A man who has dedicated his whole life to scouting has received prestigious recognition from the movement for the time he has spent in the organisation.
Bob Reader was invited to Windsor Castle to receive the Silver Wolf accolade – the highest award made by The Scout Association “for services of the most exceptional character”.
He started out as a cub way back when he was eight and has never left scouting since. He was a cub, scout and rover scout in Croydon before he became a leader helping with ventures and then cubs while still in south London. He was also a member of Surrey Scout and Guide Mountaineering Club and the International Scout and Guide Club where he met his wife Gill.
After getting married, he moved his scouting to Brentford in West London in the early 1980s where he took on the role of Cub Scout Leader at 6th Brentford Air Scout Group and became the Akela, which he is still known as today. During that time he was also Assistant District Commissioner (Cubs) where he organised a range of inter-pack activities and competitions for Acton, Brentford and Chiswick Cubs.
He took early retirement in 2006 and fulfilled his dream of moving to the Lake District and specifically Keswick, a place he had spent many a happy family holiday.
It took only a matter of weeks before he was back involved in scouting and joined 1st Keswick Scout Group as cub scout leader. He took on a leading role in running group trips to London, using HMS Belfast as a base and also running Keswick Scout Group ski trips, while still carrying out his role as one of Keswick’s cub leaders.
The citation for his Silver Wolf award read as follows: “With over 57 years of service at group, district and national level, this person is a role model to many. Supporting and encouraging so many young people and at the same time supporting and mentoring our adult volunteers.
“He has gone above and beyond in his support of Scouting and this award is truly deserved.
“Bob’s current role is as a member of the cub section team at 1st Keswick and he continues to be as committed to scouting today as he was when he started his scouting journey.”
Supporting the nomination were the district lead volunteers who said: “Bob is a backbone in scouting and offers a wealth of sound judgment and advice based on a massive scout knowledge base and distinguished scout career – he is always there, always on hand to help and guide and always prepared to get stuck in.
“Bob is a true scouter and is responsible for the development of many aspects of Keswick scouting from cubs to being treasurer to fundraising – scouting is what it is because of individuals like Bob. He has quite strong energy, complimented by wise guidance and immense professionalism, these are the characteristics of a real scouter and Bob fully deserves this award.”
