SCOUT leaders are determined not to give up hopes of building a sports centre at a popular camp despite losing out on a bid for lottery cash.

The East Lancashire Scouts Council are hoping to build an indoor sports centre and wet weather facility at their Bowley camp in Great Harwood.

The scheme is likely to cost around £140,000 and the organisation has already been handed £26,000 worth of funding from the Foundation for Sport and Art.

But a further application for the rest of the much-needed cash has just been rejected by the National Lottery.

Fred Law, the vice president of East Lancashire Council, said: "Everything is a bit up in the air at the moment and we will have to get together to decide what our next move will be.

"One thing is certain, we won't be giving up on the plan of having a sports centre at Bowley and we will be doing all we can to raise the money."

Mr Law added: "We still have the £26,000 from the Foundation but that still leaves us a long way short of the amount needed to build a decent sports centre at Bowley.

"We are going to have to look at ways of raising money and that could include organising some sort of charity events."

National Lottery officials received 11,700 applications from youth organisations across the country in the latest round of awards.

Fred Law said: "We were not told why the application was turned down but there was a one in five chance of having our application accepted by the board.

"We have been told the project meets all the necessary criteria and we can always apply again for a grant at a future date."

More than 25,000 scouts from across East Lancashire visit the camp each year and many more youngster from various organisations are invited to use the facilities at Bowley.

The Great Harwood centre is also hosting an international scouting event this summer and hundreds of visitors are expected from as far afield as America, Scandinavia and Holland.

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