We all know the stories of Scouting. In 1907 Robert Baden Powell tested out a camp setting with young boys on Brownsea Island. From that day, Scouting wasn’t just an idea, it was going places, it was as Robert Baden Powell would say “a movement”.
Three years later, Wellington-St. Matthews started life, well almost. Wellington started on the 1st April 1910. It started life around the Boulevard/Hessle Road area of Hull and continued to move around before finally settling in the upper floor of a taxi firm on Hessle Road. In the late 1970s Wellington joined with St. Matthews in the area to form Wellington-St. Matthews Scout Group.
Since then we’ve been the only group in the District to have a Royal Stewart tartan (but did you know that our actual tartan is infact McLaren). We’re one of the first in our District to allow girls into Scouting, and we’ve been trying to be first at a lot of other things during our years but we’re not stopping there.
Our group has had Wolf Cubs, Venture Scouts, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers all wander, all wonder and all give their time, pay their subs and go on camps for a world beyond the urban area we so often live in.
To celebrate our 100 years, we’re having one big giant year of fun! We’re having a massive party in the park – Wellingtons in the Park, to celebrate not only with our latest members but also the community that has kept us going, that has kept on bringing their kids day in day out to our meeting hall and is more a part of us then we are of it.
Our Beaver and Cub Leaders are doing some amazingly hard challenges for money. They’re trying to raise £100 each to celebrate not only the group but also take the Cubs and Beavers on some fantastic trips this year. 100 days of Donations needs your money, your help. So sponsor us, £1, 50p or £10, whatever you think, read our Leaders thoughts or watch them make a fool of themselves as they have 100 days to complete their challenges.
And finally, we’re documenting our life of Wellington in 100 years of Wellington, a documentary showing how Wellington-St. Matthews has changed during the many years with interviews of the surviving members of the group as well as some of the youngsters to find out why Scouting has changed and why people will come week after week to help and be a part of the world that is Wellington-St. Matthews.
So if you’ve been part of Scouting, or even if you haven’t even seen a little Beaver run around your feet, you’re more than welcome, welcome to our 100 years and let’s hope we’ve got another to go!