Scouts get cash boost for new hut

Henfield is famous for its Scout Group – the oldest in the world – but the hut built in the Fifties is in a poor state and must be replaced to provide a meeting place and village headquarters.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Aug 2014, 11:12 BST
HENFIELD cheque for Scout Hut fund. L-r Benjamin Jennings, young leader, Eric Williams, chairman of Clarkes Mead Trust, Paula Flower,group scout leader, and Nick Cryer, of Gardens and Arts. Pic Mike Beardall SUS-140729-102111001HENFIELD cheque for Scout Hut fund. L-r Benjamin Jennings, young leader, Eric Williams, chairman of Clarkes Mead Trust, Paula Flower,group scout leader, and Nick Cryer, of Gardens and Arts. Pic Mike Beardall SUS-140729-102111001
HENFIELD cheque for Scout Hut fund. L-r Benjamin Jennings, young leader, Eric Williams, chairman of Clarkes Mead Trust, Paula Flower,group scout leader, and Nick Cryer, of Gardens and Arts. Pic Mike Beardall SUS-140729-102111001

On Tuesday July 22 they received a massive boost towards their target of £130,000 - a cheque for more than £4,000 from Henfield Gardens and Arts.

Eric Williams, chairman of Clarkes Mead Trust - who own the Scout Hut site - received the cheque from Nick Cryer, treasurer of Gardens and Arts (an annual weekend event in June).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

At the presentation were Paula Flower, group scout leader, and Benjamin Jennings, a young leader. Mike Morgan, Scout Hut fund treasurer, said: “This was an outstanding contribution to our funds, which now stand at over £25,000.”

The Gardens and Arts cheque, for £4,490, was the result of a weekend of open gardens, concerts and art displays.

Said Nick Cryer: “We are delighted to support this very worrthwhile project for the village.”

On the evening of August 4, the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War - in which former Henfield Scouts died - villagers and scouts will gather at the war memorial to hold a candlight vigil. At 10pm the candles will be put out and the Last Post will be played by a bugler to mark the point at which the 1914 Foreign Secretary Edward Grey said: “The lamps are going out all over Europe”.

Report and pictures by Mike Beardall, Oakfield Media.

Related topics:HenfieldScoutsArts