SCOUTS and Guides in Old Basing are appealing to the public to help them secure as much as £600,000 needed to build a new hall.

Old Basing Scouts are making the appeal to build a hall they can use after their old one was rendered unusable after flood damage in January 2009.

Since then, the group has not had a permanent home, but now the Scouts and Guides groups are campaigning to raise cash to build a new hall.

A final figure for the hall has yet to be calculated, but based on the size of the site alone, it is predicted to cost anywhere in the region of £500,000-£600,000 in total.

Andy Molloy, of Basingstoke East Scouts, said: “We’ve got a new site that we can build on, it’s more a case of raising the funds to do so now. The new site is in Milkingpen Lane, and it is right near some really good outdoor areas that we can really take advantage of, the outdoor areas can prepare some of the younger members for camps and events like that. It really is a wonderful site.”

The new hall, when not in use for the Scouts, could also be used for the U3A or any other community groups or events that might be taking place in the area.

A national competition by the Aviva Community Fund is currently being run which gives people the chance to help projects with the hall campaign nominated.

There are 12 borough projects competing to win some financial support along with 6,461 other projects from around the UK.

Those projects with enough votes when the competition closes on November 21 will be shortlisted for a judging panel to consider.

Andy added: “Other local projects include some very worthy causes; I would commend you to read each of their stories. You will find good causes that should appeal to everyone in our community but the funding will only come to our area if people vote for these local projects.

“The volunteers have done the hard work of getting the applications selected for this voting stage. With your help these projects will get some more of the help they so desperately need.

“We are making progress toward our goal and everything helps, so we are persevering until we reach the end. We’ve had some great support from the community already, including a regular quiz night at the Bolton Arms that have named us as their charity project.”

To vote, go to http://bit.ly/2y32BOD.