About Us & Our History

In 2010, the 5th Reigate Scout Group celebrated 100 Years of Scouting in Merstham.

Early days

5th Reigate Scout Group – The original group was formed in 1921 and was situated at the Provincial Police Orphanage, located off London Road, and now the site of the East Surrey College.

The group ran from 1921 to 1946.

Group Amalgamation and Modern Times

The 5th Reigate Scout Group was re-instated in 1966, with the amalgamation of all the above groups.

The new group HQ was in Newton Hazel Hall, Battlebridge Lane, Merstham.

In 2002, under the chairmanship of local GP Dr. David Aslett, the group raised a substantial amount of money to pay for a new roof to the hall.

So we have a direct historic family tree stretching back over 100 years of Scouting in Merstham.

We should be very proud of this heritage.

Family Ties

Over the years a number of families have contributed by providing leaders and keeping the group running through the good and bad times. For their efforts, we all owe them a debt of gratitude.

One of our Cub Packs is called the Clark Pack in honour of Father Clark, who founded the 4th Reigate Scout Group in 1952.

Before closing in the early 2000s, our second Cub Pack was called Warren Pack, after Charlie Warren, who ran the Cub Pack at the 28th Reigate Scout Group for many years.

We must make special mention of the Gibson family, especially Cliff and Doris, who over the past 40 some years were the mainstay of the 5th.

Our Monday Cub Pack is known as the Gibson Pack in their honour.

Doris Gibson ran the Cubs for a number of years and is still fondly remembered locally.

Cliff Gibson, our oldest and deeply respected colleague was a Scout Leader in 1972.

Two years later he was asked if he knew anybody that would take on the role of Cub Scout Leader, he replied “Yes, my wife (Doris) would love to do that”, so she started up a Cub Scout pack.

Later that became two Cub packs, meeting on a Monday and Tuesday, with a maximum of 36 boys in each pack.

At one point we had three Cub packs, with the third meeting on a Thursday.

Many of the current leadership team learned our trade from Cliff and Doris and still hold them with great regard and respect.

Doris stayed with the group until her death in 2010, she was well known in Scouting and the community as a whole.

Her husband Cliff was a much valued asset to our Group, helping with everything and doing anything he was asked until he sadly passed away in December 2012.

Portraits of both Cliff and Doris hang in the small hall at the Scout Hut, keeping a kindly eye on us.

If you are an ex-Scout, Cub, Leader or Parent who has been involved with the 5th in the past and have any memories,
articles or photographs, please contact the Group GSL team team.gsl@5thrscouts.org

We will be pleased for any information you can supply which will help us fill the many blanks in our history.

Don’t be shy we would love to hear from anyone who can help!