Oxford youth club leader inspired boys

He spent 27 years guiding hundreds of youngsters at the Oxford and Worcester Boys Club in St Clement’s.

Our interest in Mr L, as he was always known, was sparked by a picture of a group of boys visiting Switzerland in 1954, sent in by his son Tony (Memory Lane, June 1, 2009).

Former members wrote in, full of praise and gratitude for his work.

Mr Laishley, who spent his early life in Winchester, started his career as a professional musician, playing saxophone, clarinet, guitar and banjo in his own and other bands.

After war service, which took him to India and Burma, he decided to devote his life to helping young people.

“You do some serious thinking on the front line,” he once said.

He sold his car and took a training course with the National Association of Boys’ Clubs.

In March 1946, he was given his first job as leader at Woodstock Youth Centre, then two years later, he was appointed to the Oxford and Worcester club.

He built up an impressive range of activities.

Outdoor activities included football, cricket, tennis, squash and physical training, while indoors, members could enjoy billiards, table tennis, darts, chess, woodwork, drama and photography.

There were also summer camps and annual visits abroad, to countries like Norway, Italy and Austria.

He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1975, the year he retired. He died in 1988, aged 79.

As we have recalled, the club, originally called the Oxford Boys Club, was one of a number which catered for young people in the city.

It is believed to have begun in the early 1930s in the front room of Mrs Mansell’s house in Caroline Street, St Clement’s.

It later moved into a room above a shop in Cowley Road, then had a short stay at Milham Ford School, at that time near The Plain, before settling in St Clement’s.

Like other clubs, it had ties with an Oxford college, in this case Worcester, whose staff and students often helped with day-to-day running and long-term projects.