Westfield Scouts come togetherto celebrate one hundred years

Over 100 people, including past leaders and supporters from as far back as 1977 were joined by the members and families of the current Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.

Everyone came together in the Parish Hall in Westfield for an afternoon celebration to mark the centenary.

There were extensive displays of photographs and articles about the Scout group over the years.

Many old friends met and discussed past times and the current young people enjoyed looking for themselves and their friends in the photo displays.

The group chairman Carl Richardson outlined the history of the group from 1915 to the present day, highlighting items that were particularly memorable.

This was followed by the presentation of Chief Scout awards to many of the young people, and scouting gifts to several adults who have worked hard for the group over the last few years.

The Chief Scout award is the highest award that a young person can achieve in each section and is the culmination of two or three years of work in their section. Seven Beavers were presented with their Bronze award, five Cubs with their Silver award and three Scouts with their Gold award. The badges were presented by Judith Collins, District Commissioner and Andy Pope Assistant District Commissioner for Scouts.

This was followed by a short entertainment; the Scouts presented a sketch entitled “The Enlargatron” and then they were joined by Cubs and Beavers to sing some camp fire songs.

The afternoon ended with tea, sandwiches and plenty of cakes made by the current scout members. A large celebration cake was cut by the three former Group Scout Leaders who were present.

Carl Richardson said: “We hope that the 1st Westfield Scout Group can continue for another 100 years. We are losing several leaders at the end of the summer and would welcome anyone who is interested in joining as a leader, especially in the Cub and Scout sections.”