Scouting in East Tilbury was started in 1934 although for some reason it stopped either just before or during the war and was not restarted until 1966. The East Tilbury Scout Group was formed again when the Scouting association approached the Bata shoe factory in East Tilbury to see if it would be able to design a shoe or boot for the Scouting movement. This shoe was known as the way finder and was shown to the scouting association by a gentleman called Bill Hammond.The then managing director of the Bata shoe factory approached Mr Hammond and asked " do we have a scout group" When Mr Hammond replied "no" he replied " well form one then" and so Mr Hammond went around the local community and approached people who had children to see if they would become members of the scout group, and so East Tilbury Scout Group was formed. If anyone has any information on the history of the Scout Group please email me and let me know so that I can update this page.