello, Craigentinny, Craigmillar, Duddingston, Joppa, New Town, Broughton, Trinity, Leith, Newhaven, Wardie and Willowbrae. It is responsible for the Scout Groups and Explorer Units in the District.
As a volunteer led organisation, our volunteers make the world of difference, and we need your help.
Working in teams in an Edinburgh North East Group, you might:
No previous experience with young people or Scouts? No problem. Whether you’d like to help out week-after-week as a Leader or uniformed assistant or just whenever-you-can, we provide some training, learning opportunities and cups of tea – every step of the way.
Team player? Love supporting young people? Great at planning? Why not join us? Scouting is about everyday people working as leaders and supporters in their communities, giving young people confidence, a sense of purpose, life values and outdoor skills that are hard to find anywhere else.
South East Scotland Scouts
71 Bonaly Road
Edinburgh
EH13 0PB
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