New Home For Wimbledon Scouts

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Historic group finally gets new HQ

The 19th Wimbledon Scouts, whose emblem is the Phoenix, are the proud owners of a brand new HQ after the completion of a five-year project.

Funding from developers Berkeley Homes has meant the 19th Wimbledon Scout group, which can trace its history over 100 years, has been able to replace its crumbling command centre in Cottenham Park Road with a new, purpose built hall.

The new state of the art headquarters are now kitted out with meeting rooms, kitchen, toilet and shower facilities. They will provide Scouting to over 150 young people from a wide range of religious, ethnic and social backgrounds.

It has been made possible by a series of commitments from Berkeley Homes, who are building the adjacent Wimbledon Hill Park development. They have pledged nearly £100,000 through donations and local infrastructure payments. They also agreed a change of lease in the Scouts building, to extend use of the facility to the wider community.

There have also been significant contributions from several other organisations including the London Marathon Charitable Trust, Veolia Environmental Trust (through the Landfill Communities Fund), Garfield Weston, the All England Lawn Tennis Club and a host of others from across the community who "bought a brick" to support the Scouts’ plans for a 21st Century HQ.

Paul Wilkins from the 19th Wimbledon Scout Group, said: "We are ecstatic! These new headquarters will help us provide opportunities that most school or church halls simply cannot. They are a superb base for all that Scouting teaches."

As part of the regeneration of the area, Berkeley Homes has also extended the Scout’s site boundary to include an old tennis court and area of woodland. This expansion of the site makes the 19th Wimbledon’s site one of the premier Scout HQs in South West London.

Berkeley Homes Central London Managing Director, Brendan Twomey, said: "We wanted to support the Scouts and helping them build a new HQ seemed the perfect way to do it. We know how important this facility is to local residents and the community. It will host playgroups, act as a new neighbourhood hall and be a fantastic place for young people to learn life skills."

This donation is just one of a series of commitments by Berkeley Homes as they continue to redevelop the Wimbledon Hill site. They will be providing a new ecologically friendly footpath, a sports pavilion, £228,977 in education subsidies, onsite affordable housing and £40,000 for additional community facilities.

November 7, 2014