Scouting legend to be honoured with special campfire event

Ivy Winifred Elsey of Heathfield

A fitting tribute will take place next month to honour and remember a remarkable Heathfield woman who touched the lives of many people in the commuity.

There will be a traditional scout campfire to celebrate the life of Ivy Winifred Elsey, 82, who was Group Scout Leader and Akela in 1st Broad Oak & Punnetts Town Scout Group, District Commissioner, East Sussex Assistant County Commissioner, Initiator of the International Scout Tricamps, Developer of the East Sussex Kenya Street Scout Project, Maynards Green Primary School Teacher, a Member of HealthWatch, East Sussex Older People’s Partnership Board and a Broad Oak villager for 55 years

If Ivy touched your life, when you were a cub, scout, parent, school pupil, friend or colleague the event organisers would love you to come to the event which will include songs, sausages and hot chocolate!

It is being held at Bushy Wood Scout Activity Centre, Main Road, Hailsham BN27 3LZ, on Saturday 6th October at 6.30pm. If you would like to attend please email ian.watling@icloud.com

Scouter Ivy Elsey, who served the movement for over 60 years, died aged 82 on 27th July at her home in Heathfield following a difficult illness.

Ivy was born the second of four children and lived in London where she witnessed the relentless bombing of London docks while worrying if her father, a fireman during the war would return home.  At the age of 12 she nearly died of tuberculosis but after a year long admission to St. Mary’s Hospital she returned to her education and gained 3 O’ levels, which was no mean achievement in 1951, she wanted to become a teacher but her mother needed her to work so she took up office work in London. She later married and had two daughters but sadly the marriage didn’t last and she resolved to gain her driving licence and work to raise her daughters.  She met the love of her life Bert and in 1965 settled down in Broad Oak into the home that she lived in for the rest of her life.  It was here that Ivy realised her lifetime ambition to teach and after gaining more O’ levels she went to teacher training college and became a teacher and later an advisory teacher, supporting other teachers across East Sussex.

Ivy’s passion for working with children had always been strong and she joined the Scout movement at the age of 18 as a leader for the 3rd Moseley Wolf Cubs in Surrey.  Following an intensive training course she completed her Wood Badge to become a Cub Mistress and remained in Surrey. In 1965 she to moved to East Sussex and set up the 1st Punnetts Town Scout group where she took on the role of Cub Scout Leader and later became Group Scout Leader running the whole group until 1990.  While at Punnets Town she led a campaign to raise funds for a new HQ that enabled the group to move to Broad Oak and become the 1st Broad Oak and Punnets Town Group.  In 1990 Ivy became the District Commissioner for the Hailsham & Heathfield District a position she held until 1995 when she was appointed to the role of Assistant County Commissioner for all the Cub Scouts across East Sussex a role she held until 2001.

During her time as Assistant County Commissioner, Ivy led many county camps for the Cub Scout section but at the age of 65 the association’s rules at that time meant that she had to retire from the county role.  The county’s loss was Eastbourne District’s gain because in 2001 Ivy joined Eastbourne district and led the District Scout Fellowship and later took over as the Chair of the district’s campsite at Bushy Wood.

Ivy will be remembered for her many Scouting roles but her international work in Scouting stands out as particularly innovative.  In 1972 she was invited to provide hospitality in her home for some German Scout leaders attending a camp in West Sussex and they subsequently became good friends which resulted in Ivy taking her group to a camp in Germany that was also attended by Scouts from France and Gibraltar.  Ivy quickly recognised the value to young people of International Scouting and in 1974 she organised a special international camp at Heathfield Park involving local scouts and scouts from Sweden and the Netherlands.  This led the development of the ‘tri-camps’ a special camp held every three years involving Scouts from three different countries camping together and enjoying a host of adventurous activities; these camps are still running today.

In 1997 Ivy’s international Scouting was recognised when she was invited to become a special guest of the BBC TV show ‘Noel’s Christmas Presents’ hosted by Noel Edmonds.  The TV programme flew her to Kenya where she was able to satisfy a personal dream of visiting the final home of Lord Baden-Powell, the Founder of the Scout movement.  While in Kenya, leaders from the Kenya Scout Association talked to her about one of their ambitious programmes that was using Scouting as a way of encouraging street children to engage with trusted adults and to help them get off the streets and into school and safe accommodation.  Ivy was totally in awe of their work and soon after the TV show was screened she invited all the Cub Scouts in East Sussex to raise money to help fund the development of ‘Street Scouts’ in Kenya.  This work saw many local scouts going to Kenya to camp with ‘Street Scouts’, an experience which opened up many exciting opportunities and new friendships for these young people both in the UK and in Kenya.

In 1999 Ivy was awarded the UK Scout Associations highest award, The Silver Wolf to recognise her outstanding contribution to the movement.  She was also recognised with an award from the Swedish Scout Association.

In her later years Ivy continued to serve her community as a member of the East Sussex Older Peoples Partnership Board, the East Sussex Seniors Association and East Sussex Healthwatch.  She also served as an inspector for the Care Quality Commission.

At the time of his death Baden-Powell left a message to all the Scouts across the world and in it he said “try to leave this world a little better than you found it”.  Everyone who knew Ivy would agree that the world is a little better for Ivy’s contribution.

Ian Watling – Eastbourne District Scouts

Ivy Winifred Elsey of Heathfield