The Needs of the Scouts at St. Stanislaus College

To Alumni/ae and Friends:

The Scout movement was founded in England in 1907 by Sir Robert Baden-Powell as “a voluntary nonpolitical educational movement for young people open to all without distinction of origin, race, or creed, in accordance with the purpose, principles and method conceived by the Founder”.  Its goal is “to contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social, and spiritual potentials as individuals, as responsible citizens, and as members of their local, national and international communities”.

In 1909, a scant two years after its founding, the Scout movement was introduced into Guyana (then the Colony of British Guiana aka BG), the first country in the Caribbean to do so, and the second in South America.  The initial Scout troop in BG was founded at Queen’s College, but it soon spread to other schools and churches and, by mid-century, there were over 25 troops in BG, many initiated by church schools and groups.

Working under Fr. Besant who later became Headmaster (1911-1917) of St. Stanislaus College, Fr. Alban Robinson, who was teaching at the College, became one of the pioneer Scout Masters of the Colony and founded the College Scout Troop IV in 1910.  These College scouts did gallant work at the time of the Brickdam Cathedral fire of 1913 and were very prominent in trying to control this disastrous fire which eventually completely destroyed the Cathedral.

By the late mid-twentieth century, the Scout movement had waned and had disappeared from the College but, in 1959, Fr. Harold Wong, then teaching at the College, resuscitated it as St. Stanislaus Troop 25 and, by the 3rd Caribbean Jamboree which celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Scouting, St. Stanislaus Own was one of the leading troops in the country.

In 1962, Fr. Darke, who had been trained as a Scout Leader in Gilwell, England, and who was then teaching at the College, took over as Scout leader and managed the College troop until his untimely death in 1979.  He transformed the troop and took the Scouts on many trips to the interior.  He trained his senior Scouts so well that, for several years after his death, the troop was run by the senior Scouts. He also made a great contribution to Scouting in Guyana as he also served on Guyana's Scout Executive Committee and was a member of the Leader Training Team.

Today, the College Scout troop continues to thrive and grow under the leadership of Laurence Fung, Group Scout Leader, and currently is comprised of ninety-six (96) members of whom twenty-three (23) are adults.

The problem with Scouting in Guyana today, as with many other activities there, is the lack of resources (equipment and financial) to achieve its objectives.  The Scout movement in Guyana receives no financial support from the Government, and its members must try continually to raise funds from private sources in order to obtain its equipment and to carry out its expected activities.  The St. Stanislaus troop is no exception, and its Scout Leader has sent us a list of items, based on their priority needs, which they need urgently.  We have obtained the prices of the items on the list and, were we to source them in Canada, the costs would be as shown below.

All prices are in Canadian dollars, and do not include taxes and shipping costs.  If any items are readily available in Guyana, funds would be made available to purchase them there. 

*Note:  Each Cooking Set includes one large, one medium, and one small saucepan (pot) (each with two handles and a cover), and one large frying pan.  If individual saucepans are donated, each should have the following sizes and have two handles and a cover.

                   Small                   7" dia x 5" deep

                   Medium               10" dia. x 7" deep

                   Large                   14" dia. x 10" deep

We are appealing to alumni/ae and friends to help us satisfy the needs of the Scout troop.  If you wish to participate, there are three ways of doing so.  First, you may donate an amount to the “general” fund for the purchasing of any of the equipment.  Secondly, you may wish to donate funds for the purchase of specific items on the list.  Finally, you may decide that you can donate the actual item because you have access to it.

In all cases, the donations are to be made to the St. Stanislaus College (Guyana) Alumni Society which is registered with the Government of Canada as a charity.  All donations (including actual items) will be acknowledged with official receipts for their values, which receipts may be used (in Canada) to reduce income tax payable to the Canadian Government.

All postal mail should be sent to:

St. Stanislaus College (Guyana) Alumni Society
Attention: Scout Troop Contribution
4544 Sheppard Avenue East
Toronto, Ontario
Canada  M1S 1V2

We thank you in anticipation of your generosity, and would like to receive all donations by the end of June, 2015.

Bunty Phillips
Chairman, Board of Directors, and Secretary
416-449-8032
brickdam@eol.ca