Group History
The 27th Woolwich was formed by three members of the Wesley Hall Methodist Church congregation, in 1930. The three founders were Les Hogger, Stan Hopgood, and Henry Stock. The Group originally only consisted of the Boy Scout Troop, with a different neckerchief design than the one used today, of black with a grey border.
Through those first few years the group built on their early successes by instilling a family spirit as a backbone to the troop. The Troop then continued on throughout the war years providing a valuable service towards the war effort. They kept together through the hard times with that strong family spirit that continues to this day, with descendents of the founders still at the group.
In 1950 the scoutmasters found that the younger brothers of the Scout Troop also wanted to be part the scouting experience, and the elder scouts did not want to leave the Troop either. So the leadership team then expanded, and the Wolf Cub Pack and Senior Scout sections were created.
The following year, to celebrate their 21st birthday and the formation of the Scout Group, a new Neckerchief design of black and grey halves (the current one used today) was adopted.
Now with a bigger group the 27th Woolwich continued with it's tradition of putting on their variety show at Wesley Hall, called "The Groupsters". From these early performances the leaders gained many skills in putting on a show, and many of them later had key roles in the organising and running of the first Woolwich Gang Show in 1954. Indeed, throughout the run of the District Gang Show the 27th Woolwich played a major role in it’s organisation, with it's members forming over a quarter of it's cast, crew, and management team.
The next milestone for the group to celebrate was their 25th anniversary, in 1955. To mark the event a celebration dinner was held at Wesley Hall and a new set of colours were presented to the group.
The group continued on until 1970 when a programme change forced the Senior Scout section to close. However to accommodate the elder members of the group, the new Venture Scout Unit was opened as a mixed unit. The programme change also saw the Wolf Cub Pack, renamed as the Cub Scout Pack.
In 1986, the group expanded further with the creation of the Beaver Scout Colony. However the biggest change to the group was yet to come. In 1992, following a directive for the Scout Association, girls were allowed to join the group in all sections. One of the first groups in the District to do so
The arrival of the new millennium in 2000 also saw the group celebrate its 70th anniversary. A lot of debate surrounded the celebrations, but in the end the leadership team decided to recreate the 25th anniversary dinner, which was attended by past and present members, and the one surviving founder member of the group.
In 2002 the Scout Movement implemented a new programme, which resulted in a restructuring of the sections. As a result of this change, a special Christmas dinner was held at Frylands Wood campsite for Unit members, to mark the transition of the Venture Scout Unit into the Badgers Explorer Scout Unit.
The group continues to go from strength to strength, and recently celebrated the centenary of scouting in 2007 with a “27th reunited” event that welcomed back members of the group, from across the generations, to reminisce their times at the group.
