Award for thriving Scout group

PILLERTON Scout Group has won an award for its healthy membership — just 18 months after being formed.

The group has been presented with the Growth Award at Warwickshire County Scouts’ annual Strategic Objective Awards.

The group — until last month Warwickshire’s newest Scout group — was set up by a group of parents in Ettington and held its first meeting in March last year.

Now it has over 60 boys and girls in its Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, with more on the waiting list.

There are also 16 leaders with a full executive committee, and a group of five dedicated fundraisers who have organised events that have so far generated around £6,000.

They also have had sponsorship from Wellesbourne Lions, Shipston Rotary Club and Ettington Village Shop.

They are also vying for votes as they bid for money from Tesco at its stores at the Maybird Centre and Banbury Road, and count well-known polar explorer, Mark Wood, who lives in Ettington, as a supporter through his ambassadorial role with the Scouts UK.

Until last week Pillerton Scouts was the newest in the county, when a group opened in North Warwickshire.

Group leader, Colette Inman, said: “We were really, really pleased to win the award. The Scout Association is really pushing for growth.

It’s a pat on the back for all the people who have worked so hard to get the group up and running in such a short space of time, and to their hard work in keeping the group going.”

Anyone interested in joining the group or volunteering should e-mail gsl@pillertonscoutgroup.org.uk