Chief Scout Bear Grylls drops in on County Activity Day

19 November 2011: Chief Scout Bear Grylls took to the air to meet 1500 Scouts from Nottinghamshire at the aptly named ‘Chief Scout Activity Day’.  

Bear and the young people attending took part in a range of activities including abseiling, bouldering, climbing, caving, High-ropes, laser-tag, lateral thinking challenges, making things and Slack-lining.

For the first time the Scouts tried to conquer the ‘spider mountain’, a 23 ft tall giant tube. They climbed vertically through a series of 7 chambers made up of horizontal webs of criss-cross elasticated bungee webbing. When they reached the top they simply faced a 20ft vertical drop slide.

Some activities challenged the Scouts' leadership and team work skills, whilst others were designed to develop lateral thinking and problem solving. There were also some of the more traditional Scouting challenges like fire-lighting, pioneering and cooking.

CC Matt Rooney said, “It’s important that we keep finding new and exciting activities and opportunities for our young people. Events like this also do two other really important things. Firstly it enables Scouts to see that the world is just that little bit bigger than they thought; it’s not just their group or school or street, they are part of something massive. Secondly it supports and enhances the weekly programme offered by our volunteers to our young people; all you have to do is book and turn up. The event has been more popular than we ever could have imagined.”

The event is also being supported by the Freemasons’ Grand Charity, who have donated £5000 to the Nottinghamshire Scouts for the development of Scouting and John Lewis Nottingham, who have donated 100 hours of staff time.

The tour is part of his mission to encourage more adults to volunteer for Scouting, as well as celebrate the important role of Scouting in Nottinghamshire and the UK as a whole. Bear aims to visit every County around the UK during his time as Chief Scout.

The weekend’s event shows what Scouting is all about, offering thousands of young people the opportunity to take part in adventure in the company of friends and trusted adults.  

Bear Grylls said:

“It was so great to get to visit so many Scouts from Nottinghamshire. I met inspiring young people taking part in some incredible adventures. While it’s great to see so many young people getting to taste adventure it’s crucial that more adults sign up as volunteers so as many young people as possible can join in. “Being a volunteer leader in the Movement is truly rewarding. Adults get to try all the activities the young people try and I know they get huge satisfaction from making a real difference to the communities in which they live.

Hannah Rolland, an Explorer Scout from Nottinghamshire, said:

“It was great to meet Bear as he’s such a huge inspiration for me. Scouting’s all about adventure, so there’s nothing better than having someone like Bear join in. I love being a Scout – it’s built up my confidence, helped me make loads of new friends, expanded my horizons and allowed me to try so many brilliant things I would have otherwise never been able to do."

Chris Blockley, Volunteer Project Lead for the event said:

“It was great to have Bear involved this weekend – it will came as a huge surprise to the young people. The planning team have all been really excited and can’t stop talking about it. Volunteering as a Scout Leader is one of the best things I’ve ever done: there’s nothing more fulfilling than helping young people get the most out of life. I’ve also picked up loads of day-to-day skills that I can use at work as well.