Stithians Scout Group is celebrating the completion of its new base after a £5,000 donation as part of a national design competition to create a dream meeting place.

The prize was awarded to the group following their entry to Building Futures, a collaboration between the UK Scout Association and the Shanly Foundation, the charitable arm of housebuilder and commercial investment company Shanly Group.

Stithians Scouts spent the donation on building a new timber framework structure clad with scaffold boards with a corrugated steel roof and a scaffold board floor. Instead of glass, four Perspex windows were also added, making it a safer environment for young Scouts.

Niels Van Dinther, group leader of Stithians Scouts, said: "The new meeting place provides us with the option of year-round use of our field which gives us much greater flexibility in our program options as we can now fit our young people inside a weather tight structure. The Scouts will be personalising the interior of the new hut with displays of craft items, notices, pictures and memorabilia, giving them an increased sense of identity and belonging."

The competition was launched in December 2016 and was backed by chief Scout and television adventurer Bear Grylls. Groups submitted designs of their ideal Scout hut, which included features that would make it sustainable, accessible and useful to the local community.

Michael Shanly, chairman of the Shanly Foundation and former Scout, said: "We are happy to see how well this prize money has been used. This is clearly an investment for the future of the Stithians Scout Group that will no doubt have a long lasting impact on the local community."