Girlguiding UK has sold the Foxlease activity centre to Foxie’s Future, a charitable incorporated organisation founded by former Girlguiding members, for nearly £4.3m.
Foxie’s Future was launched to crowdfund to buy the centre in Hampshire, one of five sites that Girlguiding is selling to secure its financial future.
The organisation fundraised more than £4m in just 18 months, including a £1.8m community ownership fund grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The Foxlease activity centre, which was put up for sale in August last year, was listed by Savills estate agents in two lots – one with a guide price of £2.5m and another with a guide price of £1.5m.
Foxie’s Future said it paid a total of £4.26m for both lots.
The organisation’s bid for the property was initially rejected and campaigners alleged on social media that the site was being sold to a bidder with no links to Girlguiding.
Girlguiding revised this decision two months after rejecting the CIO’s bid, saying that it was in the “best interests of the organisation and its members to proceed with Foxie’s Future”.
Emma Stevens, trustee of Foxie’s Future, said the group intended to open the site on a phased basis for camping, residentials and community use from mid-February, but Foxie’s Future would be sharing booking information in the coming days to allow for early bookings.
The centre will also be renamed Foxlease Park, with Stevens saying this name change aimed to “look back to its local historical roots”.
Foxie’s Future said that it would be seeking further fundraising support as it moved into the next phase, both to support its costs until it was fully operational and to fund works needed on the site.
It is also seeking initial volunteer support and has urged those interested to visit its website for further information.
Hazel Warwick, chair of Foxie’s Future, thanked the government and its secondary grant funders, a number of which are locally based or have community roots in the New Forest.
She said: “Our thanks also go to each and every individual who has supported us by donating, loaning, fundraising or joining one of our fundraising schemes – the acquisition phase of the project has been a series of challenges and it has taken our community of supporters made up of former site users, and those in our local and international communities, to get us over the purchase line to where we are now.”
In a statement, Girlguiding UK said: “We’re glad that Foxlease is today entering a new chapter under the ownership and management of Foxie’s Future.”
The charity said that its trustees took time to carefully consider every possible opportunity for Foxlease’s future, and that 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”.
The charity said Foxie’s Future was “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”.
It said: “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 said that the money from the sale of its activity centres would go into a “special future fund for the benefit of all our members – for adventure, including grants; for the future of guiding, including our digital infrastructure; and for Girlguiding activities such as preserving our precious memories and artefacts in our archive”.