History

Ten Years UP and Going Strong.

The 20th Bolton (St. Thomas) Chequerbent Scout Group was formed in September 1985 with four adult Leaders, 15 Cub Scouts and five Scouts.

The Group was fortunate in that the Leaders were supported by a number of the parents who formed a Group Executive Committee and raised funds to purchase equipment, mainly tents and canoes.

The Group was very active from the beginning and grew rapidly, with a number of parents offering their services as Warranted Leaders, such that after only one year the Group membership was 9 Adult Leaders and 41 boys.

A Beaver Colony for boys aged 6 to 8 years was started in 1988 and the Group membership had by then grown to 88.

This growth has been maintained and now after 10 years there are just over 100 members, making the Group the biggest in Bolton South District.

During these 10 years, all Sections of the Group have taken part in both District and County events, including many competitions, quite a number of which have been won by the boys.

The support from the parents has been continuous over the years and the present target is to raise sufficient funds to be able to own their own Headquarters, though finding suitable premises is proving harder than raising the funds.

There have been many highlights in the Group’s past, one of the most notable being the selection of one of their original Cub Scouts (now a Venture Scout and Assistant Leader with the Cub Scout Pack) to represent Great Britain at the 18th World Scout Jamboree held last month in Holland.

The Group is still very positive in the activities it offers to it’s young members, all supervised by qualified and experienced Leaders – adventurous activities on offer include camping, canoeing, climbing, abseiling, sailing and hiking together with sporting events such as football, cross country running, athletics and swimming among many others.