St Giles Centenary Year - 2012

2012 was a very special year for 2nd Northampton (St Giles) Scout Group, as we celebrated our Scout Group Centenary this year - marking 100 years of Scouting at St Giles (and St Gabriel's).

Brief History of the Scout Group 

In 1894, St. Gabriel's Church was built in St. Michael’s Road, Northampton. It was a thriving daughter church to St Michael's for 31 years, until it closed in 1925, causing upheaval to the congregation.

St Gabriel’s Scout Group was founded in 1911 and continued until the church closed.  The congregation moved to St Michael’s Church, but the Scout Group moved to St Giles Church, and became '2nd Northampton (St Giles) Scout Group'.

The Scout Group met at St Giles Church Buildings (now the Manna House), and then moved to St Giles Church Centre when it was converted from its former role as a school in the 1980s.  We have records of the celebrations of Scouting at St Giles/St Gabriel's as follows: 50 years in 1963; 60 years in 1972; and 75 years in 1985.

Centenary Celebrations

With these varying dates for previous celebrations, we have chosen to celebrate 100 years of Scouting at St Giles in 2012.  We are marking our centenary with a badge and five Centenary Events.  We would very much welcome any former members of St Giles Scout Group getting in touch and joining us for our Centenary Events.  We look forward to meeting you!  Please click here to contact us and tell us about your scouting experiences at 2nd St Giles.

Centenary Badge

The final design of our badge is a compilation of four winning badge designs from our Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, and we are very proud to wear it on our uniform.

Winners of the Centenary Badge Design Competition

Beaver Scouts :  Amelie Smith-Churchill and Bethany Goodwin        (designs for the fire)

Cub Scout:            Ben Cookman                                                (the shape, the scout fleur-de-lys and the '100')

Scout:                      Joshua Bryanton                                         (the four emblem design, including the Vango Force 10)

St Giles Centenary Events:

Centenary Group Tea - 3 March 2012

At our Annual Group Tea, we all get together and celebrate the fun we have in Scouting. This year, we launched our Group Centenary Celebrations, and revealed the winners of the Centenary Badge Design Competition.  The whole room was laid out like an indoor campfire circle, complete with an artificial fire made by the Scouts.  Everyone was presented with a Centenary Badge, and we all took part in some favourite campfire songs.

Centenary Service - 24 June 2012

On this Sunday, the whole St Giles morning service was based around the Scout Promise, as a thanksgiving for all that Scouting at St Giles offers young people and families.  During the service, there was a real buzz when the congregation was asked to share their memories of being in Scouting or Guiding.  The young people took part in the service in different ways: the Scouts shared a sketch; the Beavers led the prayers; and the Cubs led some campfire singing around our indoor campfire!  We were presented with a framed signed letter from the Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, to congratulate us on our Centenary.  It is very special that the Scout Group was recognised in this way as a significant part of the youth work in the church.

Centenary Family Camp - 29 June - 1 July 2012

Our Family Camp was the usual mixture of camping, activities, and eating together.  This year we took part in: climbing, archery, crate stacking, adventure trails, trek-cart restoration and making tie-dye bandanas.  We also spent an afternoon at Pitsford Reservoir, where most people had a go at bell boating, and some cycled and explored the nature trails.  On the Sunday, families and children from St Giles came and joined us for an open air service in the campfire circle, and afterwards for a range of team challenges.  The highlight of the camp was a huge Hog Roast instead of our usual barbeque - it was amazing to watch the pig cook all afternoon, and a really delicious talking point for the camp!  No-one wants to wait 100 years for another one!

Click here to take a look at the photos!

Centenary Challenge Camp - 21-23 September 2012

The camp not to miss this year was our Centenary Challenge Camp in September.  We took part in a huge range of activities, all designed to celebrate traditional and modern scouting at its best.  Each Section had particular challenges to fulfil.  The Scouts had been renovating our two trek carts all year, and completed this challenge by pushing them from St Giles to Overstone loaded with their personal kit.  They had a glorious sunny trek on Saturday morning, but the return trek was undertaken in a downpour, and they all proved hardy enough to survive!  The Cubs had a Pack Holiday in the luxury of a building, while the Scouts and Beavers camped in tents.  This was the first time our Beavers had camped, or our Cubs held a Pack Holiday.  Activities at Overstone included an aerial runway, tree climbing, environmental art (making our centenary badge from natural materials), gutting and cooking fish, a breakfast challenge, and the Blue Tunnels of Overstone experience (a caving challenge inside the Will Smith Chalet!).  The Beavers pitched all the tents for the Scouts, and the Cubs cooked our evening meal (roast pork and vegetables) in a sealed fire-pit.  This was a tremendous success, and the unveiling was a ceremony in itself!  We planted a Copper Beech on the old St Giles site at the end of the woods (now Hawk site) to celebrate 100 years of Scouting at St Giles; and launched proper rockets (200m up, and we got them all back!) to launch the Scout Group into the future.  We were very pleased to be visited by Lee Jones, District Commissioner, Tony Keay, County Commissioner, and Bunny & Denise Ingram, District President and former St Giles CL, to help us celebrate our centenary in style.  Click here to take a look at the photos!

Centenary Dinner - 24 November 2012

To conclude our Centenary Year, we held a Centenary Dinner (cooked and served by the Scouts and Cubs) in St Giles Church on Saturday 24 November.  We invited all current and former members or supporters of St Giles Scout Group to come and join us to celebrate our Centenary, and to look forward to the future of Scouting at St Giles.  The dinner was held between 7pm until 9pm, to give the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts the opportunity to join us at the beginning, serve the food, and then go over to the Church Centre for a party as their celebration time!