A charity has completed its purchase of a former Girlguiding UK activity centre and announced plans to re-open it next year.
Yesterday, Foxie’s Future said it had completed the purchase of Foxlease, which will re-open in February 2025 as an activity centre, camping and residential site for young people and the local community under the name “Foxlease Park”.
In August 2023, Girlguiding UK confirmed plans to close and sell its five activity centres – Blackland Farm, Foxlease, Glenbrook, Waddow Hall and Ynysgain.
That month, Foxie’s Future was established as a charitable incorporated organisation to purchase Foxlease and save it from permanent closure.
Girlguiding UK initially rejected Foxie’s Future’s bid before announcing in September 2024 that it had chosen the charity as its preferred bidder for the sale.
Blackland Farm was previously sold to a new adventure operator in April 2024.
A spokesperson for Girlguiding UK told Civil Society that it is “still in the process” of selling its other centres.
“As this process is commercially confidential, we’re not able to provide any further updates at the moment,” they said.
“For each activity centre sale, we’ve worked hard and with care to act in the best interests and for the overall welfare of the whole organisation, our members and charity law.
“We’ll share more information following the completion of each sale over the coming months.”
Acquisition ‘has been a series of challenges’
Since Foxie’s Future was incorporated, it has raised funds in excess of £4m, including a £1.78m grant from the government’s Community Ownership Fund.
Recently filed accounts for the year ending 29 February 2024 show that the charity recorded a total income of nearly £170,000 against total expenditure of just over £17,000.
Commenting on the over £4m raised, Foxie’s Future’s chair Hazel Warwick said: “We couldn’t have done it without that significant and valuable contribution which has enabled us to acquire the historic site for the benefit of the community.
“Our sincere thanks also go to our secondary grant funders, a number of which are locally based or have community roots in the New Forest and we’re very grateful for their capital support of our project.”
Warwick added that the acquisition “has been a series of challenges” that necessitated support from the charity’s supporters including former site users and others in local and international communities.
We need ‘further fundraising support’
Trustee Emma Stevens said the second phase of the project will be “bringing the next generation of Foxlease to life”.
“Our aim is to open on a phased basis for camping, residential and community use from mid-February 2025,” she said.
“We’ve thought long and hard about how we brand the site moving forwards and we’ve decided to look back to its local historical roots and to call it Foxlease Park.”
Foxie’s Future said it is “seeking further fundraising support as it moves into the next phase of the project, both to support its costs until we’re fully operational and to fund the works needed to the site, and it’s also seeking initial volunteer support now”.
New ‘future fund’ for Girlguiding’s members
In a statement, Girlguiding UK said the money from the sale of its activity centres “will go into a special future fund for the benefit of all our members”, which will include grants and improvement to its digital infrastructure.
“We’re glad that Foxlease is […] entering a new chapter under the ownership and management of Foxie’s Future,” the statement reads.
“Foxie’s Future is a charity committed to preserving Foxlease’s legacy and has exciting plans to keep the centre thriving as a campsite, activity centre, and community resource for Girlguiding members and the wider public.
“This next step ensures that generations to come will continue to benefit from all Foxlease has to offer, and we look forward to working with them in the future.”
Girlguiding UK added that its trustees “took time to carefully consider every possible opportunity for Foxlease in the future”.
“The final decision came down to acting in the best interests of Girlguiding, all our members across the UK, and in accordance with charity law, as we’ve done for each activity centre sale,” it said.
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