Mark Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, stopped by at the First Hullbridge Scout Group stand at the Hullbridge regatta, to try his luck at their ‘play your cards right’ game and also to reiterate his support for their campaign to build a new scout hut in Hullbridge.
Mark was attending the event, which was organised by the Hullbridge Up River Yacht Club and, as well as visiting a number of the stands and chatting to local residents, Mark also handed out the prizes to the winning yachtsmen at the end of the day’s sailing.
The First Hullbridge Scouts have been campaigning for some time to raise money to build a new scout hut in the centre of Hullbridge and, to date their efforts have helped to raise some £12,000. Mark, who is supporting their campaign, took the opportunity to get an update on plans for the new hut, for which it is hoped construction might be able to begin next year.
Speaking about the First Hullbridge Scout Group’s campaign, Mark Francois said:
“I have been dealing with the First Hullbridge Scouts for some time with regard to their efforts to build a new scout hut in Hullbridge and I am pleased to see that their fundraising efforts are now well into five figures. The project has been delayed somewhat by detailed discussions over the lease for the new building but I was pleased to hear that progress has been made over this key issue and that hopefully it might be possible to start building the hut in 2013. The scouts provide a marvellous opportunity for young people to learn about team work and adventurous training and I very much hope that this project will come to a successful conclusion.”