Scotland’s new depute Scout chief for perception and protection says he’s looking forward to growing the movement across the community.

Scouts Scotland said it was excited to announce that former North Ayrshire lead James Cumming will serve as Depute Chief Commissioner (Perception and Protect) last week.

He added that the more young people get involved in shaping their Scouting ‘the more they will get out of it’.

He said: “I joined Scouting as an adult volunteer in 1991 and was a member as young person from Cubs (no Beavers when I was young).

“Since being an adult member I have held various roles at group level before moving on to being District Explorer Scout Commissioner for North Ayrshire and Arran, then as District Commissioner for the same District before taking on the role of Regional Commissioner – South West Scotland. I have also enjoyed international experiences all over the world taking young people to Russia, Canada, Poland, Iceland, France, Thailand, Vietnam and in 2019 I visited the South West / West Unit Contingent in Washington DC after WorldJam.

“In my new role as Depute Chief Commissioner (Perception and Protect), I’m looking forward to working with the teams to grow Scouting across Scotland and to be more inclusive,

community focussed, and youth shaped.

“I am particularly keen to promote youth shaped Scouting across Scotland and look forward to working with the team at Scouts Scotland and the wider leadership on how we can best do this to make sure that the young people are working in partnership with our adult volunteers.

“The more young people are involved in shaping their Scouting experiences the more they will get out of it, and the more likely they are to stay, do well and achieve their top awards.”