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| History |
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Pre World War 2 (1912 - 1939) |
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The
2nd Inverness (Kingsmills) Scout Group was
originally established in 1912 as the St Andrew's
Troop of Boy Scouts, in association with St Andrew's
Cathedral, Inverness, and open only to
Episcopalians. It was the second Scout Troop to be
set up in the town, soon after a major rally of
Scouts from the North of Scotland, held in September
1911 in the Northern Meeting Park, Inverness, and
attended by Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout
Movement. Unfortunately, the Troop, like many
others, seems to have failed, through lack of
leadership, at the start of the First World War,
when many adult males were called up for military
service.
The
Troop was re-established in 1920, and, in a local
r e-organisation the following year, it retained the
number 2, becoming the 2nd Inverness-shire (St
Andrew's Cathedral) Troop. The Wolf Cub Pack (the
forerunner of the Cub Scout Pack) was established in
1924, but survived for only a couple of years. It
was restarted in 1929. In the period before the
Second World War, several King's Scout badges were
gained in the Troop, reflecting the success of the
Troop at that time. The headquarters of both the
Pack and and Troop was the Cathedral Hall in Kenneth
Street
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Post World War 2 (1945 - 1969) |
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After
the Second World War the Wolf Cub Pack survived with
significant numbers of boys, but the Troop had
several periods of difficulty. In 1969 it was
decided to join with what was then the 14th
Inverness (St John's) Group, based at St John's
Church in Southside Road. They were struggling for
leaders, particularly for their Troop, but had just
taken over the use of the old Civil Defence
headquarters building in Walker Park, Kingsmills
Road. The link with the Cathedral was broken soon
after this when the Sponsorship Agreement with the
Episcopal Church was cancelled. For a few years the
combined group was known as the 2nd/14th Inverness
Group, but eventually the '14th' part of the name
was dropped, and at a later date the name
'Kingsmills' was added to reflect the area of the
town from which the Group normally drew much of its
membership
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Move to Kingsmills (1969 - 2007) |
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In
1971, the hall extension to the building in Walker
Park was completed, being designed by the architect
father of one of the Patrol Leaders of the time. The
garage building, a former auxiliary fire station,
was taken over later, although derelict. It was
re-roofed and had new doors fitted using labour
provided by a scheme for unemployed young people.
This part of the
building
is currently used by the Inverness Area Scouts as a
store. In the 1980's the HQ toilets and kitchen were
upgraded and disabled facilities installed. Since
2004 considerable effort has been put in to
upgrading the building, and improving its
appearance, both externally and internally including
the fundraising for a new roof for the main hall.
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A New Century of Scouting (2007
- present) |
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The
Centenary Celebrations of 2007 saw a vast array of
activities which the Group was involved in, and
several leaders from the Group were involved in the
organising teams of. Members of the Group and
Explorer Unit took park in all the main Centenary
Celebrations at Gang Show Scotland, The 21st World
Jamboree and Brownsea Island, as well as all the
local celebrations. With the centenary year passed,
the focus is on completing the upgrading work to the
Group HQ, as well as moving toward 2012, and the
Centenary year of 2nd Inverness Scout Group. | |
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