Croatia trip for Chorley scout group

Chorley Healey scout troop hosted the first Croatian scout group to visit the UK in July 2014.

The 33-strong Chorley contingent will become the first group from this country to visit the Croatians - the Zelenna Patrola (Green Patrol) from the small village of Rajic - this August.

Jeff Melling, assistant scout leader with Chorley Healey scouts, said: “All our scouts took pride in showing our visitors around Chorley and the local area.

“Cultural links and life friendships were made.

“We plan to help our friends renovate their scout hut which at the moment is a bombed out school left from the Yugoslav conflict into functional scout premises and a local community centre.”

The Chorley scouts are currently raising money for the trip.

They will hold a fund raising weekend at at their scout hut on Wright Street Chorley, on June 4 and 5, from 11am to 4pm.

Attractions will include a jumble sale, plant stall, books, clothes, bric-a-brac raffle, cake stall and much more.

There will also be a wide range of fun activities on the nearby Highfield Primary School playing field.

“We need to raise funds to fill the van, that we are taking, with building materials and scouting equipment that the Croatian’s desperately need,” Jeff.

Chorley Healey scout group started out as Rivington and Heath Charnock Group in 1949.

It closed down in March 1954, but was reformed in September the same year.

In 1960 most of its scouts came from Chorley, so they moved into the town.

With no permanant home they used, among other venues, Eaves Lane Congregational Church, the Mayfield Centre on Stump Lane and The Community centre on Railway Street.

They aqcuired a plot of land next to Highfield Primary School in 1962 and built a scout hut”.

They moved in in 1965 until it was burned down by vandals in August 1993.

Highfield School became the next home until the new district centre/Chorley Healey Scout hut was opened in April 1996.