Foxie's Future

As of this afternoon, Foxie's Future is now the proud owner of Foxlease! Our most significant thanks must go to the Goverment's Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for its total grant award to us of £1.78 million from Round 3 of the Community Ownership Fund - we couldn't have done it without that significant and valuable contribution which has enabled us to acquire the historic site. Our sincere thanks also go to our secondary grant funders, a number of which are locally based or have community roots in the New Forest - we are very grateful for their capital support, and to each and every individual who has supported us by donating, loaning, fundraising or joining one of our fundraising schemes - the acquisition phase of the project has been a series of challenges and it has taken our community of supporters to get us over the purchase line. We aim to open on a phased basis for camping, residentials and community use from mid-February 2025. We've thought long and hard about how we brand the site moving forwards and we've decided to look back to its local historical roots and to call it 'Foxlease Park'. We'll be sharing information on booking in the coming days but please do start planning your visit for next year now as early bookings are hugely important for us. The site won't be open to visitors publicly until next year but we'll certainly be very busy in the meantime. We are seeking further fundraising support and will be launching a new crowdfunder to support us until we are fully operational very soon. We are also seeking initial volunteer support now and you can sign up for this and find out more on how to get involved on our website - www.foxiesfuture.co.uk ♥️🦊 #foxiesfuture #foxiesfriends #foxiesfamily #news #update #fundraising #FundedbyUKGovernment #haveyouheardaboutfoxies #foxleasepark #comingFeb2025

We're so excited to share with you our best update since we started fundraising last year. We're absolutely delighted to confirm that we are Girlguiding’s preferred bidder for Foxlease. We are still going through the process at the moment so we can't say more at this time but when we can share more, we will! We're pleased to share that we are also working with Girlguiding to explore the ways that Foxlease can be used by Girlguiding members in the future to maximise opportunities for adventure and we're really excited about that too.  As you know, our future plans include making Foxlease available for all in the wider community but we're keen to start what we see as a great future relationship with Girlguiding to benefit its members. Foxie's HQ is very busy at the moment but we'll be sharing more about our next phase of fundraising, our timelines and how to sign up to our new newsletter system to ensure you are kept up to date, very soon.  We have a big need to keep our fundraising momentum going, so if you were waiting for good news to donate or to loan to us via our Community Loan Scheme, or you have already loaned and can offer to loan us more then please email us to [email protected]. Finally, we can't express enough our thanks for the many forms of support which we've had since we started Foxie's Future - we honestly couldn't have got this far without you all! ♥️🦊 #foxiesfuture #foxiesfriends #foxiesfamily #support #foxlease #update #haveyouheardaboutfoxlease

We're so excited to share with you our best update since we started fundraising last year. We're absolutely delighted to confirm that we are Girlguiding’s preferred bidder for Foxlease. We are still going through the process at the moment so we can't say more at this time but when we can share more, we will! We're pleased to share that we are also working with Girlguiding to explore the ways that Foxlease can be used by Girlguiding members in the future to maximise opportunities for adventure and we're really excited about that too.  As you know, our future plans include making Foxlease available for all in the wider community but we're keen to start what we see as a great future relationship with Girlguiding to benefit its members. Foxie's HQ is very busy at the moment but we'll be sharing more about our next phase of fundraising, our timelines and how to sign up to our new newsletter system to ensure you are kept up to date, very soon.  We have a big need to keep our fundraising momentum going, so if you were waiting for good news to donate or to loan to us via our Community Loan Scheme, or you have already loaned and can offer to loan us more then please email us to [email protected]. Finally, we can't express enough our thanks for the many forms of support which we've had since we started Foxie's Future - we honestly couldn't have got this far without you all! ♥️🦊 #foxiesfuture #foxiesfriends #foxiesfamily #support #foxlease #update #haveyouheardaboutfoxlease

We so appreciate your ongoing support and fundraising for us. We're not in a position to share with you further information at the moment; however, we have received unexpected and positive news which we will share with you when we can. ♥️🦊 #foxiesfuture #foxiesfriends #foxiesfamily #support #fundraising #foxlease #haveyouheardaboutfoxies

We so appreciate your ongoing support and fundraising for us. We're not in a position to share with you further information at the moment; however, we have received unexpected and positive news which we will share with you when we can. ♥️🦊 #foxiesfuture #foxiesfriends #foxiesfamily #support #fundraising #foxlease #haveyouheardaboutfoxies

We have a very important update to share in relation to the progress of our bid to acquire the Foxlease site. The good news is that late last week we were invited to progress to Stage 2 of the bidding process and will need to submit our further bid by 26 April 2024. We are very pleased to have passed this first bid stage but the feedback received has also brought us a further significant challenge to overcome. As those of you who have been following since the site went to market last year, the site was notionally split into two separate lots for marketing purposes - Lot 1 - what most will know as 'Foxlease', the main site, house, buildings and grounds and Lot 2 - the three cottages accessed by separate entrance at the top of the site. The guide price for Lot 1 was £2.5 million and Lot 2 was a further £1.5 million. Our Stage 1 bid was based solely on purchasing Lot 1 for £2.5 million; however, we believe that due to the overall bid responses, we are only likely to be considered as a viable purchaser in Stage 2 of the process if we are able to bid on both Lots together at the guide price listed of £4 million. Our intentions would not be to retain Lot 2 in the longer term, as those properties are not in our business plan, and so we are looking at a number of different funding options to acquire and/dispose of the elements of Lot 2. In the last few days we think that we have identified provisional options which would allow us to enter a bid for both lots at £3.15 million and we have some further options to keep exploring to see if we can reach the £4 million option which we think we need to (we do have some options if we cannot and we will be entering a bid in any case). One option which we are now exploring is whether an element could be part funded by a community loan scheme - we are working out how this would work at the moment, but if you would be in a position to loan the charity at least £1,000 or more as part of a scheme (likely for a period of 6-12 months) then please contact us by emailing [email protected] as soon as possible to discuss that further. Equally if you have any contacts who may be able to assist with this, please let us know to the same email address. We appreciate that this is not something which lots of people will be able to do, but if you are able to, then please do get in touch. In the meantime, for everyone else, please do keep going with the other ways of supporting us which we have shared previously - every penny counts! We still firmly believe that this is achievable despite the new hurdles, we have overcome a number so far and we are definitely not giving up now! As previously, there are some elements which we are unable to share publicly and/or which are confidential and so if comments or queries are received that we are unable to respond to then that will be why. Thank you as ever for your ongoing support. ♥️🦊 #foxiesfuture #fundraising #lyndhurst #haveyouheardaboutfoxies

Some of you may have seen the press article this morning which picked up the outcome of the Government's Community Ownership Fund Levelling Up Bid Decisions. We have had some of you contact us to see if the reports are correct and there were a few things we had to resolve before we could update you, but the reports are partially accurate. When we last shared an update, we confirmed that we intended to submit a bid and as planned at that time we were party to a bid to purchase which was submitted before the deadline on Thursday 21 March 2024. However, late yesterday, Friday afternoon, we received an email from the Community Ownership Fund with the amazing news that our resubmitted grant application for funding to save Foxlease has been successful and that we have been awarded the full amount that we applied for of £1.73 million of capital funding and £50k of revenue funding! The grant application was the second round in which we applied for funding as our first application, which had been submitted at short notice at a very early stage in the charity's existence, was unfortunately unsuccessful. We worked on the feedback and resubmitted in the next funding round in January this year and we are incredibly lucky that the decision-makers saw fit the second time round to support our wonderful cause! The funding award is fantastic news for us and achieves the next fundamental step on our journey to save this wonderful historic site for future generations of young people and the local community. Unfortunately, the area where the reported article is incorrect is that we're not there yet. Whilst we now have the funding we need to purchase Foxlease, we still do not know if Girlguiding UK will accept our bid and agree to us being their preferred purchaser over any other bids which they may have received. We understand that all bids have been submitted for the site and so we must now wait to hear the outcome of that part of the process - we have everything crossed that Girlguiding UK will choose us! 🤞 We do not know who we are up against, but firmly believe that it would be so much better for the site to continue for the benefit of young people and the community, rather than as a development site, hotel or other commercial investment and the Levelling Up funding awarded to us means that the rescue of the site is a real, tangiable possibility, with the seller's decision now being the only potential barrier remaining to the site's rescue. We hope to provide a further positive update as the process progresses and we will continue fundraising and planning in the meantime to put ourselves in the best possible position to hit the ground running if our bid is accepted. As always, thank you for your ongoing support and here's to what we very much hope is The Next Generation of Foxlease! ♥️🦊 #foxiesfuture #foxiesfriends #foxiesfamily #fundraising #support #haveyouheardaboutfoxies #update #news

We are now fast approaching the deadline to submit a bid to Girlguiding UK to purchase Foxlease. Whilst the deadlines for some of the other centres marketed are the end of the month, bids for Foxlease need to be submitted by noon on 21st March. Thanks to everyone's wonderful fundraising and support we will be submitting a bid to purchase the Foxlease activity centre site. This unfortunately doesn't guarantee that our bid will be accepted as we suspect that there will be other bidders, but it does mean that we are in the running to be considered. We can't share more about the nature of the bid at this time but, if accepted, it will mean that the site remains as an activity centre for young people and as a space for the local community as we have said was our aim since our first announcements as Foxie's Future last year. If you are still planning fundraising for us then please do keep going as all the pennies raised still count and make a difference to our total and fundraising doesn't stop once the bid has gone in! If you would like to support us, you can:- 🦊 Donate to our crowdfunding page; 🦊 'Save a brick' - email [email protected] for more information; 🦊 Join our Foxie's Family supporter scheme for £10 - email [email protected] for more information; 🦊 Make a pledge to donate to us if we are successful - email [email protected] for a form; 🦊 Keep telling people about us; 🦊 Buy something from our www.foxiesshopping.co.uk website; 🦊 Take part in our Foxie's Great Escape virtual escape room when it launches in a few days' time; or 🦊 Hold a Foxie's Fundraiser event for us near you to raise funds and to spread awareness. We'll update again once the bid has been submitted but please bear with us if we're a little quieter in the meantime - this is a crucial time for us in the process and we have lots to do to try our best to be the selected purchaser of the site. Thank you for your ongoing support. ♥️🦊 #foxiesfuture #foxiesfriends #foxiesfamily #support #fundraising #haveyouheardaboutfoxies #update

♥️🦊🎄 #foxiesfuture #foxiesfamily #christmaswishes🎄