THE community of Lifton are being invited to a special carol service to mark 50 years of Lifton Scouts at a carol service in the coming weeks.

Group Scout leader of 1st Lifton Scouts, Rob Weston, has extended an invitation to the local community to join them for their 50th Anniversary Christmas Carol service. It takes place on Monday, December 19 at St Mary’s Church, the parish church of Lifton.

He said: ‘We enjoy celebrating Christmas with a family carol service each year, so we are really looking forward to this year’s service which will be led by Revd Phillip Conway.

‘Life in 1972 was very different and our Scout Group began with just Cub Scouts, those who are aged eight to 10 years old, so we want to extend a special welcome to anyone who has been part of the group at any stage, those Cubs would now be aged 58-60 years old.

‘We still have a full Cub pack of 24 children. But in addition, we have Squirrel Scouts, Beaver Scouts and Scouts – in total we are a Scout Group with over 100 young people and over 25 adult leaders.’

Chair of the Scout Group Executive, Peter Morris said: ‘At the carol service, we will thank all the leaders who give their time and energy to enable young people to learn new skills and grow as members of a team.

‘Each and every leader brings a wealth of experience, most have experience of working with children, some of disabilities, some have watersports expertise which is great as we are a Sea Scout group, meeting at Roadford Lake during the summer months.

‘We will also recognise the long service of some of our leaders, several of whom have been in leadership for over ten years.’

The 1st Lifton Scout Group meet at Lifton Community Centre plus other local venues including the Lifton Recreation Ground and Lifton Methodist Church in Liftondown.

‘We are grateful to all the young people and leaders that have been part of our group over the years and I feel that we are in a good position to offer Scouting activities for the next 50 years or more!’ said Rob . ‘It is all down to the amazing volunteer team and the parents for the support that they provide.’

So far, Rob has not been able to trace any of the original cubs and leaders from the group back in 1972. However he is still hopeful that come along to the service on December 19.

‘We have found a lot of people who have been involved for ten or 15 years but no one from that era when we started out which is a shame.

‘We’d like to say through the paper that if you are out there and have a connection with Lifton come and introduce yourself at the service. I’ve only been involved for five years, since I moved into the village, so I feel quite privileged to be involved in this part of its history where we are able to celebrate this anniversary.’