"The really keen people arrived at 9 o’clock, soon joined by those who had to have that extra weekend lie in. At one point in the day we had almost 40 people in the Scout Hut splashing paint onto the walls, any people standing by had to dodge the continuous painting strokes that were being flung around.

From the professional painter and decorator right to people who had never wielded a paintbrush in their life. The spirit of the team was great fun and vibrant. Yes, it is true to say that a lot of the paint ended up on faces rather than the walls, nevertheless, all the walls got painted!

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who supported this weekend, thank you to the ladies from Woodspring Church who gave us homemade soup at lunch time (a choice of three flavours!), thanks go to H-Church for letting us have our lunch in the Purple Sheep Centre. Most of all, huge thanks go to everyone who was slapping the paint on the walls.

So many volunteers turned up on Saturday morning that we had finished painting by 1 o’clock. Yet Sunday afternoon saw the patching up of the ceiling by another group of willing volunteers. The ceiling is a crisp white and the walls are shining a bright yellow. God’s love also has shone through by doing this project.

The 120 youngsters who regularly use the hut, their parents and of course the scout leaders have all been affected by this action.

I believe we’ve brought Hope to the Scouting community there; we did it in God’s strength and give Him the glory. I for one can’t wait until our next mission!"

Will Tratt

“It was an awesome experience being able to be part of Hope08 in painting Ashcombe Scout hut.

It is a great way to show hope to the community and bring the people as a community together.

Through this day I was able to build and make new friendships as well as develop my painting skills.

As you can see we had great fun and as you can see not all the paint ended up on the walls.

Through projects like these we will be able too see God work in many ways throughout the community and see his power move and work in hundreds of lives throughout 2008.”

Claire Stephenson