Greatly improved facilities for thousands of international Scouts, Guides and other visitors to London were revealed today (Thursday 5 June, 1997) when HRH The Duke of Kent, reopened The Baden-Powell House International Scout and Conference Centre after a 2m refurbishment.
The Duke, President of the 600,000 strong UK Scout Association, toured the building which had been closed for six months for its first major renovation since 1961. As well as meeting staff, he visited some of the 180 bedrooms all of which now have private facilities double glazing and air conditioning. The Hostel now offers 180 beds, seventy eight more than before. Many rooms offer facilities for visitors with special needs. HRH was also shown the state-of-the-art conference centre facilities, training and meeting rooms and the new kitchen and Refectory.
For the opening, His Royal Highness was joined by VIP guests including the Deputy Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Cllr. Jennifer Forsyth. They were escorted by the Chief Scout Mr George Purdy, Chief Commissioner of England Mr. Bill Cockroft and Chief Executive of The Scout Association Mr Derek Twine. Mr. Bill MacKinnon, Centre Manager and Mr Neil Fellows, Conference and Activities Centre Manager, welcomed HRH on his arrival.
In one of the nine meeting rooms, three Scouts from Kensington and Chelsea and three Scouts from Bedfordshire were working on ScoutBase, the Scout Association's site (http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/) on the World Wide Web. They demonstrated how information about the 25 million Scouts in the world can be accessed and showed His Royal Highness photographs of himself signing the Visitors Book when he arrived at Baden-Powell House. These had been taken a few minutes earlier by one of the Scouts using a digital camera.
Before returning to the foyer, where the Chief Scout invited him to unveil a commemorative plaque, His Royal Highness visited the Refectory to see a display of plans showing the scale of the refurbishment and to meet representatives of builders Sunley Turiff, Quantity Surveyors Peter North and Partners and Project Managers P.N. Design.
Baden-Powell House is a six storied building at the corner of Cornwall Road and Queen's Gate. It was built as a lasting tribute to the memory of the Founder of the Scout Movement which has now spread to over 200 countries.
Many thousands of Scouts, Guides, school-children and youth organisations use it as a base for visiting London. It was opened in 1961 by Her Majesty The Queen. Its large Assembly Hall and stage frequently provides rehearsal facilities for leading choirs and orchestras and can seat over 300. The new facilities now make it possible to provide even better service to national and international guests and offer first-class facilities to anyone organising meetings, conferences, training courses and similar events in one of the best and most convenient locations in London.
B-P House, as it is usually known, also houses some of The Scout Association's national Headquarters Departments. Before arriving at the Hostel, His Royal Highness spent an hour touring the offices, meeting staff and being brought up to date on the latest developments taking place in the UK's largest mixed youth Movement.
