Helping Others

It’s always been part of the Scout ethos to help others and 2nd Renfrew is no exception.  Our historical records included the letter below, which was one of a few over the years, the outcome of the work in the letter creating the second one, which is a thank you on behalf of an elderly lady who lived in Fauldshead Road, Renfrew.  Both original letters were on display at our memorabilia events and transcribed for ease of reading (and to prevent them being handled) – here are the transcribed versions …

Making enquiries of former Scouts we discovered that cutting fallen trees on the Blythswood Estate happened more than once, so we’re thinking the following letter of thanks may be related to the tree work, albeit this letter is dated 1951.

Our archives produced another example of helping others.  It’s a Quiz (unfortunately undated) produced by the 1st Renfrew Air Rangers and 2nd Renfrew Rover Crew.  We published the quiz for our memorabilia displays, encouraged visitors to take one away and let us know the answers (because none of us knew all of them!).  No-one managed to complete it, so if you figure it out, please send an e-mail to 2ndrenfrewtrinityscoutgroup@gmail.com.  We’d really like to know all the answers!

The Rovers did a lot of other good work for various groups – you’ll see this if you look at the book on the Rover Dens (it’s in the Explorer/Venture/Rover display section).

To summarise it here, the Rovers teamed up with the local Ranger Guide Unit (which was connected to the Old Parish Church) and, between them, the groups held parties for children from Quarriers Home and handed out parcels on Christmas day to older people who lived alone, as identified by church ministers.

The parties for the children were thoroughly enjoyed as there was all manner of food and games.  Rovers reckoned it was not a good party unless one of two of the children were sick, but not sick in the car!

Funds for the food parcels and gifts were raised by projects undertaken by the Rovers throughout the year – the Quiz is one such project.  Another activity which helped others was the Rovers collecting fallen wood from Blythswood Estate, chopping it up and either selling it to buy gifts for the elderly as identified by one of the Ministers, or donating the chopped wood as a gift (as you’ll have seen from the earlier thank you letter).  We also discovered that in 1983/4 the Rovers donated to the Bob Reid Foundation and to a National Venture Scout Clean Water Project in Sri Lanka.

The Rovers also teamed up with the Rangers to help out at Baxter House, the Church of Scotland Care Home at Great Western Road, to allow some of the staff to have Christmas Day and Boxing Day off.  (The Care Home has now been turned in to private flats.)  As the years went on Ranger Guides ended their involvement at Baxter House but the Rovers, and subsequently Scouts, continued to support the Home.  One of our former Venture Scout Leaders offered to write about the work at Baxter House and we gladly accepted that offer – his article is available here.

Whizzing through time to 2012, the Scout Organisation saw the introduction of Scout Job Week, but, wait … this isn’t a new phenomenon – it’s a reintroduction and revamp of the old ‘Bob-a-Job Week’ (which first took place in 1949).  How many of you remember that week?  It certainly brought back memories to some of those preparing the displays – we could even describe the stickers!

For the younger folk among us, here’s the background to Bob-A-Job:

The purpose was that Scouts were to do jobs and be paid for them, the money raised going to the Scout Troop.  For each job they were paid a Bob, or a Shilling, which is 5p in today’s money, although we’re sure many of those who had jobs done gave a little more; the Scouts certainly expected more than that!

Jobs were, with a few exceptions, generally not too bad – they included doing dishes, a bit of gardening, washing a car, polishing shoes, tidying your room, helping at home, etc.  However, one of our leaders gave us an amusing story about one of his jobs, for which payment was certainly out of kilter with the job he did – he was paid substantially less than he should have been.

Every Scout who took part was given a card which had to be filled in by the person who gave them the job, and, if the person didn’t want any more jobs done, they were given a sticker to display to show that a Scout had visited and a job had been done.  We’re sure many Scouts learned new skills though the Bob-a-Job week, but also learned exactly what they didn’t like to do!  We have a record of a few job memories, so if you’re a former Trinity Scout and have a memory you’d like to share, please give us the details and we’ll record it.

The Bob-a-Job Scheme ended in 1992 for the safety of the youngsters, as by now everyone was well aware that it was no longer safe for them to be knocking on doors of people unknown to them and go on to their property to do jobs.

There was then a gap of 20 years until 2012 when Scout Job Week was introduced.  This initiative removed the need to knock on doors, instead encouraging youngsters to work in supervised groups on local projects.  Things have moved on from washing cars and polishing shoes, as today’s Job Week is to encourage events such as clearing woodland, building habitats for wildlife, getting rid of graffiti and so the list goes on.

• Did you know?

Bob-A-Job week was launched in 1949 by Lord Rowallan (Chief Scout from 1945 – 1959) as a way of raising funds. He announced the venture on a trip to New Zealand. The 2nd Renfrew Archiving Team trawled old newspapers and unearthed an extract from The Renfrew Press Newspaper of 1 April 1949 which provides details of Lord Rowallan’s announcement.  Here’s a copy of the article from The Renfrew Press.  It’s difficult to read, so we retyped it as you’ll see further down the page.

Here it is a bit clearer:

In 2020 we decided that the Group could help others by introducing a Scout Post.  Although users of our post would be charged for the delivery, we well and truly undercut the Post Office (we charged 25p per item), and decided that the funds raised would go to Charity.  We were in the middle of the Covid pandemic, so thought helping others by delivering their cards, saving them some expense and giving to Charity is really what we’re all about.  Christmas 2020 therefore saw the first Trinity Scout Post.  There was a further post in 2021 and we intend to continue this service for years to come.

We advertised it to the congregation in Trinity church, through our young people, on our website and by word of mouth and were delighted by the uptake.  We decided to advertise our services, and our Group while doing the post, so had two stamps made which were on every envelope:

Here’s how we introduced our first Scout Post:

As you’ll see from the Group’s thank you (below), the event was well supported and a great success.

You’ll also see that the Group decided to donate all funds to Charity, retaining none of it for ourselves.  This thank you was printed in the church newsletter and the Group’s Facebook page, to ensure all who supported us were aware of our gratitude, how much we raised and about our change of plan in that all funds were donated.  Glasgow City Mission and Glasgow Spirit of Christmas both sent thank you letters, which we were able to share with our Group.

2nd Renfrew also provided a rather unusual form of assistance, which you’ll have seen if you read the Early Years display.  This help was in 1933 and took the form of our Scout Troop, who were at their annual summer camp, helping at a successful archaeological dig at Southend, Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland.

This was such an unusual occurrence that news of it made the Glasgow Herald Newspaper and Scout HQ at Gilwell Park.  As a result, the Troop was sent a signed portrait of Lord Baden‑Powell (sadly, it seems to have been lost in the mists of time, so if anyone reading this knows of its whereabouts, please let us know, or if you have it, please pass it over – return will be reprimand free and will not incur a fine … Scout’s Honour!).

Not content to let the memory of the archaeology work sit at 1933 we’ve done some investigating and are delighted that in addition to the Glasgow Herald and Gilwell Park recognising what we did, we’ve also been noted in a book entitled “Another Summer in Kintyre” by Mr. Angus Martin.  We’ve been in touch with Mr. Martin who was delighted by our contact and sent us a printer’s proof of his book so that we can see 51st Renfrewshire (2nd Renfrew) is mentioned.    Mr. Martin also sent his congratulations on our centenary and told us he’ll advise the owners of the farm on which the 1933 camp took place that the same Group is still going strong.

Here’s ‘our’ extract from “Another Summer in Kintyre” by Mr. Angus Martin:

“The Big Cave at Keil was excavated a decade after Saint Kieran’s Cave and revealed intermittent occupation since about the 3rd century AD. The excavation appears to have been more efficiently conducted, yet there was something of the pantomime about it, too. When Ludovic Mann and J. Harrison Maxwell arrived in Southend on 19 July 1933, they found the 51st Renfrewshire Boy Scouts camped at Keil and immediately enlisted the whole camp as labourers!”

Interestingly, our record is that we volunteered to help; the written record above is that we were enlisted.  We’re going to opt for volunteering, as that’s what true Scouts do.

We also have a newspaper extract regarding the dig.  In the article you’ll see that 51st Renfrewhshire (which is 2nd Renfrew) are noted.  (We apologise for the blue boxes round some words – they were the search words for the article and we can’t get rid of the boxes):

• We do have to ask – How many Scout Troops have an professional archaeological dig, and a successful one at that, in their history?

The Scouts’ archaeological activity piqued our interest and pompted a bit of further research.  As a result of that, we discovered that photographs of our assistance at the dig are recorded online in the Canmore website.  We have included the photographs (black and white) below and wish to formally record that they are owned by the Canmore.  The colour photographs were very kindly taken for us by the current owners of Keil Farm, so that everyone can see the area the Scouts camped in (who wouldn’t want to camp there with that scenery?), and also what the cave looks like today.

Group photo at Keil Cave archaeological dig. Scouts and Archaeologists

51st Renfrewshire Scouts with traveller at archaeological dig

Inside the cave in 2021

51st Renfrewshire taking part in archaeological dig

Young 51st Renfrewshire Scout with archaeologists

Keil Caves with Mull of Kintyre in the background

For the last bit of information about ‘our’ dig, we have 1933 campsite, photographed in colour in 2021:

Believe it or not, there’s a lot more help given to others … speaking to some of our former members also revealed that that we helped with the Paisley Multiple Sclerosis Society (the MS Society) and Scouts at Corseford Residential School for less able youngsters (Corseford).

When he was a Venture Scout and subsequently Assistant Venture Scout Leader, Donald McLeod (who became one of our GSL’s) organised/co-ordinated the activities with the MS Society and Corseford, as this help formed part of the Venture Scout Award.  With thanks to Donald, we now know what was involved:

MS Society

Our assistance covered transport and wheelchair duties at the MS Society’s monthly meetings.  This involved travelling around the district in an adapted minibus and getting the folk into the bus and then transporting them to the meetings, usually held on a Thursday night, in Ralston Community Centre. The end of the evening saw the whole process in reverse, usually getting home for 11.00/11.30 at night.

The evening was made all the more enjoyable by an endless supply of sausage rolls and sandwiches!

Corseford

Around 1974, we were approached by Gordon Graham (another ex-Scout) who was at the time the Scout Leader at Corseford Residential School in Johnstone. He was in need of assistance and two Trinity Scout members (Donald (McLeod) and Derek McHugh) volunteered their services. This involved weekly attendance at Corseford and generally helping in the running of a troop night for their Scouts.

In 1976, the Corseford Troop attended a week long summer camp at Castle Douglas. Gordon Graham, Derek and Donald all attended. Given the special needs involved, the training, preparation and attendance at this camp was more intensive than anything Donald has ever experienced in Scouting.  Did he enjoy the week?  Absolutely.  He said the smiles on the faces of the young people and the fun they had made for a fantastic week for everyone.

Finally, there was help at Lapwing Lodge (Peesweep to some of us ‘oldies’).  Here’s what Grant Wilson, one of our former Assistant Scout Leaders and now our ‘Q’, told us about help at Lapwing:

Lapwing Lodge Scout Centre (or Peesweep as it was formerly known) will be familiar to generations of our members and will undoubtedly be the source of many memories.

It’s over a hundred years old and, like a lot of us, it has been subject to many changes in direction in its life.

Here’s its story so far:

Lapwing Lodge began Life as a (Tuberculosis) Sanatorium for Coats Mill workers in 1910.  At this time the veranda was open to the elements for the patients to be wheeled out into the fresh air to recover (fresh air was the only help until the discovery, and widespread use of penicillin). It remained in the Coats’ ownership until 1955.

In 1959 it was offered to Paisley Burgh and Renfrew County Council, but rejected, after which the building deteriorated.  Ownership changed again this time to the Red Cross in 1960 and Paisley Scouts used the grounds for camping.

In 1968 Renfrewshire County Scout Council negotiated a 20‑year lease from The Health Board and work started on improving the facilities to make them more user friendly for camping.

In 1988 Renfrew and Inverclyde Regional Scout Council bought Peesweep from Renfrew District Council and started to improve the deteriorated building and add to the accommodation and site.

The name was changed in 1983 from Peesweep to Lapwing Lodge (which it remains today).  It is wholly owned by West Region Scout Council and operates on a not-for-profit basis.

It serves a strong and useful resource which meets many of the fundamental needs of Scouting – Our founder, Baden‑Powell said “A week of camp life is worth six months of theoretical teaching in the meeting room”.

It provides good quality, back to basic, self-catering, accommodation and a large camp field which have played host to a range of events scouting and non-scouting events over the years including patrol, summer and international camps and easy access to the Caplaw Dam on which a range of water activities can take place.

The site is managed by the Lapwing Lodge Management Board in conjunction with Warden. 2nd Renfrew have been involved with helping the operations on site in a variety of ways over the years.

Our Venture Scouts have undertaken a number of work parties to tackle specific tasks. A memorable one for many would be moving the gate posts from the back car park to entrance at the main road – by hand and then erecting them.

That’s a distance of some 600 metres, no fingers were broken and neither were the concrete gate posts – here’s an image of the posts:

Gateposts at Lapwing Lodge

A number of 2nd Renfrew Scouts joined the Lapwing Camp Staff and became regular visitors to the site and undertook a range of activities including:

• Grass cutting
• Humps and hollows – for the uninitiated this was undertaken to improve the facilities and involved working your way across the camping field and cutting the tops of the lumps, lifting the turf in a nearby hollow and swapping them over!
• Improving drainage in the camping fields
• Minor maintenance tasks like painting, arranging the woodpile
• Mass tree planting
• Maintaining cleanliness standards within the facility

It wasn’t all hard work though, there are some fun times to be had, the camp staff also spent many hours helping others by:

• providing support and advice to ensuring the welfare of young people on patrol
  

  Lapwing Campfire

  camps

• building and leading campfires – here’s one such campfire …

Finally …

Many good Scout events finish with a campfire, so with that being our last picture, we close this article with thanks for taking the time to read it.  We know there’s a lot here and hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about us.