THE 1st Conwy Scouts group has been able to move into its new headquarters thanks to help of the community.

In 2012 the scout hut was destroyed in an arson attack, and since then the group has met at St Johns Methodist Church in Conwy.

Ray Castle, the Group Scout Leader, said: “Earlier this year we were given two accommodation units by Betsi Cadwalader NHS Trust which we have located in our grounds as a temporary base. The provision of mains services to the units has been a difficult and expensive process but with the help of parents and local businesses in our local community we are ready to start using them.”

Ray added: “The final hurdle was a big one. We needed to connect the mains electric supply to the units. This was going to be very expensive as we needed an electrical contractor competent to deal with our specific requirements, our site is adjacent to the river and in winter the site floods -sometimes to a depth of two feet. Quotations were being sought when a chance encounter by one of our scout leaders with the parent of a boy who had been a member of our cubs some years ago, led to an amazing offer.

“The parent was Paul McBreeze who is a director of GAP Electrical a local contractor. He offered to do our electrical works for the cost of the parts with no charge for labour on the basis that it was his company's contribution to the local community. We then thought about Pauls offer for at least five seconds and gladly accepted. The electrical connections have now been finalised and we have light and heat. To our amazement Paul has now advised us a lot of the fittings he used were in stock and he would not be sending us a bill. We’ve had a little handover ceremony and a few of our young Beavers and Cubs met the engineers to thank them for their generosity.”