Bonaly is planning ahead.
It’s incredible to think that Scouts have been having adventures at Bonaly for over ninety years. During that time there have been many changes, but the one thing that has remained constant is the belief that Bonaly is a place where we bring Scouting to life.
For the team at Bonaly we want to make sure Bonaly Scout Centre continues to be successful and sustainable and we’ve been looking ahead.
Inspired by our rich heritage, we started by reminding ourselves that our core purpose at Bonaly continues to be:
‘BONALY IS WHERE WE BRING SCOUTING TO LIFE’
Bonaly is where Scouts come for adventures, inspiration and where together we create a lifetime of memories.
Our next question was how do we do this? We believe that the best way to bring Scouting to life is:
To offer an excellent programme with a superb customer experience in our unique location.
Easy to say, always harder to do and we also need to be aware of some big challenges in the years ahead. The main ones being:
- Without proper toilets and showers the camp site will decline long term, so we need to build the new Amenity Hub
- Financially, the Region cannot be expected to sustain Bonaly beyond 2024/25. At the moment, we are a drain on the Region’s cash reserves and we need to make sure that Bonaly is self-sufficient from 2025.
The above means we will need to look at fund raise as an ongoing activity in the years ahead, especially for major capital projects like the Amenity Hub.
To help us deliver an excellent programme, improve the customer experience and face into the challenges for the next year the whole team at Bonaly have agreed we will focus on five areas in the coming year.
- Developing an excellent programme of activities to offer (more on this in January’s newsletter)
- Planning a range of exciting events to support Scouting in the Region. (again, more on these very soon.)
- Continue to build the Bonaly team of volunteers to support the new programme and events, maintain the site and undertake all the important marketing, finance and admin tasks that need to be done.
- Improve the customer experience at Bonaly – we get great feedback, but we know can make it better and we want it to be as good as it possibly can be.
- Fund raising for the Amenity Hub project. This will allow us to finally get started on this important task.
So, lots and lots to do in 2022 and the team and I are really looking forward to the year ahead.
In the meantime, I’d like to thank Mark and Barry for their on-going hard work as Wardens along with the Bonaly Leadership Team of George, John and Steve and the whole ASU who work tirelessly in the background to make sure Bonaly continues to thrive. Thank you all.
Peter Casebow
Chair, Bonaly Scout Centre