CUTTING anti-social behaviour and giving a scout group a permanent home are the aims of a £236,000 Chislehurst construction project.

Chislehurst Invicta Scout Group (CISG) has been without its own building for 16 years so is excited about the headquarters which is being built on the corner of Chislehurst Recreation Ground.

Inside the single storey building will be a hall, a kitchen, toilets, a meeting room and storage and the exterior cladding is designed to make it look like a log cabin set amongst the trees.

When it is not being used by the scouts it will be a ‘hub’ for the community.

At a meeting of Chislehurst groups last year the CISG was chosen to be the organisation to lead efforts to reduce anti-social behaviour in the recreation ground area.

And the Scouts’ project co-ordinator Tom Roberts says this new building will help them be able to do this.

He said: “We are so pleased things are moving forward and that work has now started.

“We have waited so long for this building and it will be worth the wait.

“The project will become a hub for community activities, development and improvement, as well as somewhere where young people can have the opportunity to enrich their lives, get involved in the community in a creative and supportive way, and have fun doing things for other people and themselves.”

The bulk of the funding for the new headquarters, £158,500, is coming from the Scouts’ own fundraising activities.

The Veolia Environmental Trust has also awarded a grant of £50,000 through the Landfill Communities Fund.

Other funds are coming from Garfield Weston Foundation, £10,000, Bernard Sunley Charitable Trust, £2,000 and the Hedley Foundation, £2,000.