A GENEROUS donation from a German couple has made a revamp of the KZN Scouts’ Baden Powell (BP) Camp based at Burman Bush possible.
In the past, BP Camp was used to deliver outdoor activities for Scouts, but systematic vandalism over the period of a year, left only the shell of the camp buildings standing.
According to Steve Camp, a volunteer with KZN Scouts and project manager for the revamp, the 2.5 hectare site was leased from the municipality in 1933 to be used as a training camp. He said BP Camp had huge historical significance to the movement. Founder of the Scouts, Lord Baden Powell and his wife Olive visited the site in 1936.
“German Rover Scouts, Dorothée and Dr Michael Boecker, spent a week camping here in 2008 and fell in love with the camp. They committed to fund the building of a training facility and hostel at BP Camp for R2 million, but unfortunately after building started on the hostel in 2010, the project was halted,” he said.
Vandals had since destroyed the site. Camp said everything had now been approved and the Boeckers had agreed to fund the refurbishment of BP Camp, donating R6.5 million for building work.
“KZN Scouts are so grateful to Dorothée and Michael Boecker for their generous long-standing support and vision to rebuild BP Camp. Quite simply, without their support KZN Scouts would not be in a position to carry out this much needed refurbishment,” said an excited Camp, who has been involved in the project since 2008.
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The work will be done over three phases, each taking around six months. Camp said the first phase would include making the site functional and operational and would include the revamp of the camp site, a dining hall (which will be used as a training centre) and kitchen and ablution facilities. Work has also started on fixing up the hall and store rooms and a bequest has enabled a warden’s cottage to be built on site.
“This should all be ready by the end of April and we can start using the camp for training. We will also cut grass and do landscaping in this first phase, and a new razor mesh fence with electric fencing on top will be erected around the site in the new year,” he said.
The second phase will include refurbishment to the main kitchen and big dining hall and a new training room will be built. Phase three will see the completion of the hostel, which will have 10 rooms and toilet facilities. KZN Scouts will be partnering with the City to also use this hostel when running environmental education camps for the youth.
“We want to reduce our environmental footprint and we will be starting from scratch with new environmentally friendly buildings with solar power, water tanks, aluminium window frames and chromadek sheeting on the roofs. Everything will be on gas, so some extent it is good to start on a clean slate. The buildings will also be maintained and checked once a year,” he said.
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