The Scout leaders at Howley Grange decided they needed a better way to control movement around the site following a refurbishment that increased the size of the headquarters to nearly double its previous size, and split the main building on the site into multiple areas.
The Howley Grange Scout Group, founded in 1959, has been in residence in Halesowen for over 50 years. The Scout Group has over 120 members, aged six to 19, who join the organization to develop skills including teamwork, initiative, communication and commitment. The Scout Headquarters are also used by a further 450 children every week, that attend various clubs and groups, including a playgroup, dance club, and pre-school, who hire out part of the site.
Requirement
The Scout leaders at Howley Grange decided they needed a better way to control movement around the site following a refurbishment that increased the size of the headquarters to nearly double its previous size, and split the main building on the site into multiple areas. One of the new areas became used solely by the other groups, and toys and equipment were stored there during Scout hours.
Due to the increased usage of the Headquarters there was a need to not only secure each room with an efficient, simple system, but to also monitor who enters and exits the building. Richard Morris, Trustee and Scout Leader, says “Due to the number of people using the building it was very costly for the charity to supply each person with a full set of keys, and it was a logistical nightmare to monitor who would enter which room.” The Scout Group needed a system that could grant each person entry only to the rooms that they required access to, and would monitor who was entering each room. Safeguarding the children and making sure they were unable to exit the site without permission was also a key requirement.
John Guy, Assistant Scout Leader at Howley Grange, recommended
Net2 as the ideal solution, to provide a more contemporary alternative to the keypad and digilock originally under consideration.
Solution
Twelve doors, across the sites two buildings, are now controlled by Net2,
Paxton’s flagship access control system. Net2 is a userfriendly and flexible networked access control system designed to make the management of any building incredibly simple.
The internal and external doors of the main building are secured using Net2 plus controllers, to prevent the children from moving through restricted areas. The use of tokens in place of keys means that all of the Scout Leaders and other staff can easily move about the site, whilst reducing the cost of replacing lost keys and increasing peace of mind that the Scout buildings will remain secure.
The secondary building, housing a garage, quartermaster stores, and technology facility, is also controlled by Net2. The lighting is controlled using Triggers & Actions; activating the lights when a valid token is presented to access the site, and switching it off when the building is empty, to reduce energy costs.
Result
The Scouts are pleased with their new Net2 system. John says: “Net2 is a convenient system to install and use. The fantastic usability of the software has made it easy for us to implement on site, everyone feels comfortable using our new system.” Installing Net2 has provided Howley Grange with a convenient system, increased security, and the ability to manage access rights from one central point – all of which make the management of their multi-use site much simpler.