By Chris Yandell
Southern Daily Echo Online – 14 August 2024
A Hampshire MP has accused Girlguiding UK of deliberately blocking an attempt to save a "hugely loved" facility in the New Forest. Members of the Foxie's Future community group raised £4m in a bid to buy the Foxlease activities centre and were devastated when their offer was rejected.
Now, New Forest East MP Julian Lewis has written a hard-hitting letter to Denise Wilson, chairman of trustees at Girlguiding UK. He has also repeated his plea to the Charity Commission to investigate what he claims is the "apparent mismanagement" of the sale. His letter to Ms Wilson says:
"Foxlease was given to your organisation in order to be a facility, here in the New Forest, to benefit girls in the movement. Now a community organisation has successfully raised the £4m asking price to buy back from you, for the community, an asset which you were given to run on behalf of that same community.
"Despite all that you have arrogantly declined to accept Foxie's Future as the preferred bidder and seem determined to prevent the community from recovering and safeguarding this hugely loved establishment.
"Why are you behaving in this way? Why won't you accept Foxie's Future bid? Why won't you say who the preferred bidder is? Why won't you reveal the size of the preferred bid, so that Foxie's Future can try to exceed it?
"I strongly suspect that you would not welcome a community organisation successfully providing a service which you have chosen to abdicate – presumably in pursuit of financial gain."
Sir Julian has also written to Orlando Fraser, chairman of the Charity Commission. His letter says:
"It seems quite clear that Girlguiding UK are more interested in property deals than fulfilling their charitable purpose.
"Furthermore, their obstructive behaviour towards Foxie's Future may well be motivated by a fear that, if Foxlease is purchased by this community group and successfully run as a centre for girls, that will be a humiliation for Girlguiding UK."
Foxlease, a 65-acre site at Clayhill, Lyndhurst, is one of five activity centres across the UK that have been axed. Sir Julian's letter to Mr Fraser accuses Girlguiding UK of closing the sites
"in pursuit of financial profit rather than the interest of girls in the community".
"Once again, I call for an urgent investigation by the Charity Commission into the apparent mismanagement by Girlguiding UK in contravention of its own aims and objectives,"
he said. The Daily Echo contacted Girlguiding UK for comment but the organisation did not respond.
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STATEMENT BY GIRLGUIDING UK – 12 September 2024
AN UPDATE ABOUT THE PROCESS OF SELLING FOXLEASE
We have a positive update about the process of selling Foxlease activity centre.
We are pleased to announce that Foxie’s Future, a charity led by Girlguiding volunteers, is our preferred bidder for the sale. We're working together so that Foxlease can be used by Girlguiding members in future.
As we’re still in the process of selling Foxlease we can’t say more now for legal reasons, but we’ll give further updates as soon as we can.
For each activity centre sale, we have worked hard and with care to act in the best interests and for the overall welfare of the whole organisation, our members and charity law.