The first meeting of 1st Ewell Court(St. Clement's) Scout Group, comprising initially of a Scout Troop, took place on Monday 27th October 1947. Scouts had been meeting at St. Clement's for 5 years beforehand but only as an overspill from 14th Epsom headquarters.
The Troop was then led by Dennis Allen, who spent the next 6 years running one or more sections before retiring in 1988. For his work in Scouting Dennis was presented with the Papal Award "Bene Merenti" and on retirement was made an Honorary Scouter by the District and President for life by the Group Executive.
Scouting was tough in those early days; camping in open fields, digging and using trench latrines, cooking on wood fires, travelling in the backs of lorries and saving up clothing coupons to buy uniforms.
The upside was that people were able to find more time for Scouting. For more than thirty years the Scout Troop every year made a 2 week camp in the summer, a 1 week camp at Easter and a weekend camp at Spring Bank Holiday. Additionally there were training sessions most Saturday mornings. All of this training made us one of the most successful groups in District competitions and resulted in 10 Scouts achieving Scouting's highest honour - the King's / Queen's Scout Badge.
The Scouts camped all over the South of England and Wales but with the formation of a Senior Scout Unit (later becoming the Venture Unit) and the growing experience of the younger Scouts, they travelled overseas; to Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Norway, Holland and Belgium - savouring the World Wide Brotherhood of Scouting.
In the mid 50s a Cub Pack was formed and that quickly became as successful as the Scout Troop the Cubs would feed into. Even younger children wanted to join in the excitement and so, in September 1989, a Beaver Colony was set up, the emphasis on their programme being FUN.
The Group has run with three sections (Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts) for a number of years with varying levels of success over the years but always surviving. Our recent strength has allowed us to form the Trident Explorer Unit whose members are also an integral part of our leadership team helping out in the other sections within the Group and in other Groups both within the Epsom and Ewell District and other Districts nearby.
Having been founded in 1947, 2007 marked 60 years of Scouting at St. Clement's - our Diamond Jubilee in the Centenary Year of Scouting.