Foxie’s Future campaigners reach second stage of bidding to buy axed Foxlease activity centre in Lyndhurst

A CAMPAIGN group hoping to buy the Girlguilding centre in Lyndhurst has made it through the first stage of bidding.

As reported in the A&T, Foxlease on Clay Hill is one of five Girlguilding activity centres across the country which was axed in a cost-cutting drive by the organisation.

In a bid to save the site, campaigners formed charitable organisation Foxie’s Future and registered the building as an Asset of Community Value, which enables them to bid for the property.

In a statement, a group spokesperson said it was “good news” the organisation had made it to the second round.

It added: “We are very pleased to have passed this first bid stage but the feedback received has also brought us a further significant challenge to overcome.

“We still firmly believe that this is achievable despite the new hurdles. We have overcome a number so far and we are definitely not giving up now.”

Last year estate agent Savills put the site on the market for £4m. The land can be bought as a whole or in two lots.

Lot one has a guide price of £2.5m and includes the Grade II listed 23-bedroom Princess Mary House, which is set within 65 acres of landscaped gardens.

Additional accommodation provided onsite includes a separate three-bedroom residential bungalow, 14 self-contained campsites with facilities, and an outdoor activity area.

Lot two, up for £1.5m, consists of three residential properties.

Link Bungalow has four bedrooms and is currently let on a shorthold tenancy. Foxlease Cottages are a pair of semi-detached, three-bedroom houses built in 1850, also let on shorthold tenancies.

The spokesperson added: “Our stage one bid was based solely on purchasing lot one for £2.5m, however, we believe that due to the overall bid responses, we are only likely to be considered as a viable purchaser in stage two of the process if we are able to bid on both lots together at the guide price listed of £4m.”

The group would not keep lot two “in the longer term”, and it was looking at “a number of different funding options” to acquire and dispose them.

It added: “We have identified provisional options which would allow us to enter a bid for both lots at £3.15m and we have some further options to keep exploring to see if we can reach the £4m option, which we think we need to.”

The group has also launched a community loan scheme, which asks for loans to the charity at least £1,000 for between six and12 months.

A spokesperson told the A&T it had received “an amazing response” and added: “There is still a little way to go but it is very positive.”

Girlguiding is said to be considering all offers, with the group expecting to hear the outcome of its bid next month.

Those who want to be a part of the scheme should email foxiesfunds@gmail.com