A CAMPAIGN to replace a Stourport Scout hut that has outlived its usefulness has received a cash boost following its recent launch.

The town's Rotary Club has donated £1,000 towards the £60,000 scheme to erect a new hut, on the site of the ageing one, in Stourport Memorial Park.

The money was generated through a series of fund-raising activities, run by Rotary, that have benefited various charities.

In all, almost £4,000 has been raised since early December by Rotarians. Although most of that is already earmarked for good causes, Rotary officers are inviting individuals to submit applications for a slice of the remaining cash.

The Stourport Scout hut appeal, which is totally separate from the Shuttle/Times & News's Operation Covert campaign, was prompted by the archaic state of the current building, which was relocated in the Memorial Park from an RAF unit at Hartlebury in the mid-1970s and originally dates back to the 1930s.

Dave MacAuley, district Scout commissioner for the Severn and Teme District Explorer Scout group which uses the Stourport hut, said: "The building we have got is past its sell-by date.

"It was moved from 25MU in Hartlebury when that closed. It had been in use there since before the Second World War." The hut has also been subjected to attacks by vandals in recent years.

"We've already got £1,000 in the kitty and we're going to add this £1,000 from Rotary to it," said Mr MacAuley.

Pete Roberts, a Stourport Rotary committee member and past president, said £2,868 had been raised by the organisation's Santa float that toured the town just before Christmas. The figure was more than £500 up on the previous year.

Operation Covert had received £1,000 from that while another £1,000 had been given to the Stourport Scout hut.

That left more than £800 which, said Mr Roberts, was available to individuals in the town who might need financial assistance to help them, for example, cope with disabilities.

Applicants could submit their bids for funding to Rod Comfort, secretary of Stourport Rotary, c/o The Swan Hotel, High Street, Stourport.

Rotary recently raised £1,077.54 in Stourport for the tsunami appeal. The money was used to buy a shelter box and sleeping bags which have been sent to Sri Lanka.