1st Little Stoke Scout Group - A History
The 1st
Little Stoke Scout Group was formed in 1952 to serve the area covered by the
original Parish of Stoke Gifford, which now includes the southern end of
Bradley Stoke. There is however, no
restriction on young people joining the Group from any area provided we have
room.
 It is thought that
a meeting was called on 6 February 1952 of boys interested in
forming a Scout Troop. A significant
day, as King George VI died and Princess Elizabeth became Queen. In
the early days, meetings were held in a hut close to the Stoke Gifford Parish
Council allotments at the back of Bush Avenue.
On Saturday 30th January 1965, Mr J C Warry (Chairman of the
Parish Council) performed the official opening of “Brownsea Lodge”, the new
Headquarters of the Scout Group at Rossall Avenue in Little Stoke adjacent to
the small car park for the playing field.
At that time there were two Cub Packs and one Scout Troop. The building was in fact a builder’s
construction hut acquired from the Berkeley Power Station site.
By the 1970s we had 3
Cub Packs and two Scout Troops and in 1987 we opened our first Beaver
Colony. In the mid 1980s the condition
of the Headquarters was deteriorating and serious fund raising started to
replace the building. By a stroke of
good luck, a firm operating on the new Bradley Stoke development offered to
demolish the old building and build a new one.
Work started during the summer of 1988 and we were able to move into the
present building in January 1989. During
the mid 1990s we had two Beaver Colonies, two Cub Packs and two Scout Troops
with about 120 boys in the Group.
Over the last 10 years
or so, several Leaders have retired and we were unable to replace them and so
the Group reduced to one Colony, one Pack and one Troop and our numbers dropped
to about 60 boys. Since January 2006 the
Group has been open to girls as well as boys and we now have girls in all three
Sections.
Over the last few years
our numbers have picked up and we now have 80 young people in the Group and 20
Leaders and Adult Helpers and we are poised to expand! Earlier in 2010 the group established a 2nd Beaver colony, through which we believe we will see continuedd growth through the older sections to follow.
There is still a demand
for Scouting by the young people of our area.
From our recent census we know that there are some 30 young people of
Beaver, Cub and Scout age who would like to take part in Scouting but
can’t. If you are interested in helping
as a Leader or Helper, then please contact the Group Scout Leader, Michael
Edwards-Jones on 01454 618789. |