An 11-year-old Scout was unprepared for the generosity shown by businesses after he contacted them to help out his troop.
Enterprising Ben Richards, who attends Third Caerphilly Scouts, used his mother’s email address without her knowledge to ask companies for donations towards his group’s fun day. The event, taking place on Saturday, July 13, is hoping to raise money to repair the Scout huts near Aber railway station in Caerphilly.
Third Caerphilly will soon be moving from St Martin’s Church and merging with First Caerphilly, based near the railway station, meaning more Scouts will be using the huts.
Ben, who has been part of the Scouting movement since he was six-years-old, said: “We had our meetings in St Martin’s church, which was fun, but we have now been given a Scout hut.
“Our group is going to merge with First Caerphilly scouts and our group is going to be bigger and better. The hut was in a bit of disrepair and needs a lot of work.
“Painting, new floors, a new fridge and the the whole of the outside is being done. It is a big and daunting job but lots of the scouts and our leaders have been there every weekend for weeks working hard, painting, ripping out the bathrooms, drilling and sorting out the outside area.
“As a group we decided we needed to fundraise and came up with the idea of a barbecue and fun day with a raffle to raise as much as we can towards the renovation.
“When I went home that night I had an idea to try and make it the best raffle I could. I decided to email lots of local businesses to ask them to donate raffle prizes.
“I didn’t really hold out much hope to be honest, but by the morning I had email after email offering me prizes and donations for our barbecue. I was blown away and so pleased.”
For Ben, being a Scout has given him the confidence to try new things.
He added: “When I started Beavers I had a speech problem and didn’t like meeting new people because of it. Once I joined though, Beavers helped me to gain confidence to talk more and I soon made a whole new group of friends, most of which are with me in Scouts now.”
Ben’s mother, Alex Richards, explained that they are aiming to raise £1,000, which will cover the cost of the new flooring.
She said: “I’m so proud of him. I think Scouts has given him something and this is his way of giving something back.
“He’s very surprised by the response he has had.”
The fun day will be held at the Scout huts near Aber railway station, off Nantgarw Road, and will start at 12pm on Saturday, July 13.
Raffle prizes on offer include a hot-tub hire, a family pass for Mountain View Ranch, a family pass for bowling in Nantgarw and a meal at Wetherspoons.
On the day, Scouts will be demonstrating the skills they’ve learned, as well as cooking s’mores for the guests.
Ben added: “I want to say a big thank you to all the local businesses who have given donations to help make our fun day on July 13 awesome.”
Businesses that have donated prizes to the raffle include:
- The Malcolm Uphill
- The Moat House Pub
- Hot Doughnut house
- Hillary’s
- D&L Hot Tub Hire
- Castlegate Indian Restaurant
- Express chip shop
- Subway, Castle View
- Team Rees Gym
- Quest Gym
- Greenmeadow Community Farm
- Mountain View Ranch
- Tenpin bowling
- Basil and Rusty’s Ice Cream Parlour
- Eden Centre
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- Lazarou Hair and Beauty
- Caerphilly Mountain Snack Bar
- Thornhill Farm Shop