Mylander - Issue 86

39 Tribute - Mick Brown Colchester Scouting stalwart for 65 years Tributes have been paid to Mick Brown, a stalwart of Scouting in Colchester for almost 65 years – and involved in Mile End matters for the same length of time – who died in Colchester General Hospital on 5th December at the age of 82 following a short illness. Mick was married to his wife Margaret for 57 years. They have three daughters: Susan, Jane and Christine. They have two grandsons and two granddaughters. Leading the tributes was Colchester High Steward Sir Bob Russell who had known Mick Brown from when the two were founder members of the 1st Myland (35th Colchester) Scout Group in 1956 – Bob as a ten-year-old Wolf Cub, Mick as a Leader. Sir Bob said: “Mick was an inspirational leader who did so much towards helping me throughout my teenage years, and likewise for hundreds of other young people in Mile End and across Colchester over six decades. He always made sure that Scouting was both a joy and a challenge. “He was a great organiser, with fantastic support from his wife Margaret who was also a Leader with the Myland Cubs, promoting Scouting in contemporary times while also being an enthusiast for archiving Scouting memorabilia.” In 1956, aged 18 and while in the Sixth Form at Colchester Royal Grammar School, Mick Brown helped establish the 1st Myland Scout Group with whom he was to serve for decades as a Leader as it grew from a single Wolf Cub Pack to featuring at the time the only Scout Group in Colchester with all four sections which the Scout Movement then had: Cubs, Boy Scouts, Senior Scouts and Rovers. For several years Mick was a District Commissioner for Colchester Scouts. Although no longer active as a uniformed Leader, in more recent years he was a member of the “Wednesday Team” which (until the pandemic lock down) met at the Scout Training Ground at Thorrington throughout the year to voluntarily undertake various maintenance and other tasks. A year after helping to form Cubs and Scouts at Mile End, Mick was called up for National Service and served in the Royal Air Force for three years from 1957 but whenever he could he fitted in Scouting events including running Scout camps.