Dear All

Welcome to your end of April update! It’s been a truly exciting and productive month,
and I’m delighted to share some fantastic news with you.

Fundraising Success

Earlier this month, Mike and I had the pleasure of meeting with the team at the Arnold
White Group, a local Leighton business. We were overwhelmed by their generosity,
they have not only agreed to cover the outstanding balance of our project but are also
committed to helping us make the new hut Net Zero in terms of energy usage. To top it
off, they’ve offered us the opportunity to collaborate at their Checkley Wood
Sustainable EV Charging Station, where we’ll be supporting some activity days.

We also had the opportunity to meet up with the local charitable trust that originally
helped us get off the ground. We’re thrilled to confirm that they are as excited as we
are about the new hut and are ready to release their pledged funding.

Both organisations were extremely impressed with what we've accomplished together
as a group—an achievement we can all be proud of!

We’re also thrilled to share that the Bernard Sunley Foundation, a well-established
family foundation, has approved our application and awarded us £15,000.
With this and the other generous contributions previously mentioned, I’m very pleased
to confirm that we’ve reached our fundraising target, our new hut is officially becoming
a reality!

Don’t forget, we’ll have a stall at the May Day Fayre, selling teas, coffees, and cakes.
These funds will help replace some of worn-out and flood damaged equipment. If
you’re available to help out, please get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. A
big thank you to the Rotary Club, who will be match-funding this event!y

Building Phase Begins

Graham from RMAC Design has now compiled all the necessary surveys and is ready to
submit the planning application. Trustees and unit leaders have met to fine-tune the
new hut design. They have worked hard to ensure it’s a modern accessible space that
will serve the community for many generations to come. Meanwhile, Steve from SD
Carpentry is eager to get started on construction. A huge thank you to the project
team, your dedication and hard work are bringing this vision to life. If planning is
approved without challenge, we hope to open the doors in September or October.

Thank you all for your continued support. Your time, energy, and generosity have made
a real difference in driving this project forward.

Let’s keep up the momentum and look forward to exciting progress in the months
ahead!

Best regards,

Paul Casey
Chair of Trustees
Church Riverside Scout Group

1st May 2025

Dear All,

Welcome to your end of month - March update!

It's been an eventful month, and I’m excited to share some of the highlights with you:

Fundraising:

We have now raised a whooping £208,749, leaving us with £41,251
to reach our target of £250,000. This means that we’re 83.5% there!

We had the fantastic opportunity to collect donations at Leighton
Buzzard Football Club during a match, raising an impressive £517
Thanks to a generous contribution from Howdens Insurance, who
matched this amount, the total figure is £1,033.

• Our bucket collection at Asda Dunstable was another success,
bringing in an additional £513. This event was especially rewarding as
it gave us the chance to connect with the local(ish) community.

• A heartfelt thank you to everyone who volunteered their time,
especially our amazing Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts—your efforts were
truly outstanding!

• 60 Something’s – There is lots of activity around our sponsored
event, as a reminder this involves getting sponsor for doing 60
‘somethings’ of your choice. Ethan has already raised an incredible
£160 by completing a sponsored silence for 60 minutes. Well done,
Ethan, and thank you for your dedication! If you need a sponsorship
form please download one by clicking here or scanning the QR code.

We raised £33.52 in February through EasyFundraising with even
more already raised in March. Sign up and raise donations through
everyday spends at no extra cost by clicking here or scan the QR code.

Looking ahead, we’ll be bucket shaking at some more local
supermarkets in Leighton Buzzard in April (exact date tbc) and we’ve
also been offered a stall by the Rotary Club at the May Day Fayre
(Monday 5th May 9am – 3pm) to sell teas, coffees, and cakes. We’re
still in need of volunteers for both events, so if you’re able to lend a
hand, please get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Remember you can donate and share the GoFundMe link (now
includes an option for Gift Aid). Click here or scan the QR code.

Grants:

• In addition to the £15,000 pledged by District, we are excited to
announce that County has generously committed £10,000 to our
project. They’ve expressed great admiration for the progress we’ve
made so far.

• We’re still awaiting responses to several other grant applications,
and we hope to hear back soon.

Building:

We are thrilled to announce that we are moving into the next phase of
our project: the Building Phase!

• Unit leaders & Trustees have approved the designs for the new hut.

• The results of the soil test are in, and Graham Rosser from RMAC
Design is ready to submit our plans for planning approval.

• We’ve selected SD Carpentry as our construction partner, and we’re
excited to work with them. Both Steve from SD Carpentry and Graham
have been incredibly supportive, dedicating their time and expertise to
help bring our vision to life. A huge thank you to both!

The new hut will feature a slightly larger hall with storage space at
the rear. To prevent future flooding, the building will be elevated
above ground level and will include an access ramp at the front. I will
have printed copies of the plans available at the next few meetings for
anyone who would like to take a closer look or has any questions. A
massive thank you to the project team for all their hard work, your
dedication is turning this vision into reality.

As we are increasing the footprint of the hut (to incorporate storage),
we will now have to apply for planning permission. This means that as
well as having to commission soil and flood risk assessments, we do
need to have planning approval. Unfortunately, this adds 8-10 weeks
to the timeframes. With this in mind, we are hoping that we can open
the door to the new hut from the start of October ’25.

Thank you all again for your continued support. Your contributions,
time, and dedication are making a huge impact and driving this project
forward. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Best regards,

Paul Casey
Chair of Trustee
Church Riverside Scout Group

31st March 2025