Wistaston scout leader John Bennett has been awarded an MBE in the Kings Birthday Honours list, for services to young people in Cheshire.
John, born in Milton Keynes in 1944, was a wolf cub and then a boy scout with 1st Wolverton Scout Group.
He left Wolverton in 1964 to move to Crewe where his future wife lived.
He took a break from scouting as he settled down with a new job (police officer with Cheshire Constabulary) and a young family.
In 1974 he responded to a plea for help from 38th South West Cheshire and became the Scout Leader for that group.
Pressures of work meant he could not devote the necessary time to the group and he stepped back and remained in the District Fellowship.
The Fellowship was very active in South West Cheshire, there were many fund raising activities by way of dinners, dances and most of all (for him) the Crewe Gang Show.
That association with Gang Show continues to this day as they prepare for the 2024 show for which he is the Technical Director.
His job meant he had one weekend off every four weeks and during summer it was spent as a warden at the County Camp Site at Sandiway.
He still spends a lot of time at the site in his role as County Safety Advisor.
When he became Group Scout Leader (GSL) at Wistaston Scout Group in 2007 he took over a very successful group.
The group has flourished and is the largest in the district with two Beaver colonies, two Cub packs and two Scout troops all supported by about 30 leaders.
The group’s new building has been built during his tenure.
John drove that project but he had a fantastic team behind him and without them the project would have failed.
He is currently GSL 35th South West Cheshire, District Secretary South West Cheshire, County Safety Advisor and member of Cheshire Scouts Trustee Board.
John said: “I am very surprised, honoured and humbled (and over the moon) with the news.
“I am sure that without the fantastic leaders I have worked with over the years this award would not have been possible.”
Citation:
John Bennett has worked tirelessly in support of Scouting in South West Cheshire since 1974. He worked as a Police Officer and in his free time was a Scout Leader and the Technical Director for the Local Gang Show. He retired from the Police in 2001 and although running his own business continued to give his time generously and for the past 15 years, he has been the Group Scout Leader for the Wistaston Scout Group. He has now retired from work, but this has just given him more time to commit to Scouting and he also now fill roles as the District Secretary and is the Safety Officer for the County Executive Committee.
In 2014 it was recognised that the Scout Hut occupied by the Wistaston Scout Group was becoming unusable. It had been built by volunteers in the 1970s but the foundations were not stable and cracks had developed in the walls; it needed to be replaced.
The building was on a perfect site for Scouting, the Bluebell Wood in Wistaston, Cheshire. The land was leased from the Parish Council, but the building belonged to the Scout Group. Under John Bennett’s trusted and influential tenure as Group Scout Leader, the Wistaston Scout Group has become most successful in the District in terms of numbers, retention and achieving Scouting Awards. It also has a significant group of leaders and assistants many of whom started scouting in Wistaston and stayed to become adult leaders. They range in age from 18 to 80.
This vibrant, successful, and popular Scout Group was in danger of folding if the building had to be closed. After looking at a number of alternatives, including using shared facilities such as the village hall, John had the foresight and vision to campaign to replace the old Scout Hut with a purpose-built Scout Centre. This would be built on the existing site, with the correct foundations to ensure it would remain fit for purpose for future generations.
The project was ambitious and required leadership, commitment, dedication, and determination to raise the funds, agree the design and obtain the necessary planning permission. Whilst this was going on John also continued to act as the Group Scout Leader for a now dispersed Scout Group. He did this magnificently, but it took real determination to maintain the spirit of the Group over the nearly two years it took to complete the project.
He took the lead and with his passionate and persuasive enthusiasm gained the backing of the Executive Committee, the Leaders and parents to support the project. This was a significant commitment and once the decision had been made it took dogged determination to raise the funds. He used his extensive network of contacts, built over more than 40 years of continuous selfless community support and raised more than £300,000.
Through Scouting he has been an inspiration and provided a positive and significant impact on the lives of many hundreds of young people. He has helped develop the life skills, self-confidence and independence of several generations of Scouts. His infectious enthusiasm and determination for the project persuaded individuals, charitable bodies and other organisations to give generously to support his vision. All could see the commitment and determination he had given to Scouting and all could see what a positive impact it has had on the lives of so many.
Once the old Scout Hut closed, he had to ensure Scouting continued. He is very well known and very highly regarded within the local Scouting community. Consequently, when he asked for help, he easily found temporary lodgings for two Beaver Scout Colonies, two Cub Scout Packs and two Scout Troops with other local Scout Groups who offered the use of their facilities on evenings when their meeting places were not in use.
The project is now complete. Although the Pandemic delayed the full utilisation of the new Scout Centre, it is now back in use. John has provided the local community with a facility that will endure and continue to provide young people with the life skills and community spirit he personifies.
To demonstrate that this project was conducted whilst maintaining the spirit of the Scout Group, most recently, the group gained National recognition for a ‘ribbon of poppies’ which they had made from recycled soft drinks bottles. This ribbon had more than 5000 ‘poppies’ and was suspended from the tower St Mary’s Church Wistaston and was more than 30 metres long. This has such an impact that John was asked for one of the Cub Scouts met the Duchess of Cambridge to discuss the display and the impact remembrance had on young people. All the monies raised by this display was given to the Royal British Legion.
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