About the Group

History of the Group

Deep in the heart of Cowley lays the oldest Scout Group in Oxford Spires District, 2nd Oxford.  2nd Oxford first opened their doors in 1908.  They were and still are sponsored by SS Mary & John Church.  2nd Oxford was a very successful group with a Cub and Scout section, together with a Venture Scout Section.  They were led by Reg Hayes, a scouter who was around at the beginning of the Group.  Time went on and being stuck out of the way in Cowley, the Group fell on hard times, losing numbers and leaders, with a scout premises in disrepair.

In 2015 the Group was on the brink of closure with only 8 Cubs and 4 Scouts and no waiting list. The District Commissioner arranged a meeting. The meeting from the Districts point of view was to suspend the Group, to re-group and find a way to raise numbers and take the group forward.  The Cub Leader thought this was a catastrophic idea and asked for an opportunity to try and make things work. 

Given a deadline of Christmas to increase numbers or the Group would close its doors for the final time.

The first Cub evening after this meeting (run as a launch) doubled the Cub Pack instantly. The next task was to arrange the long overdue AGM, and the leaders managed to convince enough parents to make a full executive committee – this was a very good start!  

Rather than closing the group, things were successful to the point, that The Group asked to open up a Beaver section which opened its doors in June 2016.

 Today we have a fully functioning Squirrel Drey, Beaver Colony, Cub Pack, Scout Troop and Executive Committee. We are always looking for new volunteers to help in the sections, on the committee or with any other offers of help.