Since the decision was taken in February 2015 to buy the Methodist Church for the continued use of the 63rd Derby Scout Group and the village, we have been thinking about the best ways to raise the money for this ambitious project. Let us tell you about our fund-raising campaign, and some ways in which you can help us achieve our goal…
Over the coming years we will be holding a large number of events, including our Annual Field Day on Dean’s Field. These will be publicised in the local press and radio and at our events and also on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Derby63rdScoutGroupDarleyAbbey/
Appeal for Donations
We originally started our Appeal for Donations through our fund-raising site with MyDonate but BT closed their site down in 2019 and so we can no longer accept donations using this platform.
We have just set up a donation page on JustGiving. If you wish to donate please go to the JustGiving web-site and look for
63rd Derby (Darley Abbey) Scout Group
We are fundraising to buy the Hall to provide a local resource.
https://www.justgiving.com/63rdderbyscouts
About 63rd Derby (Darley Abbey) Scout Group
The 63rd Derby Scout Group is fundraising to save its Hall for the local community. Without the Hall, the Scout Group will cease to exist and an important community resource will be lost and the site may be built on. As well as accepting donations we run regular fundraising events and the Hall can be booked.
Thank you to all our supporters and donors; we are really grateful for your help and continued support in saving Darley Abbey Scout Hall.
Fund-raising Blog
For those of you who want to follow us more closely, we have a ‘blog’ on this website http://www.63derbyscouts.co.uk/news/ to record and report our achievements more widely. After a hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic, we will be posting on here again to keep you up-to-date with our news.
Our local supporters
Many local residents have said they were Cubs or Scouts (or even Leaders) some years ago and would be pleased to help us save the Scouts Hall. As one of the longest-running local groups in the area, we hope we will have a strong and supportive body of alumni to draw upon. To find our alumni, we hope to run appeals through the social history centrefold “Bygones” in The Derby Telegraph and on Radio Derby… if you or someone in your family was a member of the 63rd Derby and you would like to help us, please get in touch by e-mail at 63rdderbyscoutshall@gmail.com
We have made contact with other local (community) groups who have promised their support and we hope to gain the support of local businesses too. For example, we have received generous donations from the Darley Abbey Society, who are championing our cause and are helping to raise the profile of our campaign.
The Village Stores, Headlines by Julie and Friargate Frames & Design given us their support by displaying our posters and by donating raffle prizes. Sarah (The Village Stores) and Martin (Friargate Frames & Design) have been selling tickets for some of our fund-raising events. We are very grateful for all their support.
At the end of 2019, Sarah made a decision to charge 5p (latterly increased to 10p) for plastic bags to try to reduce the amount of plastic being used and is very kindly donating all monies raised in this way to our Scout Hall Fund. She also started selling second-hand books with the proceeds also going to the Scout Hall Fund. With your support, we are pleased to announce that by mid-December 2022, the Village Stores had raised just over £1,929! Very well done to all concerned. We thank you!
Throughout lockdown Pat D has continued to make homemade jams, jellies and chutneys using home-grown fruit, as well as home-made marmalade. Starting over 6 years ago, Pat has now raised over £2,500. Many thanks to Pat and congratulations on raising this fantastic sum. She says her new target is £3,000!
Thanks also go to the Rev. Peter Barham who has very kindly allowed us to use our parish church, St. Matthew’s, to hold several concerts.
Our MP (Amanda Solloway) was involved with the Guides for many years and remains a keen supporter of both Guides and Scouts. She is giving us her full support and opened our Field Day in June 2016. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK6Z-FrYCUI&feature=youtu.be)
Thank you also to our local Councillors, especially Martin Repton, who have supported us in many ways.
Last, but not least, our grateful thanks go to Colin Mitchell and Richard Mackney, of Fish Media, who set up this web-site for us. ( http://www.fish-media.net/)
Wider Scouting supporters
We have excellent support from the Scouts at the District, County and National level. We are encouraged by the success of our colleagues at 161st Derby (Hilton ) Scout Group, who recently raised money to build their Scout Hall and by the very supportive discussions we have had with neighbouring Scout Groups, in particular the 1st Horsley and Kilburn Scout Group (http://1sthandk.ukscouts.org.uk/) and 124th Derby (Mickleover) Scout Group.
Grants and other fund-raising opportunities
We have been applying for grants and other schemes, although some grants are only available for renovations, refurbishments and improvements to existing premises, for example, The National Lottery Fund.
We continue to write to local companies for their support and research national companies to see what funding opportunities are available there.
When our Scout Group was a Co-op Local Cause in the Community in 2017/2018, the customers of the Co-ops at Park Farm Centre and on Duffield Road raised £6,251.10 for refurbishing the kitchen and the toilets. As a result, the Hall has been updated and with improved facilities is in demand as a venue for various classes, meetings and parties, thereby raising more money to Save the Hall (see below).
Once again, we are one of the Co-op’s Local Causes in the Community for 2022/ 2023, this time for our project to set up a Saturday Social to thank our Community for their support. Support us at https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/73005
In 2020, with grateful thanks, we received £2,000 from the Severn Trent Covid Recovery Fund.
However, we recognise there are very many other grant-in-aid schemes to whom we may apply for support but we cannot know them all. So, if you have any suggestions of grants that we may apply for or want to share your experience of applying for grants, then please get in touch by e-mailing us at 63rdderbyscoutshall@gmail.com
Using the Hall to raise money
As well as using the Hall for our meetings and for running fund-raising events, we hope to use it to its full potential to contribute to our Scouts Hall Fund…
Parties and Events: The Scouts Hall is available for hire for parties and other social functions in the evenings and at weekends, during the times it is not being used by the Scout Group. The Hall has its own kitchen and a fully functional stage and we have been told by one of the local Dance Clubs that the hall has an excellent wooden floor for dancing.
If you would like to hire the hall for an event please see our Hall Hire pages or contact John by e-mailing dash.hallbookings@gmail.com for further details.
Other regular users: The Hall is not just used by the Scout Group. It is a valuable resource to Darley Abbey and the surrounding villages. The revenue from Hall usage goes towards purchasing and maintaining the Hall. Just a few of the groups that currently benefit from using the Hall are:
- Pantoschokk Productions
- Diabetes Support Group
- Dance, Tae Kwon-Do and Acrobatics classes
- Fellowship in Truth Church
- Local families who use the Hall for celebrations, parties and get togethers
We would be delighted to hear from any other local groups who may wish to rent the Hall for their activities contact-us
So how can you help?
We welcome any help you can give, such as:
- volunteering as Committee members
- running events in aid of the Scouts Hall Fund
- suggestions for new events
- offers of help from people who can help out occasionally
- help with research into funding opportunities and /or writing letters
- help delivering leaflets around the village to publicise our events
- ideas for new funding sources and/ or share experience of applying for grants
- anything-else which might help us with our fund-raising campaign
If you think you can help us with our fund-raising please do get in touch with our fund-raising team at 63rdderbyscoutshall@gmail.com we would love to hear from you!
