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4th Goodmayes Scout Group
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4th Goodmayes is a Scout Group located in the Goodmayes area of Ilford in Essex. Founded in 1926 by Rev B Bennett of St Pauls Church, Barley Lane, they have had several buildings all on the same site next to the Church where they are found today in the St Pauls Community Centre. Over the years the Group has been through many challenging times including Arson and relocation. Today the Group thrives with three sections known as the Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts and Scouts, the latter section being the oldest in the Group. Until the late 90's the Group also had the Venture Scouts, this was until the rebranding and changing of the age ranges nationwide to make 2 new sections, the Explorer Scouts and Network Scouts. The Gaffery In 1926 the Group called the wooden hut next to the Church home for many years until the 1970s, when it was decided that a new brick built multi use building would be constructed in its place, the Group having fundraised and received various donations began to demolish the dilapidated wooden hut. It was decided that a name was needed for the new "hut", the Group Scout Master (Group Scout Leader today) George Albert Fenner (GAF), suggested the use of his nickname for his camping HQ "The Gaffery", and so it was opened in 1976 and was decorated inside with various animal heads on the walls including the Buffalo head from which the Group now uses for its logo. in 1994 The Gaffery was hit by Arson attack, the internal structure was devastated, but the outer building remained in good condition. The Group temporarily moved next door into the Church hall which the repairs were carried out and in 1996 was reopened, with the interior almost the exact same as before minus the animal heads which were burnt in the fire. Some years later the Group enquired to the Church about constructing a path from the entrance to the Gaffery to Atholl Road to make it easier to move camping equipment to and from the Gaffery. Upon the Church's discovery of the lease, they found out that they owned the land on which the Gaffery was situated, this led the founding of a new lease for the Scouts for 99 years. In the early 2000's the Church hall was found to have subsidence and the cost of repair was too great for the Church to front, so they proposed a new building to encompass the ground where The Gaffery stood and build a community centre with a Housing Association having several flats on top. After months of negotioations, the Group the Church came to a compensation agreement where the Group were allowed one end of the new hall, and had the rent paid for while they moved to temporary premises at the Goodmayes Methodist Church. The St Paul's Community Centre was opened in 2005 where the Group have called their end "The Gaffery". Scouting History When the Group was established in 1926 it began with just the Scout section, it rapidly evolved with the rest of the movement to include The Wolf Cubs, then Venture Scouts (and subsequently girls) and in 1986 the Beaver Scouts. Girls were not fully allowed into the movement until 1991 and even then it was at the leaders discretion. Gradually girls were allowed into the Group beginning with the Venture Scouts then filtering down through the sections until it was compulsory in 2007. The Group has been represented at several most notably in Moisson, France 1947 and at Japan 2015, records do show a third Jamboree in the early 30's where a photo of Chief Scout Lord Baden Powell on horseback was taken but it is unknown if the Group attended or it was another Group. Notable Members The Group has had two distinguishable leaders over the last 90 years, George Albert 'GAF' Fenner was the Groups longest serving leader, starting in the Scouts in 1928 as Assistant Scout Leader until retiring in 1976 as Group Scout Leader. The afore mentioned Gaffery, the groups home, is affectionately named after his camp HQ which has continued to this day. GAF passed away a few years after retiring but GAF was in the Group when another leader began her career, Barbara Westcott, who having helped in the Cub pack since 1956 (but was too young to hold a warrant). She became ACSL in 1958 under Nev Jones and in 1960 became Cub Scout leader, a position she held for over 30 years. She then began to take on various roles within the District and County but still remained as ACSL in the Group. She currently holds the position of Group President as well as helping in the Cub pack. Between these two leaders they have personally overseen the last 88 out of 90 years of Scouting in the Group. Beaver Scouts Since this section opened to this day there has only been two leaders running the colony, the first Judy Halls, ran the colony for 10 years to 1996. Known as "Grey Beaver" Judy helped to build the new section providing extra stability to the other sections and allowing a better flow of members from the age of 6 through to the Scouts and Ventures. When Judy stood down her Assistant Beaver Leader, Patricia Sambrook took over. She opted to change the basics of the section, taking on a theme similar to that of the Cubs (with the Jungle Book), by adopting the characters of the popular Disney film, The Lion King. Her name became Simba, and similarly here various assistants over the years have done the same by taking on other characters. Her son Lee (the current GSL), started his leadership career as Raphiki. The Beaver Scouts meet every Thursday evening at 5pm at The Gaffery, for ages 6 to 8. Cub Scouts During WW2 The pack was run by Fr Seymour and GAF, then the pack became very popular and so it divided into two. Pack A (Ray and Brenda Morris) and Pack B (Neville "Nev" Jones). Eventually the two packs combined under Barbara Westcott's leadership. Barbara served as CSL until 1995, taking the Cubs regularly to camps, sometimes jointly with others packs within Ilford East District. Known for keeping with traditional methods of Scouting, Barbara always maintained a good number of Cubs within the pack. It was thanks to the Cub pack being strong that the Group managed to survive through tough times when Scout numbers were particularly low. In June 1995 Barbara stood down as CSL after nearly 40 years in the pack for Des Ritchie to take over. Des' tenure brought in a new era, along with the movements modernization, the uniform changed, then girls joined in the pack. Des carried on the traditions left by Barbara highlighting in a weeks camp to Thriftwood in 1997. Des had to stand down due to ill health but remained a part of the pack along with Barbara until a new leader could be found. In 2003, former Venture Scout Leader, Joanne Wheatley took on the role, where she remains today, along with Barbara and various Young Leaders, she has carried on the evolving pack and embarking on new challenges provided by the badge program. The Cub pack meets every Thursday evening 6.30pm at the Gaffery for ages 8 to 10 and a half. Scouts This section is the oldest but not the longest running. It had a hiatus in the late 70s due to a lack of leaders until it was restarted in the late 80's. Most Groups would find it very difficult to restart a troop but having a strong cub pack meant it was a relatively easy job. Other than Rev Bennett and K.Hindley being the 1st Leaders, little is known of the Troop at the time. In 1928 GAF became ASL and eventually took over in 1938, from various photos in the archives it obvious GAF took the Scouts on several camps, not always restricted to the UK, he took them to the WSJ 1948 in France and possibly to meet Baden Powell on another. Constantly holding joint camps with other Groups, he saw the Troop through WW2 and took on the running of the pack in the absence of leaders. Upon GAF's promotion to Group Scout Leader in 1962, Nev Jones took on the role from being CSL, he ran the troop for 10 years upon becoming GSL in 1972, various leaders held the role since then but records are unclear, however the troop suffered a lack of leadership, it is not known why this occurred but the troop shut until the late 80s when Judy and Mike Collier reopened the Troop. Mike went to be the Venture Scout Leader leaving Judy in charge until 1994 when she left for 1st Aldborough Hatch. The Troop was again without a leader and it was shared between various leaders including the GSL Arthur Camfield. It was not until 1996 when Dave Sambrook took on the role, Dave had a military background and was an engineer so he used a variety of methods to teach his Scouts. Always taking the Scouts camping and on various activities, his Scout troop thrived and his no nonsense approach meant the most challenging of Scouts would benefit. Ill health meant Dave needed to take time out so he moved up to GSL in 2003, allowing his assistant Leaders Sarah Camfield and Lee Sambrook to jointly run the Troop. Sarah soon left having been given the chance to run her own troop at 4th Chadwell Heath. This meant Lee was to run the Troop. Lee had been in the Group since being a Beaver Scout in 1988 and has never left. He employed various methods of leadership that he had learnt from other leaders and as his time as ABSL. They went on several camps including meeting Chief Scout Bear Grylls in 2014 at "Bear in the Air". In 13 years they went on 9 week long camps in the summer break. In his term he worked with the newly formed Young Leaders, this was a section of Explorer aged Scouts who demonstrated a willingness to become Leaders, this has led to the development of several leadership members in the troop, including Alysia Sharman who as of 1 September 2016 takes over the Troop after Lee's promotion to GSL. The Scouts meet every Thursday evening 8pm at the Gaffery for ages 10 and a half to 14. Fundraising The Group often hold fundraising activities, these include the annual Quiz night in October, a Christmas Fayre (sometimes jointly with the Church), as well as prize draws and raffles. In the past they used to hold Jumble sales, which would get everyone involved, the Cubs would deliver leaflets, a week later the Scouts would go around and collect bags of clothes and unwanted goods. With the declining demand for such events and the rising popularity of selling unwanted goods online for cash means Jumble sales are a thing of the past. The Scouts will often be seen out in public raising money either through bag packing at supermarkets or other projects that they have planned themselves. See Also
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