WHO WE ARE

In 1942 the Salvation Army in Hayle decided that they were going to start a Group for the boys of their church members.

The Group was called the 2nd Hayle (Salvation Army Friends) Scout Group but was not officially part of the Scout Association. The youngsters followed the rules of the Scouts and did Scouting things. Very soon the name was changed to 2nd Hayle Scout Group (so it must have registered with Scout HQ but we don't know the exact date), and the Group was still linked to the Salvation Army, as it's Leaders and Cubs were members of the church and the Group met in the church hall.

The first known mention of the Group in the press was in 1946 when a group of our Cubs went by train to Plymouth to take part in a First Aid Competition. It is not known how they did.

The Group was part of the St. Ives and Hayle District. Each County is divided up into Districts as it is easier to have a few Groups working together than hundreds working Countywide.

In the early 1960's the Group started up a Scout Troop but due to lack of numbers this folded after a couple of years. We know they used to hold a lot of their meetings on a Saturday as this was the only time that they could all get together, remembering not many people had cars in those days.

In the late 1960's the Group left the Salvation Army and became a non-sponsored Group. It left the Salvation Army Hall and moved to the Hayle Methodist Church Hall. During this time, due to restructuring, the Group was moved into the Camborne and Redruth Scout District (Which became the Camborne, Redruth and Hayle District).

In 1996 the Cub Pack took part in the Countries first ever Cubaree, (an International Camp for Cubs), spending a week camping at Wadebridge. In 1996 we also won the District 6-a-side competition and represented the District at the County competition which we unfortunately did not win.

The following year our Cubs went on a weeks canal boat trip around Coventry during the October half-term break. Two other Packs went as well, 1st Camborne and 1st Lanner, each Pack having a 12 berth barge. The Cubs all had a go at steering the boat plus they had to look after the locks. We also won the 6-a-side football again and again represented our District at County level. That year we also won the District Cub Shield for being the best Pack.

In August 1998, the District had a weeks camp at Gilwell Park, Essex, the home of Scouting in the UK. Altogether 110 Cubs, Scouts and Leaders took part in the camp, visiting Wembley Stadium, the Science Museum and taking part in on-site activities. During 1998 we also won the Cub football for a third time in a row but due to other activities could not take part in the County event. We also won the Swimming Gala with the Cubs having the honour of throwing Skip into pool (he was thinner then!).

In September 1998 we started up our Scout Troop again taking both boys and girls. The following summer saw our Scouts taking part in Norjam 99 an International Camp at Norwich, with our Cubs taking part in a couple of weekend camps.

In 1999 our District was amalgamated with the Lizard District to form our current District, Stenek Ha'n Mor which is Cornish for Tin land and Sea. The Tin land half comes from our old District and the Sea part was for the Lizard.

District Badge

In 2000 the Cub Pack started taking girls as well. Our Scouts won the District skills competition, Tin-Pan-Alley, held at Tehidy Woods. Our Scouts also won the District Trophy for being the best Troop in the District.

In 2001 we could not go camping and some of our District activities were cancelled. Our Scouts were joint winners of Tin-Pan-Alley. Our Cubs won the Christmas sing-a-long that year, singing like angels.

2002 saw our Scouts going to Tolmers, for a week. Tolmers is a large campsite at Chuffley, Hertfordshire where the Scouts have the chance to take part in 40 activities of their choice. It rained for most of the week and they were flooded out a couple of times.

In March 2003 we left the Methodist Church Hall and moved to Phillack Church Hall, still in Hayle. That year our Cubs did us proud and won both the Christmas sing-a-long competition and the trophy for the best St George's Day Colour Party. Our scouts were joint winners of Tin-Pan-Alley, and Skip once again had a dunking as they won the Swimming gala. In 2003 we started our Explorer Section.

During the summer of 2004 our Cubs took part in a week-long District Camp at Woodlands in Bristol with Cubs from other Groups. Our Scouts took part in Essex 2004, an International Camp with 5,500 campers from many countries. Our Scouts won the trophy for the best Colour Party at St George's Day.

In 2005 our Scouts and Explorers once again went to Tolmers and this time it stayed dry! We had a barren year as far as District trophies go.

In July 2005 we left Phillack Church Hall and were closed for 6 months until we moved into St Erth Church Hall. 

Our Hall is the building on the left of the church as you look from the river

We have kept our name as 2nd Hayle Scout Group and now accept Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers. We continue to take part in every District event we can, and offer both our Cubs and Scouts the chance to go camping for a week every year. Our Beavers, who have only just started, will also be given the chance to take part in a varied program of activities.

We also accept any adult help that people offer even on a part-time basis as we know it is difficult it is to commit to a weekly meeting.

    Our HQ in the Church Hall, St Erth                    Ample parking for Parents opposite the hall

©PAJS 2006

If anyone has any information on the early years of the Group, or any old photos we could scan and use, we would like to hear from you so we can fill in our history.