Don't Raise Our Rent
The Scout
Association launched a national campaign last week called “Don’t Raise
Our Rents” to try and save Groups all over the Country from having to
close because of huge increases to their ground rents.
As local
councils have their budgets squeezed, many have turned to Scout Groups
as a way to generate income by increasing the rents or rates they are
charged.
Tynemouth District is one of the many up and down the country who have fallen foul of this.
Three of the Groups in Tynemouth District own their own buildings but rent the land they stand on from the local council.
3rd Tynemouth (Ritson's Own)
The building used by the 3rd Tynemouth (Ritson's Own) has been there since 1969 when the Leaders and Scouts helped two brick layers build the entire property by hand.
It is used on a weekly basis by the Group as well as hosting District events such as sports days, competitions and recruiting events.
8th Tynemouth
The 8th Tynemouth has been holding weekly meetings on this site since 1980. It is also used by the Wallsend Explorer unit.
Like the 3rd Tynemouth's headquarter's, this building is also used to host District events, most recently it was the start point for a route to complete the Cyclist badge.
19th Tynemouth
Tynemouth's Sea Scout Group has been meeting in this building for over 60 years now. It was originally used by the military during World War 2, based in nearby Tynemouth Priory.
It was put into use by the Sea Scouts in 1951 and has been in constant use ever since, providing a base for their weekly meetings.
It also provides the 600 youth members of Tynemouth District with a base and, through the leaders with this Group, the expertise to hold water activity days where they can try sailing and canoeing in a supervised environment.
The Problem
All of the Groups in Tynemouth are run by unpaid volunteers. We receive no funding from the Government and as such must pay for everything through fundraising.
Any major increase in the ground rent paid by any one of these three Groups could stretch their already tight budgets to the limit, resulting in them having to close.
The Solution
The Scout Association has launched a national campaign called "Don't Raise Our Rent's" which calls on any local councils to make sure any rent increases place on Scout Groups are realistic and affordable.
Some Groups in other part's of the UK have been quoted raises of over 25,000%. We are hoping that will not happen in the North East.
Please sign up to the petition on the campaign website by clicking on the link below.
Don't Raise Our Rents In The Media
Click on the links below to see some of the stories that have been in the media about the campaign.
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Mon 11th April 2011 Scout Groups across the North East claim they could go under if town halls hike the rate of ground rent. |
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Sun 3rd April 2011 The impact of spending cuts on the voluntary sector may be reviewed as David Cameron's Big Society drive threatens to lurch into reverse. |
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Thu 17th March 2011 Scout Groups say they may close after council landlords demand rent rises of up to 3000%. |
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Thu 17th March 2011 The Scout Movement is being threatened by enormous rent increases by councils. |
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Thu 17th March 2011 The future of Scouting is under threat due to crippling rent increases by councils facing government spending cuts. |