Thousands of young people have had their first experience of appearing on stage at the Oxford Gang Shows.

It is not only the performers who have enjoyed themselves - they have given delight to nightly audiences at various venues over the years.

These two pictures come from Mike Stanley, who has spent a lifetime in Scouting, earning the MBE from our late Queen for his dedication to the movement.

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The picture above dates from 1986 when the show featuring Scouts and Guides was held at the New Theatre in George Street, Oxford.

It must have been an exhausting week for the youngsters, with nightly performances from Monday to Friday and two on Saturday.

The show that year was produced by Bill Greenough, another long-standing organiser of Scouting and the Gang Show.

It proved so popular that the ‘House Full’ sign went up, the first time that had happened at an amateur show there. It was good value too, with ticket prices ranging from 50p to £2.

The lower picture shows Mr Stanley, in his role as Gang Show chairman, collecting a cheque for £1,000 from the Midland (now HSBC) Bank in 1955.

The money which had been raised at a special performance at the New Theatre, was presented later to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Oxford Mail: Mr Stanley, of Long Close, Headington, was awarded the MBE in 2007 for leading the 10th Oxford Scouts at Marston for more than 30 years, running a narrowboat for handicapped and special needs adults and children and setting up Scouting links with Russia.

As we recalled (Memory Lane, March 4), the history of the Oxford Gang Show dates back to the late 1940s when Ralph Symonds, a master at Magdalen College School, organised a light-hearted show called Maudlin Madness.

When he became leader of the 40th Oxford Sea Scouts, he suggested a show involving Scouts from all over the district.

We’ll Live Forever, a musical play, ran for four performances at the Clarendon Press Institute in Walton Street in the spring of 1950.

About 1,000 people saw the production, and the first Gang Show took place at the institute in 1952.

A show called Come In was staged in 1952, followed by Here Again in 1953. Then the title was changed to Lucky Dip, a name that was to stay for the next six years.

Apart from the New Theatre, other venues for the show over the years have included the Oxford Playhouse, Oxford Town Hall, Oxford Polytechnic and St Edward’s School in north Oxford.

The gang show’s most recent home has been Radley College, near Abingdon.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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