Celebrating 70 Years Of The Stonehouse Gang!

Last night John and I joined one hundred and fifty other local people at the 70th anniversay dinner dance for The Stonehouse Gang - a local youth club situated in Burnel Road in Bartley Green Ward.

The Stonehouse Gang was started in 1938 by Harry Webb, a court reporter who decided that the youths he saw in the juvenile courts probably were probably bored rather than bad, and just needed to be given something worthwhile to do in their spare time to keep them out of trouble. He reasoned that young people like to be part of a gang, so the youth club he started was called The Stonehouse Gang.

Led for the last twenty two years by youth leader Lesley Franklin, the gang goes from strength to strength. Members can partake in a number of activites (examples of which were pictured on the tables instead of table numbers - see illustration) and as well as the premises in Burnel Road, The Stonehouse Gang has another premises in Hereford called Ty Carreg (which translates as Stone House).

Last night's celebration saw current and past members and a number of suporters get together at the Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston to celebrate the past and toast the gang's continued success.