SCOUTS are celebrating a huge boost to their bid to create a new headquarters.

1st Knutsford Scout Group has been based on the Moor in Knutsford since 1910.

The group has seen a decade of continuous growth, but its current HQ limits the number of young people who can be accommodated and restricts future expansion.

In addition the fabric of the building has deteriorated to the point at which it is no longer viable to continue renovating it.

As a result the group is looking to demolish the current building and create a new HQ on the same plot.

The new building will cost £234,000, which the group aims to raise through grants, donations and fundraising activities.

The group has so far raised £85,000, just over a third of the total, but has received a massive shot in the arm with a grant of £73,200 for the new Scout hut from the Veolia Environmental Trust.

“This grant puts us now at £158,200,” said delighted Lisa Barcroft-Lee, chairman of 1st Knutsford Scout Group.

“We still need to find £75,800, but are confident that we can achieve this through a combination of local and national fundraising efforts.

“For example, 1st Knutsford Scouts always sells a lot of tickets for the annual bonfire, parking cars at Tabley Races and getting involved in the Rotary Jog, and we’re also increasing our efforts to identify and apply for grants that support community initiatives such as ours.

“We believe that an organisation such as Veolia Environmental Trust recognising our need for a new Scout hut will strengthen our case when we approach other grant providers.”

As early as the 1950s it was agreed that a new hut was needed, but renovations on the 108-year-old building were preferred.

Only in recent years have plans for the hut’s demolition and a new HQ come to the fore, and planning permission was granted in 2015.

The Veolia Environmental Trust was established in 1997 under the Landfill Communities Fund.

It supports a range of community and environmental projects throughout England, and the money it uses for grants is made available through the fund.

Veolia has supported this initiative by contributing £76 million since it was established, which has been used to award 2,200 grants to projects.