Member Article

Donation funds tents for special needs scout group

A group of scouts from Durham have been given a £800 fundraising boost.

The grant from Persimmon Homes Durham was awarded to the Durham Trinity Scout Group to help fund new camping equipment.

The funding was from the builder’s Community Champions initiative to support local good causes and charities throughout the year. The group is specifically run for those with special needs and is based at Durham Trinity School and Sports College in Aykley Heads.

Dianne Baker, a spokeswoman for Durham Trinity Scout Group, said: “In the past, we have borrowed some old patrol tents from a local Scout group. However, these do not fully suit our special needs children as half of the equipment end up outside of the tents.

“It is our dream to have two Solace 2 bell tents with zipped in ground sheets and internal partitions, which would give the scouts more room and keep everything safe inside.

“So far the children have raised £200 and while we appreciate the donations we were still some way off our target and it could have been a long time before they got to experience camping.

“The donation from Persimmon Homes puts us a step closer to make this a reality and all of us are appreciative of the funding.”

Christine Cooper, sales and marketing director for Persimmon Homes Durham, added: “Durham Trinity Scout Group do fantastic work in the community and we wanted to support their efforts.

“The scouts have been out and about trying to raise funds for the new tents and we’re proud we can top up the money they have already raised.

“Now they’re able to go camping it will only lead to the youngsters’ personal growth and independence and we’re glad we’ve been able to help.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lee Southen .