Keswick-based Lake District Hotels company has boosted the coffers of Keswick Scouts by donating £9,000 to its chosen good cause for 2020.
The funding will go towards the renovation of Keswick Scouts’ Ashness Hut in the Borrowdale Valley, which is used as part of a varied programme of activities by 93 local scouts.
Jonny Winter, who is assistant Keswick Scout leader, said: “Our Ashness Hut has been a base for adventures for decades but urgently needs investment for Keswick Scouts to continue providing outdoor experiences for the local community.
“It’s been fantastic to have the support of a local business such as Lake District Hotels, especially through the coronavirus pandemic, and the money raised will go a long way towards this project.”
Prior to the coronavirus lockdown in March, the family-run hotel group had hosted a variety of charity events across its six Lake District hotels, to raise money for Keswick Scouts. Each year the hotel group ask the general public to nominate a local charity to reap the benefits from its fundraising efforts.
Between September last year and March, the £9,000 was raised through the group’s annual Kitchen Rivals charity banquet, held in November at the Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa in Borrowdale, and a popular spicy ‘hot nuts’ challenge hosted by its pubs, along with pub quizzes, and employees running half marathons and taking part in the hotels’ fun Christmas jumper day.
Dani Hope is marketing director for Lake District Hotels which runs the The Skiddaw Hotel, Inn on the Square and King’s Arms Hotel in Keswick town centre, the Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa and Borrowdale Hotel, and the Inn on the Lake at Ullswater.
She said: “It has been a great pleasure to fundraise for a charity who do so much for our local community.
“The volunteers who lead children and young adults into the great outdoors to learn life skills is so important and builds character that will be useful to them later on in life.
“We hope that the money raised will help kickstart the renovations of Ashness Hut which needs a bit of love and care after many years of use.”
