By Tony Edmonds, Group Scout Leader, 1st Little Stoke.
The 1st Little Stoke Scout Group will be 70 years old in 2022 and we will be holding events to celebrate this huge milestone.
The group started in February 1952 and was housed in a wooden hut near the allotments off Bush Avenue. In 1963, the HQ moved to its current location in Rossall Avenue, near the children’s play area in Little Stoke Park.
The first building was wooden and came to us following the construction of Berkeley nuclear power station. Eventually, the structure became unfit for purpose and our current building was erected by a company who were at that time involved in the construction of the new Bradley Stoke housing development.
In recent times, the building has been updated to meet the needs of the next 70 years.
We would love to hear for anybody who was active pre-1976 as we have little information about the years 1952-1976. Photographs that we can copy would be wonderful.
The 1st Little Stoke group has three sections, for children aged from 5.9 years to 14.5 years, and currently has over 70 young people enjoying Scouting. The sections are Beavers 5.9 to 6 years, Cubs 8 to 10 years and Scouts 10 to 14.5 years.
In the near future, we hope to have a new section for children aged 4 and 5 years, provided we can recruit sufficient leaders from the parents of children who wish to join.
The programme we offer young people has a backbone of outdoor activities, camping and earning badges from subjects ranging from animal carer to swimmer.
We currently have a waiting list of over 50 young people wishing to join. If your child wants to join and you are willing to help us with the running of the sections, your child will not have to join the waiting list and can start immediately.
If you wish to enquire about opportunities for either young people or adults, contact Group Scout Leader Tony Edmonds at tonyedmonds108@yahoo.com or call 07957 880503.
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2021 issue of the Stoke Gifford Journal magazine (on page 12). The magazine is delivered FREE, nine times a year, to over 5,000 homes in Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Harry Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
