ONE year, £250,000 and a lot of volunteers – a Winchester Scout group is celebrating after the official opening of its new hut.

It has taken just under a year to refurbish the old building in Fleming Road, in Weeke, which now operates as a pre-school during the day and a Scout hut in the evening.

Some 100 people turned up to toast the official opening and heard from Dave Kesby, chairman of the 1st Winchester Scouts, who thanked everyone for their support.

Group Scout Leader, Bruce Martin, said the new building is “stunning” and serves 160 young people every week.

“It will be here for the next 40 years and it’s something the whole community can use,” he said.

“It’s very exciting and the amount of effort that dozens of people have put in over the last 12 months is brilliant. To achieve this much in that time takes a lot of hard work from a lot of people and it has shown scouting at its best, which is people pulling together to help young people develop and allow them some where they can practice their scouting in a safe and secure place.

“It’s a great success story.”

The project, which was on the cards for nearly five years, cost around £250,000 and saw the old building revamped with a new roof, outer ‘skin’ to stop it leaking, new floor, toilets and storage areas. It was also extended by 20 feet.

The Scouts furiously fundraised to get the money together. In July 100 of them walked from Brownsea Island, the site of the first Scout group set up by Baden Powell, to Abbey House in Winchester.

The hut opened for Scouts in November but the pre-school, which is run by YMCA, opened earlier this month.