A SCOUT group for young people with special needs has been given a £800 fundraising boost.

The grant from Persimmon Homes was awarded to the Durham Trinity Scout Group to help fund new camping equipment.

Dianne Baker, spokeswoman for the group, which is based at Durham Trinity School and Sports College in Aykley Heads, said: “In the past, we have borrowed some old patrol tents from a local scout group.

“However, these do not fully suit our special needs children as half of the equipment end up outside of the tents.

“It is our dream to have two Solace 2 bell tents with zipped in ground sheets and internal partitions, which would give the scouts more room and keep everything safe inside.

“So far the children have raised £200 and while we appreciate the donations we were still some way off our target and it could have been a long time before they got to experience camping.

“The donation from Persimmon Homes puts us a step closer to make this a reality and all of us are appreciative of the funding.”