Group HQ | 3rd Devizes Scouts

Group Headquarters

For many years the Group did not have its own headquarters. All meetings were held in St Joseph's School.

In 1978, on the reopening of the Scout Troop, the parish offered the use of a wooden hut in the church grounds that had been built for a, by then defunct, parish organisation. The offer was accepted and after some work to tidy up the building and install an electricity supply and a water supply the Scout Troop moved in while the Cub Pack continued to meet in the school.

The hut was only twenty feet by twelve which meant that when the Troop had grown to twenty-four members, which it did in the first year, it was rather cramped. Usable space was then reduced by shelving along one of the long walls to accomodate the growing amount of camping kit that the Group bought.

Around 1980 the Junior Branch of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust donated a concrete sectional building to the Group. The Canal Trust had been unable to find a suitable site to erect the hut. Gaiger Bros kindly loaned a lorry to transport the sections to the church grounds but unfortunately permission to erect it was not granted and so the building was passed on to Lavington School.

In the early 1980s the Parish Priest of the day wanted to develop the church grounds to include a cemetery, so the wooden hut had to go. At the same time the old outside lavatories of the school were being gutted and refurbished to be used by the parish youth club. However, by the time the work was done the youth club had closed and so the Group was offered the building as a replacement headquarters. The wooden shelves were dismantled and rebuilt in the new building and electricty and water were laid on. The Wharf Theatre was replacing its seats and so some of the old ones were acquired and installed. One of the Leaders, Mr Colin Garrett, painted a mural on one of the walls, part of which can seen in the Scouts go for a Million photograph on the Scout Troop 20th Century page. The building was used as an equipment store and for meetings of the Executive Committee. The Cub Pack and the Scout Troop met in the school hall.

In 1996 the school wished to demolish the old lavatories in order to develop the site and the Group had to leave. Fortunately Gaiger Bros kindly offered the use of a warehouse to store all the equipment and a lorry to shift it while a massive findraising effort was launched. Waste paper collection bins were installed outside the church and the Group Scout Leader made regular trips to a local newsagent to collect its out-of-date newspapers and to two local travel agents to collect their redundant catalogues. In less than two years enough funds were raised and in April 1998 the Group purchased a brand new shipping container for £2,117. The container was placed in one corner of the church car park and the wooden shelving was reassembled in it. All the equipment was retrieved from the warehouse and placed in the new container. Subsequently the container was moved off the car park onto a piece of adjacent land. Following the closure of the Group, it passed into the ownership of the Parish.