History
There was a Group in the early thirties that we like to think was the forerunner of our Scout Group today.
3rd Hampton Hill (St James’s) was officially registered in 1949 by Stan Childs and George Casey (hence the name of the current scout headquarters, The George Stanley Hall).
For most of its life the Group met in the Parish Church Hall in School Road (now The Greenwood Centre) or on ‘the triangle’ then owned by British Rail and let to 3rd Hampton Hill under License from about 1970. This area was used for general outdoor activities or when the hall was not appropriate. When the Parish Hall was sold and redeveloped as The Greenwood Centre we transferred to Hampton Hill Junior School in Windmill Road.
In 1972 an old caravan was placed on the triangle to store equipment.
In 1976 the group erected a prefabricated garage and a prefabricated concrete single storey hall which was used for some section meetings, events and activities. We also replaced the caravan with an old porta-cabin.
British Rail decided to auction the land on 26th September 1990. Despite many pledges of help we lost the land. We stayed on as tenants to the new owner, living in hope that one day the land would be ours. Fortunately for us, the new owner was refused planning permission and we purchased the land with a grant from the Hampton Fuel Allotment Charity. The site is now held ‘in trust’ for the Scout Group by a set of Trustees.
The group held many social functions at ‘The Triangle’ until a fateful night on Friday 6th March 1992 when the arsonists struck and the building and contents were all but destroyed.
The Group, battered and bruised, carried on. Our numbers increased and hovered at around the 100 mark. One of the main challenges in front of us was to seek planning permission for a new scout hut and to build it as soon as possible. Thanks to an unstoppable team headed by John Nielsen the new Headquarters, The George Stanley Hall was officially opened in January 1998 by The Mayor of Richmond-upon-Thames (Councillor) Maureen Woodriff and the Group Scout Leader John Nielsen. This was once again funded by the Hampton Fuel Allotment Charity.
Today we are a flourishing and over-subscribed group with over 100 young people taking part in our section meetings every week.