Monday 23 February 2015

1st Welwyn Scout Group is back in Welwyn!

Next week there will be the first scout meeting in the HQ since we had to shut due to serious water ingress in 2021!

We will continue to meet in Codicote in joint meetings with the Codicote troop roughly half of each term, but recommencing meetings in Welwyn is a crucial step in starting to rebuild our troop numbers. My thanks to Kevin Lingwood and Will Bailey for keeping meetings going for all of this time, along with Christine and Beth Whitbread of the Codicote Scout.

Mike Gray will become ASL, after running a scout troop in Yorkshire some years ago, to build the leadership team.

Cubs have grown to 12-14 young people meeting weekly in Welwyn with Steve Long, Jo Reeve and Tony Worsley, from 4 cubs in May last year, and we have around 10-12 beavers meeting with Julie Long and helpers Erica and Gill and other parents, each week in Welwyn.

Pat Try has stepped down as Head of Fundraising after leading the project fundraising for so many years, to give us enough money to bring the work to a successful completion - how can the Group begin to thank her enough for her years of dedication?

Unfortunately we are losing Dennis Spruce as treasurer; Dennis made us tens of thousands of pounds from tax refunds, applications for grants, and given many months of his time, finalising the fit out after the contractors had left site, we shall miss him. If anyone is prepared to take on this role, please get in touch. This year our finances will involve a small number of regular invoices, rent, insurance, etc, and subs collections, so far simpler than last year.

We eventually spent around £115,000 on the refit, and in addition we probably received the equivalent of £25-30,000 of free labour and materials from Tesco, Netherdown Developments, EDF Energy and GSK, and lots of individuals, which were crucial in making the HQ look fully modernised, warm and welcoming, as seen in the photographs.

We have the Brownies back with us, which we hope will eventually lead to restarting of Rainbows and Guides, if their District wishes to do so and leaders can be found. Some years ago we prided ourselves on being one of the few Scout and Guide Groups in the area.

The Friendship Club and Welwyn Wailers are also meeting in the hall; we have let it for a Golden Wedding party and other people are considering regular or one-off uses of the hall and/or the meeting room / presentation room in the rear - contact me if you are interested, there are plenty of free hours in the week, and we want the HQ to become another resource for the local community after you have all supported us and helped fund the refit.

Lastly, in the next few weeks we hope to complete a lease with Welwyn Hatfield Council to 2137, so after 107 years in the village to date, we can now look forward to another 123 years here!!!

Derek Nash, after whom we named the Hall, was a truly inspirational man who exemplified what a scout should be, helping thousands of young people to stretch themselves, build a caring attitude to their fellow scouts and the community - in Welwyn, in Hertfordshire, the UK, USA and Russia.

1st Welwyn has done the same since Scouting was founded in 1908, we are a Foundation Group as we date back to that very year, and we now intend to rebuild our membership and with our very strong leadership team, give the local young people those same opportunities again.

Thank you all for your support.

Andy Trotter
Group Scout Leader
1st Welwyn Scout Group