Howley scouting group chasing £5,000 competition top prize

13th Warrington East Scout Group is based at Fairfield Community Centre, and is vying for the top spot in the Selco Community Heroes competition.

The competition was established by Selco Builders Warehouse - who have a site in Warrington, on Milner Street - and is aimed at supporting community groups throughout the current financial turmoil.

2,000 entries were received for the competition, with a panel of judges shortlisting a dozen of them.

The nominations that were shortlisted were all sent £500 of building materials to support their activities, and now the groups are all vying for public support to win a vote that could see them rewarded with a £5,000 windfall.

An injection of £5,000 would allow the scouting group to replace old equipment and invest in new tents and cookers, as well as take more members of new adventures, too.

Sarah O'Neill, a leader at the group, said: “We’re delighted to be a finalist in the Selco Community Heroes competition.

“We are located in one of the poorest areas of Warrington so funds are extremely limited. Having the backing of Selco is a very welcome boost.

“Some of our equipment was damaged in a flood. This money would allow us to buy new items to be used for many years to come.”

A prize is also available for the runners-up, who would win a £1,000 cash prize.

Carine Jessamine, marketing director at Selco, added: “Our Community Heroes campaign has been hugely successful.

"We were inundated with a record-breaking number of applications from a host of good causes with outstanding credentials, so 13th Warrington East Scout Group has done extremely well to be shortlisted.

“They do excellent work in the community and hopefully the whole of Warrington will get behind the organisation in their quest to win an amount of money which would make a huge difference to the work they do."

Voting is now open until midnight on February 28, and votes can be cast at: at https://www.selcobw.com/info/selco-community-heroes