Figure 1.--These English boys wear blue "T"-shirts and sweatshirts with grey short pants and kneesocks. Image courtesy of the Phoenix Rangers.

I don't recognize, however, any of the baddges. One source refers to them as Rangers, but I know nothing about this group. The boys wear military-style sweaters and grey short pants with ankle socks. They appear to be very recent images, probably taken in 1999 or 2000.

Nationality

HBC has noted an English group. They are clearly English because of the Union Jack flag badge. The grey shorts also suggests that they are English.

Organization

The Phoenix Ranger Group is a military orientated uniformed youth organisation catering for boys between the ages of 6 to 16 years of age. They are a registered charity and members of Youth Clubs UK and Greater Manchester Youth Association and an approved operating unit for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.

Foundation

To explain the Phoenix Ranger Group's foundation some background history is required. The Group operates in a Local Council Housing Estate that is an Officially designated area of Social and Economic deprivation. Most of the lads are from single parent families or have parents who are unemployed. The estate is close to a small town called Middleton. The Scouts in the Town [and there are 9 Groups] have never looked on the Phoenix Group in a friendly way. They seemed to think that everyone from the estate was some kind of criminal. Due to the high crime rates and vandalism and drug use. Our lads were well behaved and polite and always smartly dressed in uniform to show people that they were normal scouts in every sense. They always felt like outcasts, however, so they kept to ourselves and just got on with helping the lads grow up with all the opportunities that lads from more affluent backgrounds had. [HBU note: HBU has noted that Scouting tends to be a middle-class organization. Purchasing the uniform and pating for activities and camps is not cheap. This is another exanple of this.]

Scouts in the UK are also on the decline. Many new rules to make Leaders have certificates to take lads hiking or do other adventurous activities is causing Leaders to leave or not help out so there are less lads due to shortages of Leaders and not being able to do the types of activities they want to do. To many forms to fill in etc. The movement appears to be run for the benefit of people who just want the credibility of a title or for the more affluent boys who can afford to do the activities at commercial activity centres. The movement is so top heavy that the wishes of the lads, takes years to implement.

The Phoenix lads wanted to do more military types of activities but were told that scouting was not a military organisation!! This being, dispite the fact that it was started by Baden Powell, a Soldier, and was based on military training. When their Scout HQ had a fire the Leaders re-appraised the situation. As they also operated a Youth Club, they decided to close the Scouts and become independent as they were more able to respond quickly to the wishes and needs of their lads.

The Scouts did not offer the tougher style of discipline - uniform or activities that the lads themselves desired. Being an independent Group we can add new types of badges and activities to their syllabus very quickly to suit the lads. As they operate as a youth group, they are covered by insurance through the local authority and are able to access as many if not more facilities and at cheaper rates than local Scout groups [as local authorities subsidise youth facilities]. This makes activities cheaper for their lads. They believe that they offer local lads a more exciting and member orientated group than local scout groups offer.

Uniforms

The Phoenix lads asked for a Uniform and wanted it to be military styled. The parents also asked us to stay with the lads and set up a more formal group than the Youth Club with uniforms and strong discipline. Because we come from a poor area we chose army surplus clothing as it was the cheapest option. This suited the lads as they wanted to look like soldiers or army cadets. Being from a rough area also caused problems as Scout Uniform was seen as being soft and the lads were bullied. The military uniform has more street credibility and the lads walk about openly wearing the Ranger style uniforms and have no problems.

Figure 2.--The younger boys wear a blue uniform and the older boys a green uniform. Image courtesy of the Phoenix Rangers.

Garments

The following informatin is notable about the Phoenix Ranger Group uniforms.

Caps

The boys do not seem to have caps as part of their uniform.

Kerchiefs

The boys do not appaer to commonly wear kerchiefs. A few boys, however, do wear red, white, and blue kerchiefs.

Shirts

The boys often cover their shirts with sweatshirts and sweaters. Some boys wear colored "T" shirts. Other boys have military styled shirts. I'm not sure about the younger boys, but the older boys have green shirts.

Jumpers

The boys wear colored sweatshirts or military-style sweaters. The jumpers are in the same blue and green color scheme.

Pants

The boys all appear to wear short trousers. The most common type appear to be grey school shorts. Unlike the rest of the uniform, the pants do not appaer to follow the blue/green color scheme.

Socks

Some boys wear kneesocks, especially the younger boys in the blue uniforms. The kneesocks are mostly grey with blue bands at the top. Many of the boys wear any kind of ankle socks. The older boys in the green uniforms in particular wear ankle socks.

Shoes

Many of the boys wear black tennis shoes or "trainers" as the English refere to them.

Levels

There are three levels of this uniformed group. They operate a progressive training scheme through three Training Sections. Junior Rangers for 6 to 9 years, Rangers for 9 to 13 years and Senior Rangers for 13 to 16 year olds. The younger boys appear to be called the "Junior Rangers" and wear a blue uniform. The older boys wear a green uniform and are referred to as the "Rangers". I'm not sire about the uniform of the Senior Rangers.

Units

The boys here are members of the Phoenix Rangers. It is not clear to HBU if this is the full name of the organization or simply a local unit of the Ranger organization.

Chronology

They appear to be very recent images, probably taken in 1999 or 2000. The image is marked 1984, but the hair cuts do not look right for 1984.

Sources

Dave Ferron, e-Mail message, July 16, 2005.