Mayor’s 3-wheel tour is boost no.2 for Scouts

Mayor of Erewash, Cllr Harry Atkinson visiting France as part of the tour (Credit: EBC)

A mad-cap three-wheel charity stunt by Erewash’s Mayor has given a second boost to the thriving local Scouts movement – hot on the heels of a council grant making a “massive difference” for hundreds of the organisation’s big-hearted and adventurous youngsters.

Jubilant civic head Cllr Harry Atkinson last month raised money for the 1st Sawley Scouts by completing a 2,000-mile grand tour of the borough’s three twin towns in a pal’s Reliant Robin.

He was sponsored to the tune of £2,500 – a share of which will go towards building a new scout hut. The rest will support the youth academy of Cotmanhay-based community radio station Erewash Sound.

The Mayor was accompanied by three friends on the self-funded visit to the French towns of Romorantin-Lanthenay and Châlons-en-Champagne – plus Langen in Germany. He also solemnly laid a wreath at the Menin Gate in Belgium – scene of the World War One Battle of Ypres.

Harry, 26 – who last year became the borough’s youngest-ever Mayor – praised the 34-year-old blue car, which has a Union Flag on the bonnet. TV’s Del Boy Trotter – played by David Jason in TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses – famously drove a yellow van version called a Reliant Regal. Harry said of the Robin: “She didn’t let us down.”

“The only glitch was when he and his chums turned up at Germany’s infamous Nurburgring racetrack aiming to become the first to do a lap in one of the three-wheelers. They had a pre-booked ticket to join Ferraris and other supercars whizzing round. But a safety official took one look at the car’s lack of four wheels and firmly declared: “Nein.”

The tour came after a separate Scout group in the borough successfully applied to the council for one of its Fast Funding Community Grants. Scout Leader Andrew Girvan said of the £1,247 that went to the 2nd Ilkeston (United Reformed) Scouts: “It really did make a massive difference to hundreds of young people aged ten to 16 from all over Erewash.”

The money was used to fund the training of patrol leaders at Scout camps plus other initiatives including a day-long challenge that saw youngsters visit sites across Erewash “to gain knowledge, appreciation and pride”. More than 100 also took part in an eight-mile hike that the Scouts were able to arrange as part of last May’s Erewash Walking Month. It started at Straws Bridge near Ilkeston and ended at Drum Hill in Little Eaton.

In addition, two well-attended Knives Shatter Lives events – one in Ilkeston and the other in Draycott – were held in conjunction with the police. The Derbyshire force was also involved in two more, which were billed as County Lines seminars focusing on the peril of young people being exploited by criminals.

The 2nd Ilkeston Scouts are based at the green spire United Reformed Church on Wharncliffe Road. The group also comprises Cubs, Beavers and Squirrels. Its activities include camping, craft, art, cooking, archery, climbing and rifle shooting. Scout Leader Andrew said in a thankyou message to the council’s grant officials: “Please pass on our appreciation to your wider team.”

Erewash’s Deputy Leader Cllr Becca Everett, who is Lead Member for Community Engagement, said: “The hundreds of young people involved in the local Scouts never fail to be a credit to our borough – so the council is only too happy to support them.

“Our community grants are available to back all kinds of initiatives across the local area and we have just launched a fresh round of them. Funding is from £6.5million that we are putting into what we call the Erewash Investment Fund. Find out more on the Erewash Borough Council website.”

The link is here: Community Grants 2026-27 | Erewash Borough Council