Replace stolen equipment for Scout group

Hi

My name is John and I am the Group Scout Leader for the 1st Aylsham Scout Group. Scouting offers youngsters age 6-14 years an opportunity to make new friends, learn new skills and have fun. Evenings are run by dedicated volunteers who give up their own time to run exciting programmes with events, activities and opportunities for the youngsters to gain knowledge and awards such as badges.

Back in 2019 we were very lucky to be granted access to land in Aylsham where we were able to increase our member numbers, have a permanent new home for the scout group and where we can run a varied range of activities. We also have other members of the community who use the land, equipment and share in the amenities.

unfortunately in the last 9 months we have been targeted by thieves, The first time they managed to gain unauthorized access and made away with 2 trailers and our ride on mower. Then just over a week ago we were the target of thieves again for a second time. This time they took our 12m x 6m marquee.

The Marquee was erected as our covid secure shelter for the young people so we could offer a programme of evenings to our Beavers, Cubs and Scouts after a years absence due to the lockdowns and covid restrictions. Having large numbers of youngsters we needed to ensure we could run activities while adhering to covid related restrictions. The marquee also gave us shelter from the elements as we are currently restricted for indoor activities. Since our return in April youngsters have been invested into the scouting community, enjoyed many activities and been able to covid safely see friends outside of the classroom.

As a scout group, we try and raise money each year which our executive committee use towards buying new equipment so we can increase the range of activities that we can offer such as new tents, camp equipment, safety equipment and more recently we were using fundraised funds to help renovate an old mobile classroom which was donated to the group for use as an indoor space.

Due to the current pandemic we have not been able to fund raise in the usual way and this has had an impact on our finances.

unfortunately now we have suffered a second theft we are now in need of a replacement marquee so that we can continue to offer our youngsters a covid secure environment but we now also need an urgent upgrade to the security of the site to try and deter any further thefts and to also ensure the site is safe for all those who use it, this will now mean that the executive committee will have to make some difficult decisions when it comes to new or replacement kit for the group as the replacement marquee and security will mean money for new equipment we wanted to buy and the work we were doing on our mobile classroom will have to be halted for now.

All the adult members involved in scouting are volunteers and the theft has hit us hard especially in these uncertain times. We were all very happy when we received the go ahead in April to return to meetings and numbers of youngsters attending each of the three sections have grown steadily. We were also looking forward to being able to offer water activities this summer with new equipment and also new archery equipment, all of which is now on hold. Its not just the equipment either, its the knowing that people have entered the scout ground, a place where leaders and the executive committee work tirelessly to keep secure and safe. They have taken equipment that's used by not only us but the Aylsham Roman Project and other community groups who use the land.

Any support would be very gratefully received and would mean a lot to the group and enable us to move forward

Our aim is to hopefully raise enough money to enable us to purchase a new marquee and to also add security to the site to protect the land and equipment so it can continue to benefit all.

Thank you for all your support

John