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County of Greater London South West
Annual Reports and Accounts 2002
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Bow Lane Scout Centre Report
This year the main task has been the New Toilet Block. Following a further refusal for funding from the National Lottery the Management decided that in view of the state of the old toilets it was imperative that they were replaced. Modifications to the plans were drawn up so that not all the work would go out to Contractors and reclaimed materials would be used where possible. It was planned that work would be carried out during the close season for weekly meetings and so in July the Contractors came on site and the demolition of the existing toilets was soon complete. An early problem was the footings and the Poplar Tree in our grounds; the result was that the tree had to go. Work progressed at a steady rate and by the middle of August the Tuesday work Team were working every Tuesday alongside the Contractors thereby making an economy in the overall cost. By early September the Contractors were off site and the Tuesday Team continued with the fitting out and other tasks. The end result was that by the end of September the new Toilets were in use, although not finished and the work continues.
The other major project was the roof, following the quotation to oversheet the existing asbestos roof; problems arose over safety and dust. We were fortunate in that we obtained a further quotation to strip off the old roof completely and replace with a twin skin insulated steel roof. We were also lucky that we obtained a grant from the Lottery "Awards for All" of £5000.00 to help towards the overall costs.
Following of our monitoring of the gas and electricity supplies, the Gas Programmers were enclosed and the settings adjusted, there now seems to be a reduction in our fuel consumption and our Direct Debits have been reduced, further monitoring is taking place.
As the area slopes down towards us from the Park, during last years excessive rainfalls the Gang Show Store tended to get wet, we had tried several ways to cure this, but without complete success, but work continues.
The major project for this year is the car park, problems are caused during wet weather (as mentioned previously) and it looks as though some type of surface drainage needs to be installed to direct the excess water down to the Brook.
During the high winds recently one of the Poplar trees alongside our fence was blown down, until we can ascertain whose responsibility the trees are, work cannot begin to remove the Tree, repair the Fence and carry out surgery to the other trees damaged by the fall.
The Centre is still without a regular cleaner, does anyone fancy the job, timing to suit.
How can you help? Why not arrange a Work Party from your District, Group or Section; there are projects to suit all workers.
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