A Basingstoke scout group is appealing for a final flurry of votes to help it win thousands in cash aid.
Old Basing Scout and Guide group is fundraising to renovate its near-derelict HQ off Milkingpen Lane.
The group applied for a slice of Energyshare’s £500,000 pot which will be shared out to groups with the most supporters.
The deadline for votes is today (Thursday) and group leaders are calling for a last-ditch voting blitz.
The project is currently in second place with 418 votes behind Hexham river hyrdoelectric power project, which has scooped 487 votes.
The group has put in a bid for £60,000 which will go towards the £200,000 required to rebuild the group’s hut.
Andy Molloy, whose three children are members of Old Basing Scout and Guide group, said the cash would ease the pressures of fundraising.
“If we won the money we asked for, then it would get us over a quarter of the way to our target,” he said.
“That is an awful lot of tombola stands and cake sales out of the way.
“Considering last week we had only 22 supporters, to come this far so soon is fantastic.”
The group’s plan is to demolish the current building and relocate it on higher ground in an adjacent field.
The hut was built more than 40 years ago, but closed in 2009 following flood damage. The building has been condemned as beyond repair.
The plan would be create a carbon neutral HQ named after the founder of the scout movement, Robert Baden-Powell.
Proposals for the new centre include energy efficient insulation, solar heating and other renewable energy regeneration.
Mr Molloy said: “It would be great to have renewable energy in there which would help get Basingstoke on the map.”
Paula McBride, who heads the fundraising committee, said it was important to have all the scouts, guides, beavers, brownies and cubs under one roof.
She said: “Since we closed in 2009, we have lost a lot of members. The new centre would bring us back into the village where webelongs. At the moment, groups are heading out as far a Chineham.”
To cast your vote, visit www.energyshare.com/scout-hut/
