Many of you will already know that Sadly Ron Fox passed away in 2018 but as a lasting legacy to Scouting, he left the princely sum of £317,000 to Lewisham Scouts. An incredibly generous gift that will enable the District to support its members, Groups, Units, and camping centers for many years to come.
Thank you Ron for your incredibly kind legacy and you will be remembered with fondness by all our Lewisham members now and into the far distant future.
I was delighted and indeed honored to have been asked to be involved in the lead-up, implementation, and thereafter management of the fund.
By way of background, Ron held numerous roles in the Scouts and amongst others, he was a Scout Leader at the 21 st Clapham (now part of Lambeth District). He became the District Commissioner and the District Chairman of Lewisham North District and was also the first Chair of the Lewisham Development Project in 2008. He helped to shape the development of the new Lewisham District from 2011 and was at the forefront of ensuring that development was a positive step forward for the District, its Groups, and Explorer Units.
It is with pleasure that I am able to confirm that the fund is now active. After careful and measured discussions and reviews by many members of the District, the legacy left to us by Ron Fox will support Groups, Units, and campsites with development. The fund will now be called;
‘The Ron Fox Development Fund’’. Following consideration of the responses received and the views and recommendations of the members of a fund Working Group, the District Executive agreed with the unanimous view that the fund should be long-lasting and support development. In order to achieve this, the fund will be invested and the interest received will be used to support applications for grants and other initiatives contained in the guidance notes for applications.
An Awards Panel has been set up consisting of members from across the District. Terms of Reference for the panel have been approved together with application guidance notes and an application form.
These documents are now available on the District Website. If you go to members – resources and guides – scroll down to the fund.
If you need funds for development or you wish to propose a member for one of the other initiatives we look forward to receiving an application. If having read the guidance notes, you are unsure whether your project will meet the criteria, please do discuss your project with us before making the application. You never know!
The first meeting of the panel to consider applications will be on Sunday 13th March and the closing date for applications for this round of grants and awards is Sunday 6th March. However, if you miss this deadline, there will be additional dates during the year which will be published on the District website.
Kind regards.
Garry Leach
Chair – Ron Fox Development Fund Panel