Blue Flower

 

Good evening all,

I hope you're enjoying the sunshine while it lasts!

I'd like to invite you to our Annual General Meeting, here are the details:

 

📍 Church Riverside AGM
🗓️ Wednesday 16th July 2025
🕗 8:00 PM
📌 Grovebury Road Scout Hut

 

Please note: All Section Meetings will conclude at 8:00 PM to enable attendance.

Attached are the latest Financial Statement, the meeting Agenda, and the Minutes from last year's AGM.

I warmly encourage you to attend and share any feedback, your input is always greatly appreciated. We'll also be serving teas, coffees, and biscuits after the meeting for a chance to chat informally and meet the Team.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Kind regards,
Paul Casey
Chair, Church Riverside

 

 

 

Dear all,


I’m pleased to share our end of June update. Our planning application is now with
Central Bedfordshire Council. While the planning team has raised a few objections,
we’re tackling them head-on. The project team is leading our response efforts,
supported by Graham Rosser are architect at RMAC Designs, to ensure every concern
is addressed with care and professionalism. We’re incredibly grateful for the continued
backing of our MP Alex Mayer, local ward councilors most notably Cllr Emma Holland-
Lindsay, and both County and District Scout Trustees. Their unwavering support is
helping us keep the vision alive and steadily progressing.


Behind the scenes, Steve Dynes of SD Carpentry is prepped and ready, tools in hand
and just waiting for the green light to begin the next phase of the project. I am also
thrilled to share that the Barratt Foundation has pledged a generous £1,500 towards
our project. Their support is a real boost, and their contribution will help fit out the new
hut.


Over the past month, we’ve attended both the County and District AGMs, where our
cause received strong, reaffirmed support. They are immensely proud of what we’ve
accomplished so far, and I’ve shared our sincere thanks with both Trustee Boards. At
the District AGM last night, we were honoured to receive the Frank Parker Award for
our contribution to Scouting, a huge thank-you to everyone whose hard work made this
possible!


Looking ahead, we’re continuing the “60 Somethings” challenge with our Beavers,
Cubs, and Scouts to help raise funds to replace the equipment lost in the flood. A big
thank-you to those who have already completed the challenge. Leaders agree that this
activity will count toward badge work, so keep up the great effort! We’re also
assembling a team to plan our official opening. We aim to invite all of our supporters
for a celebration that showcases the best of Scouting. We’re even hoping to welcome
our Chief Scout, Dwayne Fields, diary permitting!


Finally, a reminder that our AGM will be held on Wednesday, 16th July at 8pm. We’d
love to see as many of you there as possible and will be happy to answer any questions
you may have. Thank you for your continued support!

 


Best regards,

Paul Casey


Chair of Trustees, Church Riverside Scout Group

3rd July 2025

 

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, Here’s your update for May:


First off, I want to thank you again for your help and support. We couldn’t have
achieved this without you. The challenge was very daunting back in September
last year, but we’ve all pulled together to create something truly epic! Thank
you!


Graham Rosser, Steve Dines, and the Hut Project team have worked tirelessly
to bring everything together for our planning permission submission, which has
now been acknowledged by the planning department. Fingers crossed that it’s
treated as a straightforward replacement building.


A huge thank you to everyone involved, especially Dan Lowman for
coordinating the effort to clear out, organize, and store everything we needed
to keep. Your work in sorting and disposing of items damaged by the flood was
vital in preparing the site for demolition.


On May 21st, Mike and I met with Steve Dines at the Hut to officially hand over
the keys. Steve will now begin work on the surrounding area, getting things
ready for when we receive the green light from the council.
Later that afternoon, we also met with Jon Austin, Chairman of The Arnold
White Group, along with Director Matt White, at Checkley Wood for an update
and some photos for the newspaper. As I’ve said before, it’s fantastic to have
an ongoing relationship with a local family-run business. This connection will
be invaluable in bringing sustainability into our group’s learning and activities.

The May Day Fayre was a great success; we completely sold out at our stall!
Thank you to everyone who came along to support us. Thanks to match funding
from the Rotary Club and a generous donation from Xerox UK Ltd (linked to my
time contribution), we raised an incredible £1,000 on the day.
I would also like to mention that Stuart Fuller’s employer, Oakpark Alarms, is
generously donating fire and intruder alarms along with fire extinguishers
when the hut is ready for us. This has significantly helped with the cost of the
build.


And finally, a reminder to all Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts: don’t forget your

“60-something” challenges! Any funds raised through these will help us replace
items lost in the flood.

 

Once again, thank you. It’s amazing what a community can achieve when we
pull together.

 

Yours sincerely,

Paul Casey
Chairman
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

1st June 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