By Jamie Salter
An annual Christmas tree fundraiser is soon to begin to support the 1st Cranbourne Scout Group.
The group has evolved over many years and now has 80 youth members between the ages of five to 18, with 10 volunteer leaders.
Governed by Scouts Victoria, the group aims to provide challenging and fun activities for young people to teach leadership and other life skills.
Joey scout leader Natalie Kenward said the Christmas tree fundraiser would help fund ongoing upgrades at the scout hall located at 255 South Gippsland Hwy.
“We’ve been at this location since 1961 and we’ve recently upgraded the hall so it has a nice facade and is a proud site,“ Ms Kenward said.
“We’d love to be able to put in a car park, at the moment its just gravel and has its limitations during the wet season because it just becomes muddy and unusable.”
She said she wanted to bring scouts back in to the community.
“We feel we need to improve that relationship and that starts with how its perceived,“ Ms Kenward said.
“Scouting is quite big in Casey and we’ve got people wanting to sign up all the time.”
During Covid-19 lockdowns, the 1st Cranbourne Scouts ran weekly Zoom sessions to keep its youth members engaged.
The 1st Cranbourne Scouts rely heavily on fundraising by selling the Christmas trees to pay for its hall and adventurous experiences.
“We generally need to fundraise $5,000 to $6,000 a year, and without Bunnings barbecues and things like that its been difficult,“ Ms Kenward said.
Christmas trees will be available at the scout hall from Saturday 27 November to Sunday 12 December and are available in a range of sizes.
“It’s to support the local scout group, at the end of the day were a community based organisation,“ Ms Kenward said.
“If people need a tree, they know where to find us.“
This is the fourth year the 1st Cranbourne Scouts has held the appeal, with fresh Christmas trees supplied straight from the Dandenong Christmas Tree Farm.
