May 16, 2015 2.41 pm This story is over 105 months old

Bear Grylls makes a splash with 1,500 scouts in Lincoln

Chief Scout: Chief Scout Bear Grylls met with 1,500 Lincolnshire Scouts at Hykeham Water Sports Centre.

British adventurer, writer and TV presenter Bear Grylls celebrated his reappointment at UK Chief Scout with over 1,500 Lincolnshire scouts when he visited Lincoln on Saturday, May 16.

The ex-Special Forces soldier flew in to Hykeham Water Sport Centre in a helicopter to present British Paralympian basketball player and Lincolnshire Scouts Ambassador, Richard Sargent, with the highly prestigious Cornwell Scout award.

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Bear tried out the water sport activities, before making way for his next stop at Burghley House in Stamford.

Bear Grylls, Chief Scout, said: “I am so proud that the largest youth movement on the planet has asked me to renew as their UK Chief Scout.

“Between now and 2018 I plan to do all that I possibly can to help the movement to continue to grow, become more reflective of the communities in which it works in and change the lives of even more young people.

“In addition, I really want to give young people a powerful voice at the very heart of the movement  so they can actively help shape and develop the future of the movement for the next 100 years.”

The Scout Association is the largest co-educational youth movement in the country with nearly 550,000 members across the UK.

The movement however is in need of more adult volunteers to ensure that more young people can join the adventure.

Waiting lists to join Scouting in East Midlands is over 1,800. Nationally, the figure stands at over 40,000.