History
The material and information below has been obtained from archive material of the Group which we are assuming is correct. Please contact info@145thglasgowscouts.org.uk if you have anything that will be of use to us.
The 145th Glasgow Scout Group was founded in 1942 in Giffnock by members of the then Giffnock Congregational Church. The first Group Scout Leader was Robert McFarlane.
THE EARLY DAYS (1940'S - 1960'S)
The Group was first registered in September 1942 with the first meetings of the Troop and Pack being held in October of that year. At this stage the Group consisted of 9 Scouts and 20 Cubs with Robert McFarlane as Group Scout Master, James Corse as Scout Master and Miss Jessie Croll as Cub Scout Mistress.
In 1943 the Group Colours were dedicated after being donated anonymously by friends of the Church. By this time the Group had grown and there were now 24 Scouts and 29 Cubs enrolled. The Group took part in collecting hundreds of gramophone records for the local military hospital and as part of the "Dig for Victory" campaign the Scouts dug up a large area of grass in front of the manse, hoping to qualify for their Gardener's badge, planted various vegetables despite the shallowness of the soil.
September 1948 saw the "Youth Hall" measuring 48ft by 18ft opened on the site of the current Large Hall having been purchased from the Ministry of Works for £330 and the first edition of the Group Magazine "Totem Pole"
By 1953 there were 24 Scouts and 45 Cubs in the Group and one year later PL's Alistair Park and Chris Whitfield became the first members of the 145th to receive their Queen's Scout Certificates at Gillwell Park.
In 1957 the Golden Jubilee of Scouting was marked by a service at Glasgow Cathedral a week long Scout Show at the Kelvin Hall and at the World Scout Jamboree at Sutton Coldfield by PL Robin Morgans and Scouter Lynn McIntyre.
THE 1970'S AND 1980'S
During the 1970's and 1980's the Group found itself having to undergo changes as the Scout Movement itself continued to evolve. There came a point in the early 1980's when the numbers in the Group were very low and their was a distinct lack of leaders within the Group. There were even discussions of amalgamation with the 127th (1st Thornliebank) Scout Group who met at Speirsbridge Church.
This never materialised and by the late 1980's the Group had come under the leadership of the minister of Giffnock Congregational Church, the Rev. Stuart Drummond. He had been very keen to ensure the Group remained viable within Giffnock itself and set about the process of rebuilding the Group and appointing new Leaders to the Group.
The 1980's also saw the creation of a new section, the Beaver Scout Colony which catered for youngsters aged 6-8 years of age.
THE 1990'S
By the beginning of the 1990's the numbers in the Group had dropped quite significantly and although numbers in the Scout Troop were reasonably healthy the Cub Pack numbers were in single figures and the Beaver Colony was not much better. Stuart Drummond enlisted Christine Smith as a Beaver Leader, Tony Chaplin and Kenneth Robertson as Cub Leaders and Campbell Cairns as Scout Leader. This, followed by the appointment of Brendan Harris as Group Chairman, saw the beginning of the resurgence in the fortunes of the 145th.
In 1993 the Group celebrated its Golden Jubilee and 50 years after the first Group Colours were dedicated a new Union Flag and Group Colour were presented by the Church and by donations to replace the originals which had seen better days. A reunion day saw original and founding members return and join with former and current Scouts for a re-dedication service and lunch. The Group by now had grown in strength again with 20 Beavers, 36 Cubs and 20 Scouts.
Summer Camps continued to be a major part of of the Troop calendar and in 1999 the Group took the ambitious step of venturing abroad, to Austria, the first time this had happened in many, many years. The success of this activity became part of the 145th calendar with a foreign camp every three years, meaning that every youngster in the group will have at least one opportunity to attend a foreign camp within their time in the Group. The Group have attended camps in 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2011 to Switzerland with the next foreign trip scheduled for 2014.
In 1995, Brendan Harris became Group Scout Leader, a post he currently holds making him one of the longest serving GSL's the group has ever had. In 1997 Campbell Cairns stood down as Scout Leader and was replaced by Mike Williams who was, in turn, succeeded in 1999 by Kenneth Robertson who transferred from the Cub Section to the Scout Section. Aileen Davidson became Cub Scout Leader and was succeeded by Lindsay Sharp.
2000'S
In 2001 a major shake up of the Scout Movement saw changes to age ranges and the creation of a new section for 14-18 year olds called Explorer Scouts. This section has continued to develop over the last nine years and the creation of Pegasus Explorer Scout Unit, a joint unit between the 145th and the 35th (Crookfur) marked a sea-change in provision of activity for this age group. Pegasus ESU has continued to grow over the years, with 20 members in 2011 and a significant number of youngsters embarking on the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme as well as 10 young people completing their Explorer Belt Expedition in Canada in the Summer of 2010.
2003 saw David Rae being selected to attend the 20th World Scout Jamboree in Thailand, the first 145th Scout for many years to achieve this honour. In 2007, David Carnan, Mark Carnan and Ross Morton were selected to be part on the 21st World Scout Jamboree, the Centenary Jamboree, in Essex and in 2011 Martin Dunn, Angus Lauder, Nicholas Stewart and Sam Wood were members of the Clyde Unit Contingent, led by leaders Kenneth Robertson and Gordon Jack to the 22nd World Scout Jamboree in Sweden.
The Group continues to go from strength-to-strength with a regular calendar of activities including a Burns Supper for the Cubs, Scouts and Explorers, annual long distance walks for the Scouts at Easter as well as camps and outing throughout the year. The Group also now boasts a number of young leaders who have come through the ranks from Beavers to Cubs to Scouts to Explorers to Leadership.
The summer of 2011 saw a number of changes in Group Leadership. Moira Harris stood down as Beaver Scout Leader, becoming an assistant to Carla Cocozza and Lynne Morton who took on the Beaver Leader role. Thomas Craig took over from Lindsay Sharp as Cub Scout Leader, Lindsay remaining as an assistant and also taking on the role as Assistant Group Scout Leader. Kenneth Robertson stood down as Scout Leader on his appointment as Deputy Chief Commissioner of Scotland and was succeeded by Colin Lamont, with continued assistance from Brendan Harris, Ross Morton and Terence Rae for the Troop.
THE 2020's - THE PRESENT DAY
The start of the 2020's was marked by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns which changed the face of Scouting for a number of years. Scouting moved online, with young people and adults adapting to meetings on ZOOM and carrying out activities in their back gardens. Although numbers dropped slightly during this period the Group remained healthy. When face to face Scouting returned, albeit with social distancing and mask wearing for older sections, the Leaders held many meetings outside. 2022 saw the return to a more "normal" pattern with Beavers, Cubs and Scouts all having Nights Away experiences - the Scouts attending the Kent International Jamboree in the summer of 2022. In August 2022, Brendan Harris stood down as Group Scout Leader - a position he had held since 1995 and the Group acknowledged this at the 2022 AGM. His service was also recognised at the UK Parliament in an early day motion raised by the local MP. Brendan was succeeded in the role of GSL by Kenneth Robertson, who returned to the Group after 15 years as Explorer Scout Leader at Pegasus Explorer Scout Unit.
In 2023 the Group held their first 145th Tartan Ramble at Whitelee Windfarm and also held a whole Group Camp to mark the end of the celebrations of the 80th Birthday year.
In 2024 a further change to structures will take place with a team approach to leadership and the replacement of the Group Executive with a Trustee Board (given we are a registered charity) and various teams to support the programme and fundraising.
For many years now the Scout Movement has been fully co-educational and the 145th has led from the front in Eastwood District with girls now in all four sections of the Group. As it stands in 2023 there are 20 Beavers, 30 Cubs, 18 Scouts and 34 Explorer Scouts as well as 13 Adult Leaders.
