A HISTORIC milestone was celebrated by 1st Alderholt Scouts who marked the official handover of land for its very own headquarters.

Members of the Scout group were joined by Alderholt Parish councillor Gina Logan for a special ribbon cutting on Thursday (July 19) at the site near Ringwood Road.

Group Scout leader Sheenagh Bradford said: “This is history in the making as the group, originally founded in 1953, has never had their own headquarters.

“The group is growing rapidly and the young people of the village, and beyond, will now have a safe place to experience more adventurous activities such as camping, camp fires, wide games, and pioneering activities.”

The first phase of the project will be to make the land safe and camp friendly which will will involve levelling out the land and putting in car parking.

The project is estimated to cost about £288,000.

A grant of £7,350 has been given to the group from Alderholt Parish Council, who are also leasing them the land.

It has also received a grant from Green Energy for the purchase of new gates and fencing at the site.

Currently the Beaver section meet at St James Church Hall and the Cub and Scout sections meet at St James First School.

Sheenagh said: “I would like to thank the church and school for allowing us to use their premises in order to keep the group open.

“A huge thank you to all leaders and parents for their continued support..... now the real hard work starts, fundraising to build a new head quarters.”

An Alderholt Parish Council spokesman said: “The council is pleased to be supporting one of our local community groups, The 1st Alderholt Scouts, in providing them with a lease on this council owned land and funding towards initial capital costs.

“The parish council is delighted that the project has finally come to fruition so that the 1st Alderholt Scouts can now have their own space to further enhance and expand scouting facilities in Alderholt.”

The land, formerly used a shooting range, was acquired by the parish council from East Dorset District Council in 2011.

Parish councillor Adrian Hibberd, who has been involved in the project from the start, said he is “pleased that this site is finally being used by the community, as was originally intended”.

Anyone who would like to support the project by making a donation or fundraising contact Sheenagh by emailing onehappylassie@gmail.com for more information.