12th March 2019
On their 20th anniversary, thanks to a grant of £19,000 from the Joyce Wilkinson Charitable Trust, 1st Wigton Baden-Powell Scouts were able to purchase a piece of woodland, of 2 acres in size, on the edge of Wigton for use by Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.
The woodland is just across the road and directly opposite a small piece of grassland they already own. The woodland will be used to accommodate the ever-growing number of children in its group and allow them to offer many more activities, in a safe environment.
Always looking to expand their offering, group leaders seized an opportunity to acquire the woodland next door.
Leader Julie Bryceson said: “The woodland came up for sale and leaders said it would be great for scouting activities, however, when we found out the price, £20,000, we knew we couldn’t afford it.
“Cumbria Community Foundation suggested we apply to the Joyce Wilkinson Trust, we did and we were successful, we are only now starting to believe it.”
The other £1,000 came from the group themselves.
Julie said she doesn’t know of any other local Scouts group which have their own plots of land on this scale.
The woodland will be used for forest school activities and with Black Beck running alongside, there will be plenty of dam building and splashing about by the Beavers.
“The Cubs are looking forward to den building and wide games and the Scouts will be able to have much more room for their badge work and fire lighting,” Julie added.
“I know we’re lucky to have the land we already own but our numbers continue to grow and we now have two Beaver colonies, two Cub packs, two Scout troops and a senior Scout troop, when they are all together, there are 120 children, so we need a considerable amount of room.
“This year we are celebrating our 20th birthday and we couldn’t have asked for a better present, we will be eternally grateful to Joyce Wilkinson and the trustees of her fund.”