Bear Grylls appointed new Chief Scout in the UK

Mission to massively increase the number of adult Leaders in the Movement and to continue to grow the Movement in size
Committed to reinforcing Scouting’s role as the place to offer adventure based activities to young people
Youngest Chief Scout ever

The Scout Association is delighted to today announce Bear Grylls is the tenth and youngest Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories.
Scouting has adventure at its core and Bear is one of the UK’s great outdoor adventurers; he is also a strong supporter of young people as seen via his work with international children’s charity, Global Angels. As Chief Scout, a position he will hold for five years, Bear will be the volunteer Leader of the largest co-educational youth Movement in the country: Scouting has around half a million Members including some 90,000 adult Leaders1.
During his term, Bear aims to inspire more and more adults to volunteer for Scouting and is committed to reinforcing Scouting’s role as the place to offer adventure based activities to young people. Bear’s commitment to massively increasing the number of adult Leaders in the Scout Movement comes at a time when waiting lists to join Scout Groups across the UK remain at an all-time high: currently more than 33,000 young people aged between six and 25 are waiting to join Scouting in the UK.

However, for every new adult that volunteers five more young people will have the chance to participate in Scouting. So we only need 6,600 adults, which equates to just 0.01% of the UK’s adult population, signing up to completely wipe out our current waiting list.

Bear was appointed yesterday by The Council of the Scout Movement at a special meeting in London. In the role of Chief Scout, Bear is tasked with promoting the policies and benefits of Scouting, and encouraging new adults to join the Movement.
Previously, as one of the youngest ever climbers to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, Bear is now the youngest person ever to become Chief Scout. He will be invested at a handover ceremony with outgoing Chief Scout Peter Duncan later in the year.

Newly appointed Chief Scout Bear Grylls said:
“I feel hugely honoured to be asked to take up this role as Chief Scout - it really is a dream come true. I have always loved helping young people live their dreams and to taste real adventure… as well as getting caked in mud! I also hope I can use this post to encourage masses of adults in the UK to volunteer as leaders. The young people in this country need them like never before, and we have more people wanting to join than there are places available. But by volunteering, adults can actively make a difference to young people’s lives in their community, and there is no better way to be part of an adventure and have loads of fun, than with the Scouts.”
“The Scout Movement is a world-wide force for good and at heart it says that young people have the right to an adventure. And I for one am so proud to be part of that.”

Outgoing Chief Scout Peter Duncan said:

“I have gained enormously from my experience as volunteer Chief Scout over the past five years. I have particularly connected to the grass roots and have enjoyed seeing the adventurous and environmental awareness aspects of scouting increase during my time as leader. I have learnt so much being part of a large organisation, honing the skills of presentation, thinking on my feet and discovering how to communicate an inspirational message for young people. As a working actor I think Bear Grylls is the most brilliant piece of recasting I have ever been involved in. I wish him great success.”

In addition to Bear Grylls being appointed as the new Chief Scout, Wayne Bulpitt has been appointed as the first ever UK Chief Commissioner. This role will strengthen the day-to-day volunteer leadership functions within the Movement. Wayne will focus on managing and leading all volunteers within the Movement and will also be responsible for building relationships with political parties, Association ambassadors, and other charities and organisations.

New UK Chief Commissioner Wayne Bulpitt said:

“I am delighted to have been invited to take on the new role and to lead our Movement at such an exciting time. The successes of the last few years mean that we are well placed to capitalise on our external high standing and profile and to fulfill our vision of providing inspiration, personal development and exciting opportunities to increasing numbers of young people. I know that we can only do this through increased support to those volunteers running our sections and units without whom there would be no Scouting. We now have a great opportunity to attract more adults to take on leadership roles in the Movement.”