Television adventurer and personality, Bear Grylls, was recently reappointed head of scouts for the UK department for a further 3 years. He will remain in the position until 2018 where he hopes to make some changes to the organization which has over 400000 members.
You probably remember Bear Grylls from famous show Man vs. Wild (Check out this clip of Bear eating a larva) which ran from 2006 – 2011. He is also involved in a number of survival wilderness television shows across the US and the UK. His expertise in survival situations has earned him the position of head of scouts for the UK department.
One thing Grylls would like to do as head of scouts is to encourage more adults to volunteer so that the 33000 young adults on the waiting list to join, have more opportunities to perform scoutly duties and adventures. Perhaps Grylls, as head of scouts, will also encourage members to, instead of traditionally getting badges by such means as skateboarding and helping old ladies, earn them instead by climbing mount Everest and eating snakes, something he certainly has experience in.
At age 34, Grylls is the youngest head of scouts in the organizations 102 year history. He replaces former leader Peter Duncan who fondly remembers his experiences as a scout.
As head of scouts, Grylls hopes to increase Adult volunteers to 90000 offering some more than 200 activities, shedding away old ideas of scouts simply sitting around the campfire and telling ghost stories while roasting smores.
An author and public speaker, as well as television star, Grylls climbed mount Everest at age 23, making him the youngest Briton to climb the mountain. He also crossed the Atlantic in an open inflatable raft, as well as served 3 years in the SAS.
About being head of scouts, Bear had this to say:
“I hope I can use this post to encourage masses of adults in the UK to volunteer as leaders,” he said.
“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.”
