Next year the Scout Group at St Peter's Church in Hinckley is one hundred years old!  The Group has played a large part in the life of the parish over those years and in the lives of several generations of parishioners, as well as many others from outside the community from which we have mainly drawn our membership over the years.

A big celebration day is planned for Saturday 30 June next year. Our guest of honour will be the Bishop of Nottingham, Rt Rev Malcolm McMahon OP, who is going to celebrate the evening Mass that day.  We will also be joined by the National Catholic Scout Chaplain, Fr John Seddon, and by Fr John Kitchen of the Holy Ghost Fathers, who as a seminarian in the 1960s spent time at St Peter's and with the Scout Group.

The evening Mass will be followed by a traditional campfire, and plans are underway for activities during the afternoon.

In order to make the celebration a success, we are looking to do two things:

1.    We would like to see and involve as many of those who have been members of the Group over the years, both as boys - and girls in recent years - and those adults who worked with those young people as leaders and supporters.

We would be most grateful therefore if you could help us track down as many of those former members as possible through your own families and friends.

2.    One of our prize possessions is a log book created by the Scouts around 1950 setting out the history of the Group up to that date.  It's a fascinating read, and there are people mentioned in it who are still with us today, and there are family names that are still part of St Peter's community.

Greg Drozdz, one of our former Cub Scouts and now a local historian, is leading a project with our current Scouts and Cubs Scouts to bring the history of the Group up to date.

We would love to receive old photos and memories as well as artefacts.  In addition to updating the history of the Group, we hope to create an exhibition to be displayed on the weekend of the celebration.  We are also looking at the idea of a time capsule to be buried on the day itself.

We will arrange sessions for people to come and talk to those involved in the project, and for those who are housebound we will arrange house visits.

If you are able to help us in any way and hopefully join us on 30 June next year, you can contact us in a variety of ways:

-  By telephone to Group Scout Leader, Jim Gildea, 01455 611796

-  By telephone to Greg Drozdz, 01455 440103

-  Email 2ndhinckley100@gmail.com to register an interest and request updates, pass on any photos and memories, or to request an electronic copy of this letter to pass on to family and friends

-  Find us on Facebook by searching for St Peters 100 year celebration

-  Or simply speak direct to Jim or Greg, or indeed to any of the other adults involved with the Group…

As our plans firm up, we will publish updates in various ways, including email and Facebook.

We look forward to your help in setting up a memorable celebration and the renewal of old friendships.