Group

History

1st Westerfield Scout Group was first registered in June 1954 and is a Church of England sponsored group. The group became active when the   Cub Pack was opened in 1955 by Mrs Haywood who lived in the village, it was supported by St Mary’s Church under the leadership of Rev Douglas Fayers.

Michael Mayhew who moved into the area from Oulton Broad at the age of 18yrs in 1956 became the first Scout Leader. He was joined by David Ewles a friend also from Oulton Broad in 1958 who became his assistant. It had a troop of five boys, one being James Fenton who later became Scout Leader, until a change of jobs forced him to move out of the area in 1973, and his father Ernie became the Groups first GSL in 1960 until 1967 and was an active supporter for twenty-five years. The current Scout Leader, Peter Runnacles, was a Scout when James Fenton was leader.

In 1980 a Venture Scout Unit was started with Mike Hobson as Leader and was active until Explorers started when members went to the District Explorer Unit.

For most of the time since it opened, the Group was part of the Ipswich East District. When the County was restructured and some Districts were merged, Group was moved into Deben District.

Today

Westerfield is a small village in Suffolk two miles fromIpswich and though only approx 3 km2 in area its Scout Group has a large catchment area covering some six villages. The Group is open to Boys and Girls from 6 years old to 14 years old.