The Hampshire Scout Heritage Centre Project is the brainchild of the Hampshire Scout Heritage Team (HSHT), who for several years had undertaken a number of initiatives to preserve the Heritage of Scouting in Hampshire, not only for Scout Members but also for the general public and the community as a whole. It is now a formal Section within Hampshire Scouting registered at Gilwell.

The HSHT took a view that the impact of its work could be significantly sharpened by providing a physical, known Scout Heritage Centre in Hampshire, accessible by both members of Scouting and the community. Within this concept, harmonisation of all current Scout Heritage activities will be possible, development of fresh Heritage initiatives encouraged and, most importantly, the results of the work overall will be readily available to both Scouting and the Community in a welcoming, instructive and friendly environment.

It is foreseen that the HSHT will provide:

• A secure location for the proper storage of the Hampshire Scout Archives
• Areas for public display of Hampshire Scouting Heritage
• A contemporary IT Studio for recording and viewing Scout Heritage Material
• A Library with facilities for Scouting Heritage Research and Future Planning
• A Lecture Theatre for Scouting Heritage presentations and conferences and open to community use
• A Scout Shop for the sale and exchange of Scout material
• A Base for the Hampshire Scouts Oral History Project – training and interviews and also further training and introduction of the project to others
• Office space for administration of the Project and related activities
• Small Workshops for prototyping and development of future Heritage Projects
• A Café providing light refreshments and community contact

– through their use and supporting other uses of the CentreThis Business Plan provides a short background to Scouting Heritage in Hampshire, identifies a possibly unique opportunity to obtain premises through a partnership with HCC, explains how each incremental phase of the Project can be economically accomplished through a wide diversity of partnerships with relevant bodies from the Statutory, Business and Voluntary Sectors. Estimated Costs and a Target Project Schedule are presented, as are the proposed arrangements for management of the Project.

The HSHT believe this project to be unique in this Country and could serve as a workable model for other UK Counties.