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27 July 2024

Scout Ambassador Dwayne Fields opens 105th Sheffield High Green Scout HQ

Outside view of a new Scout HQ building on a sunny day

Brand new Sheffield (High Green) Scout, funded by the Youth Investment Fund, opens its doors.

It’s an exciting day for children and young people from 105th Sheffield (High Green) Scout Group. They have a brand new, state-of-the art Scout HQ, and will meet one of their Scouting heroes today (Saturday 27 July). Scout ambassador, adventurer and explorer Dwayne Fields will join young people, officially cut the ribbon, and declare the Scout Headquarters open.

The celebration event will be attended by around 200 people, including Scouts and their families, members of the local community, councillors, supporters and officials from the Youth Investment Fund. Scout Ambassador Dwayne Fields will open the event and share his inspiring story with the Scout Group. The celebrations will also include a series of films about the Scout’s journey of securing the grant and building the HQ. Including a time-lapse film they made to capture the building work, and a drone tour film to give everyone a bird’s eye view of the fantastic new space.

The new Sheffield High Green Scout Hut. View of the building, grass and flowerbeds
New Sheffield High Green Scout HQ (rear view). Photo credit: Robin Farr

 

The new Scout HQ was built in record time. Work started on site last August and completed in June 2024. The newly constructed building was made possible by a Youth Investment Fund grant of over £1.8million.

Inside view of the Scout Hut showing a spacious corridor with images of scouts on the walls.
Inside the New Sheffield High Green Scout HQ Photo credit: Robin Farr
Inside the Scout Hut showing a lrage activity space. There's a huge map of the local area on the wall.
Large activity room. Photo credit: Robin Farr

105th Sheffield (High Green) Scout Group first applied for a Youth Investment Fund grant in early 2023. Their 60-year-old scout building was falling apart; it was cold, had no insulation and was expensive to heat and insure. The Scout Group is very popular, and there was a long waiting list, and they didn’t have enough space to support all the young people who are eager to join.

When their grant was announced last August, Assistant Group Scout Leader and Project Lead, Tom Hague, said:

“The Youth Investment Fund is the biggest opportunity we have ever seen for funding of this scale. When we heard about it, we grabbed it with both hands”.

Young people played a key role in securing the grant too and the Scouts and Explorers created a film to showcase why funding was so desperately needed, and to share their hopes and dreams for the future. Their ask was simple, saying:

“We’ve been around for nearly 100 years; the funding will help us be around for another 100 years. The Youth Investment Fund will make our dream a reality. Help us to grow, help us to flourish, help us deliver skills for life, help us to support the next generation, help us secure our future.”

Assistant Group Scout Leader and Project Lead, Tom Hague, has overseen the Scout HQ construction project from start to finish.

Building our fantastic new Scout HQ has been a rollercoasting journey, with a few little challenges along the way! When we dared to dream about our new home, we never imagined it would be this brilliant! The Youth Investment Fund has transformed our HQ and vitally means we can now welcome even more young people. It’s accessible and sustainable and something we can all be very proud of. And we are thrilled that Scouting Ambassador Dwayne Fields is joining us to celebrate our amazing new HQ. That really is the icing on the cake!

Tom Hague
Assistant Group Scout Leader and Project Lead

Take a 360 degree tour of Sheffield High Green Scout’s new HQ.

Once the funding was secure, Sheffield High Green Scouts got on with demolishing the old building and started work on building a bigger, sustainable and accessible space. The new building is designed to be a Net Zero carbon building, it includes a vast solar panel array, a heat pump, excellent insulation, and air tightness, meaning the running costs will be minimal.

The new facility, over two floors, is laid out so they can run parallel sessions, hosting different groups at the same time. The building includes accessible toilets and bathrooms and a state-of-the-art kitchen, ideal for the Scouts badge work. The build also includes an outside space to help young people hone their outdoor skills, and young people have already started work by planting flowers. There’s plenty of indoor storage space too, which can house all the Scout’s camping and activity equipment.

Larage Scout meeting room, with table and chairs. The space includes a large TV screen and images of scouts on the walls.
New meeting room at Sheffield High Green Scout HQ. Photo credit: Robin Farr
A welcoming entrance space at Sheffield High Green Scouts. The doors are open and above the doors is a sign saying "welcome"
Welcoming entrace to the new Sheffield High Green Scout HQ. Photo credit: Robin Farr
Large storage space at the Scout Hut. The rooms is full of scout activity and camping equipment.
The large storage space with room for all the Scout’s activity equipment. Photo credit: Robin Farr

Having more space means they can grow the number of 11–18-year-olds using Scout headquarters from 69 to a potential 267, by increasing their Scout and Explorer Scout section sizes and through other local youth organisations who will use their new space. This will be in addition to another 70 young people aged 4-11 years in younger Scouting sections (Squirrels, Beavers, and Cubs). It’s also a space that can benefit other community users, such as band practice space, theatre groups, functions, parties, and other local clubs and charities.

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