PERMANENT HOME

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21946, 14 February 1946, Page 8

PERMANENT HOME

SCOUT ASSOCIATION PURCHASE OF BUILDING FIRST PUBLIC APPEAL Breaking new ground in its effort to establish a permanent home for the movement in Gisborne, the East Coast Scout Council has issued an appeal to sympathisers throughout the district for funds to complete the removal, reerection and improvement of a building recently purchased from the National Patriotic Fund Board. The council already has acquired a section in Carnarvon street which is eminently suitable for its purposes, and proposes to expend £I2OO in placing the building there. This is the first public appeal which the Scout movement lias made in this district. For normal administration and the provision of scouting gear, the boys enrolled in the movement have been encouraged to make their own efforts, and in this connection they have done excellent work. There are now 500 Scouts and Cubs in the district, and the value of the work performed by the movement is so well recognised as not to require recapitulation. It is felt by the district council that Ihe present project is too large to place in the hands of the Scouts and Cubs themselves, and that the prospect of establishing a permanent headquarters for district work will find'a generous response from the public. Promises of Assistance Already promises have been received of substantial assistance, but there is a long way to go before the full amount required is in hand. Up to the present the association in this district has had to carry on in temporary quarters, subject to change from time to time owing to the buildings occupied being required for other purposes. The uncertainty of tenure under these conditions has placed a definite handicap upon the develooment of training plans, and it is for this reason that the association has embarked upon its new project. The opportunity of securing a building of ample size and in good condition seemed too good to miss, when the social hut at the Gisborne air station became available, and it is believed (hat this building, when re-erected upon the Carnarvon street site, will meet the needs of the Scout movement for many years. The total estimated cost of the project is as under: Carnarvon street section, £120; purchase of building, £.380; estimated cost of removal, re-erection, and covering outer walls with asbestos, £700: total, £I2OO. It is estimated that when the building is on the new site it will have a value of some £2500. “Youth training is much in the public eye at present, and there is no better form of training for our youth than scouting, which takes a boy on from the age of eight years to 18,” states a circular in which the association conveys its appeal to the public. “The movement is wholly voluntary on the part of all those engaged in this most important work, who devote much of their time without monetary reward.” The appeal is issued on behalf of the association by Mr. L. Grey Barton, president of the council, Mr. V. S. Caulton. county commissioner, and Mr. A. Blackburn, district commissioner for Gisborne.