AN EAST Cornwall scout headquarters is undergoing a £17,600 make-over to repair its 20- year-old hut, after it was damaged by the winter storms. The Stoke Climsland Scout Hut wooden building was originally bought from South West Water around 20 years ago after some fundraising by group members at the time. The hut had done its job well for two decades, until damage was caused to the structure during the heavy storms earlier this year, which also revealed hidden problems. Marian Greenaway, chair of the Stoke Climsland Scout Group, said: 'The recent storms got at it and caused some damage, but we didn't realise until then that the wood had been rotting from the ground up. 'We have five scout groups that meet in the hut, so over 100 people come through the doors every week — if we don't fix it there is nowhere else for them to go. 'We got a schedule of work that needed to be done and the cheapest quote we were given was around £17,600.' Marian said they started to fundraise, but knowing how tough the economic climate is on young couples with children, they didn't feel it was feasible to ask parents for contributions, so four committee members sat down and filled in numerous application forms for various grant funding bodies. The group has now nearly reached the target amount due to a number of successful grants, including some insurance money. It has been awarded £10,000 from Awards for All, £3,000 from Cornwall 100 Club, a donation from the Cornwall Councillor for Stoke Climsland Neil Burden's locality budget, £1,000 from the Rank Foundation and other funds. 'We have been extremely lucky and everyone has been amazing,' said Marian. 'We have already repaired the two gable ends, put in some insulation and put new cladding on the outside — cladding has come a long way in 20 years so hopefully the building will now be a lot more durable.' She said they still had a lot more work to do, including fitting new fire doors, fitting a new kitchen and refurbishing the back wall among other things, and there was the possibility of the Lions Club of Callington donating some time to decorate the building for the group. 'We have still got a lot of work to do, but we are trying to do it with as little disruption to the groups as possible. I think it will be around Christmas time before we are finished,' said Marian.