A new £840,000 development at The Scout Centre in Crawsfordsburn, Co Down, has officially opened.

The Department of Education invested £500,000 under the Voluntary Youth Capital Funding Scheme.

Chief Commissioner for Scouts in Northern Ireland, Mr Stephen Donaldson, thanked the Department and sponsors who helped secure the building.

-- Advertisement --

He said: "The new Main Complex will help our local Scouts, and we hope many more international visitors, to have a major Scouting experience. The development greatly increases our capacity to accommodate young people in a non-residential setting."

Education Minister Peter Weir added: "I am pleased that my Department has been able to contribute funding to such a beneficial project. Youth facilities such as the Northern Ireland Scout Centre provide young people with a safe and friendly environment to meet and develop their own individual skills, which in turn will allow them to enhance their own skills within their local communities."

(BL/LM)