RESIDENTS are set to celebrate a town staple hitting a historic landmark with a barbecue, live music, stalls and more at a special event.
Weeley Scouts will celebrate their 50th anniversary this year with a ‘Fest4all’ event to promote inclusivity within the scouts and in the town.
The scouts were started by a man named George Boxer who moved to Weeley from East Ham and collaborated with Pandora Sarson to launch the organisation.
Heather Baldwin, of Great Bentley, originally lived in Weeley and is a group scout leader.
She has been involved with the scouts since the group's inception and detailed its story from the beginning.
Heather said: “Mrs Sarson caught some boys climbing on a school roof who said they were causing mischief because there was nothing to do in the village.
“She got in contact with George and they decided to set up a cub pack because that was the age of the boys on the roof.
“Mrs Sarson asked me to help for a few weeks while they were setting up and I’ve been there ever since.”
The Weeley group was registered with the Scout Association but only had cubs at the time in 1972.
It initially ran its meetings and events at the village hall but this did not last long because of a lack of storage space.
Scouts began fundraising with monthly bingo sessions, buy a brick events and raffles. The organisation also received Government grants and soon began building its headquarters which opened on September 12, 1987.
Heather added: “We started building it in 1983 and it cost around £37,000 in total to finish.
“We got quite a lot of free labour as parents came along to help us and a building company, Spon Builders helped with a lot of the work.”
For the Queen’s silver jubilee in 1977, the scouts made teas for the elderly of Weeley.
The celebration will take place on Sunday, June 19 at Weeley Playing Fields between noon and 5pm.
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