The Scout Association
The Scout Association The Scout Association logo, featuring the Fleur-de-lis
Headquarters	Gilwell Park
Location	Chingford
Country	United Kingdom
Founded	1910, incorporated 1912
Founder	Baden-Powell
Membership	413,223 youth   79,037 adults (2011)[1]
Chief Scout	Bear Grylls
Chief Executive	Derek Twine
President	Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
Affiliation	World Organization of the Scout Movement
Website http://www.scouts.org.uk/
Scouting portal

The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant of a charter by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Boy Scout Association was renamed as The Scout Association in 1967.

The stated aim of The Scout Association is to "promote the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities".^[2] The Scout Association provides a Programme to help achieve this aim for young people from the age of 6 to 25^[3] The latest census shows that over 410,000 people aged 6–25 are members of The Scout Association,^[1] with a further 33,000 people waiting to join in the movement.^[1] Thanks to this work, The Scout Association is a member of The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS).^[4]

Girls were first admitted in 1976 to the Venture Scouts, and the rest of Sections on an optional basis in 1991. Since 2007 all Scout Groups in Britain must accept girls as well as boys, although religious preferences can be accommodated.^[5]

Scouting in Great Britain and Northern Ireland is open to all faiths and variations to the Scout Promise are allowed in order to accommodate those of different religious obligations or national allegiances.^[6] The Scout Association does not permit an atheist version of the Promise, or a lack of any sort of faith or religion in the programme, and this has attracted criticism from the National Secular Society (NSS) and the British Humanist Association.^[7]

The association's current Chief Scout is Bear Grylls, with Derek Twine as the Chief Executive. The association's president is HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is a patron of the organisation.^[8][9][10]

History[link]

Birth of the Movement[link]

Scouting certificate dated December 3, 1914

The roots of The Scout Association come from the fame of Robert Baden-Powell following his exploits during the Second Boer War. In 1907, "B-P", as he is known to members of the Movement, ran a camp on Brownsea Island for boys of varying backgrounds. These boys came from Eaton and Harrow, Parkstone, Hamworthy, and Bournemouth. This camp is now considered to be the start of the Movement.^[11]

The following year, Baden-Powell wrote a series of magazines, Scouting for Boys, setting out activities and programmes which existing youth organisations could make use of.^[12] The reaction was phenomenal, and quite unexpected. In very short time, Scout Patrols were created up and down the country, all following the principles of Baden-Powell's book. By the time of the first census in 1910, there were over 100,000 members of the Movement.^[12]

The Boy Scout Association was created in 1910 in order to provide a national body which could organise and support the rapidly growing number of Scout Patrols. It was also the wish of Baden-Powell to wrest control of Scouting from his book's publishers as it was felt the Movement was not given the status it deserved as the publishers controlled membership of Scouting.^[12]

1910–1920: Growth[link]

Membership badge of The Scout Association prior to 1967

Almost immediately, The Boy Scout Association was presented with a dilemma. Many of the boys in the Scout Patrols (at the start, Scouting was for boys between the ages of 10 and 19) had younger brothers who also wanted to participate. There were also many girls who wanted the same thing as well – Baden-Powell came across a group of Girl Scouts at the Crystal Palace Rally in 1909.^[12] The solution for the younger boys was simple – the Wolf Cubs Section was created in 1917.^[13] However, Edwardian principles could not allow young girls to participate in the rough and tumble, and "wild" activities of the Scouts, and so the Girl Guides were created by Baden-Powell's sister, Agnes, to provide a more "proper" programme of activities.^[12] Many of those who had grown out of Scouts still wanted to be a part of Scouting, so another section was created in 1918 – the Rover Scouts.^[14]

Scouting was now a global phenomenon, with a Royal Charter of 4 January 1912 incorporating The Boy Scout Association throughout the British Empire, with "the purpose of instructing boys of all classes in the principles of discipline loyalty and good citizenship", being granted by George V.^[15] The first World Jamboree for Scouts was held in Olympia, London in 1920, and was a celebration and conference of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.^[12]

1967–2001[link]

Scouting in Britain went largely unchanged until it underwent a major review, The Chief Scouts' Advance Party Report, and change in 1967. The name of the organisation was changed to The Scout Association.^[12] Major changes to the sections and their respective programmes were made – the youngest section were now named Cub Scouts,^[12] the Boy Scout section was renamed simply as the Scout section, Senior Scouts became Venture Scouts^[12] (for 16–20 year olds), and the Rover Scout section was disbanded.^[14] The Scout Uniform was also changed – most notably with the inclusion of long trousers for the Scouts (previously they had been wearing knee-length shorts).^[12]

The Advance Party Report was not welcomed by all members and a rival report, "The Black Report", was produced in 1970 by "The Scout Action Group". This provided alternative proposals for the development of the Movement and asked for Groups that wished to continue to follow Baden-Powell's original scheme to be permitted to do so. The rejection of these proposals resulted in the formation of the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association.^[16]

Several developments were made over the following years, including the introduction of co-educational units of boys and girls, initially restricted to the Venture Scouts section in 1976, but from 1991 junior sections were allowed to become mixed as well.^[12] Parents involved in Scouting in Northern Ireland also began to organise activities for their children who were too young for Cub Scouts. This eventually led to the creation of the Beaver Scout section, officially starting in 1986.^[12]

Despite these changes, and many other minor ones, Scouting started to fall into a decline through the 1990s with falling membership levels.^[17] This spurred a major review into the causes of the decline,^[18] followed by a programme change which took effect in 2003.^[19]

In the late 1990s, a Muslim Scout Fellowship was formed, which by the end of 2007, had assisted the establishment of 13 Muslim Scout Groups in England and Wales.^[20]

2001–present[link]

Scouting found itself competing for young people's time against many other extracurricular activities and schools themselves, who were increasingly venturing into the same types of activities. The adult leaders became concerned with the growing litigation culture in the UK.^[21] Scouting has also been challenged by a negative stereotype as being old fashioned.^[22]

The programme change in 2002 sought to overcome the growing challenges facing the Movement and saw changes at all levels of British Scouting – the most apparent being the suspension of Venture Scouts. To replace this senior section, The Scout Association created the Explorer Scouts for 14- to 18-year-old members, and the Scout Network for 18–25-year-olds.^[19] The Scout Association also introduced a number of new badges, such as computing skills and skateboarding, to modernise the image of Scouting. These new badges drew mixed reactions from several public figures, with some praising The Scout Association for "moving with the times" and others feeling the changes went "against the Scouting ethos of Baden-Powell".^[23]

Explorer Scouts climbing at Stanage Edge

Other changes in 2001 included changes to the leadership training so that it became more flexible, allowing for specific roles in the Movement, rather than the general leadership training which preceded it. New Scout uniforms for all sections and leaders were also introduced in 2001, designed by Meg Andrews, with the aim of being more modern and appealing to young people.^[24]

There was criticism of some of these changes, mostly citing problems with the implementation, although several years into the new structure the Explorer Scout and Scout Network sections have become well established. Census figures for the last few years show an upturn in membership, with The Scout Association in April 2010 announcing the highest rate of growth in British Scouting since 1972, with total membership reaching just under half a million.^[21][25] Scouting in Britain continues to promote the same Principles and Methods as written by Baden-Powell in Scouting for Boys almost 100 years ago.

British Scouts played a major role in the centenary celebrations of Scouting in 2007, with celebration events organised on Brownsea Island,^[26] as well as hosting the 21st World Scout Jamboree.

Organisation[link]

The Chief Scout is the leader of The Scout Association, and is responsible for determining the direction and policies of Scouting in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Crown Overseas Territories. Bear Grylls is the current Chief Scout after replacing Peter Duncan in July 2009. There is a team of Commissioners who are responsible for the Scouting programme in their respective divisions.

At all levels, Scouts are governed by an executive of trustees, known as executive committees^[27] – these could be volunteers from the local community who have had ties with Scouting, either themselves or through their children. The executive normally consists of a chairman, secretary, treasurer, and a number of other officers. In Group Executive Committees, Group Scout Leaders and Section Leaders also form part of the committee.^[28] Their role is to ensure that the best interests of the young people and the community are served by the Group, District, County, or National organisations.^[27]

Senior volunteers in The Scout Association are called 'Commissioners'. Every County/Area/Region^[29][30] and District^[31] is headed by a Commissioner who is responsible for ensuring the Districts/Groups under their jurisdiction meet the standards set by The Scout Association. They receive support from Regional Development Officers in England, who are employed by the Regional Development Service and deployed locally to help support The Scout Association's objectives.^[32] Commissioners in the other nations receive support from Field Commissioners, employed and directed differently. District Commissioners report to the County/Area/Regional Commissioner, who in turn report to the Chief Commissioner.

A Scout parade in Oxford, 2004

The Scout Association is divided into four mainland national groupings: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Each of these divisions are further broken up into local Counties (England and Northern Ireland), Areas (Wales), or Regions (Scotland),^[33] which generally follow the boundaries of the ceremonial counties of Great Britain. The County/Area/Region consists of a number of Scout Districts, which are made up of Groups.^[33]

The Groups are the local organisations for Scouting, and are the direct descendants of the original Scout Patrols. Groups can consist of one or more Beaver Colonies, Cub Packs, and Scout Troops. Groups may also have one or more Group Scout Active Support Units, and have an Explorer Scout Unit attached to it, though Explorer Scouts are managed at the District level.^[34] Scout Groups are led by a Group Scout Leader whose main role is handling communication between the local District and the Section Leaders and ensuring the Scout Group meets the minimum standard required by The Scout Association.^[35] Apart from certain positions at District level, all leaders work as unpaid volunteers.^{[citation needed]}

Sections[link]

In the Scout Association, there are five sections to cater for youth aged between 6 and 25 years of age.

The first four sections (Beavers to Explorers) are led by a Section Leader, who must hold an appointment for the position, and is aided by assistant leaders.^[40][41][42] In addition to the leaders, others can assist in the running of the section; Young Leaders, Explorer Scouts trained in leadership techniques, are frequently a part of section meetings as are other volunteers, usually the parents of children in the group, and members of the Group Executive Committee who help operate the Group financially. Scout Networks are mainly member led, but are assisted by a Network Leader who ensures that the Network is working within the rules of the association.

In addition to the main programme sections, a parallel Scouting programme, Scoutlink, provides support and involvement for young people and adults with developmental disabilities.

Air and Sea Scouts[link]

Some Scout Groups belong to separate branches called Air Scouts and Sea Scouts. Both branches follow the core programme in all Sections but can add more aeronautical or nautical emphasis depending on the branch, with some Group branches being recognised by the Royal Air Force or Royal Navy. In the United Kingdom there are approximately 400 Sea Scout Groups, of which about 25% (101 Groups) are Royal Navy recognised,^[43] whilst of 117 Air Scout Groups, 43 are recognised by the RAF.^[44]

Progressive award scheme[link]

Throughout all the sections in scouting, a progressive award scheme operates which forms a major part of the scout programme and promotes a consistent commitment to the scout programme. There are six awards as part of the scheme, five of which are Chief Scout's awards and culminate in the Queen's Scout award (King's Scout prior to 1953).

The first three awards, the Chief Scout's Bronze, Silver and Gold award, are the highest possible awards achievable in Beavers, Cubs and Scouts respectively. To achieve these awards, a number of challenge badges must be previously obtained, demonstrating a wide range of skills, in addition to a personal challenge. The final three awards, The Chief Scout's Platinum, Diamond and the Queen's Scout award are all available in the Explorer Scout and Scout Network sections alone. The awards mirror the requirements of the The Duke of Edinburgh's Award at Bronze, Silver and Gold level respectively, consisting of a period of time volunteering in the local community, a prolonged physical activity, the advancement of a skill and the partaking of an expedition, allowing a participant to partake in both the DofE and the award at the same time. In addition, these three awards do not have to be completed in order, and participants can skip straight to a specific award, although additional work is involved. Achieving the Queen's Scout award is seen as a significant event on a national scale; recipients of the award are invited to join the St George's Day service at Windsor Castle the year after completing the scheme, and parade before The Queen.

The progressive award scheme was developed from original awards and classifications used since the origin of scouting in 1907. These lay with the award of 'First' and 'Second' class standards within the different sections, and with the creation of the King's Scout award. These awards focused on the values of service and basic scouting skills. Following a review in the 1960s, the class standards were dropped and replaced in Cubs by arrow awards and in Scouts by the 'Scout Standard', 'Advanced Scout Standard', and the 'Chief Scout Award'; meanwhile the renamed 'Queen's Scout' award was changed to focus on long-term service and commitment as well as the completion of an expedition lasting four days and fifty miles. Further changes occurred a few decades later. The Cub arrows were replaced in 1990 with the 'Cub Scout Award', 'Adventure Award' and 'Adventure Crest' award, while the Scout Standards were replaced in 1983 with the 'Scout Award', 'Pathfinder Award', and 'Explorer Award' - the Chief Scout's Award remained the highest award for the Scout Section. The 'Venture Scout Award' was also created for the senior section as an intermediary stage to the Queen's Scout Award, as were additional awards for Beaver Scouts. All these awards were abolished or changed following the introduction of the current 6-25 programme in February 2002.

Promise and Law[link]

The Scout Promise is made by all members of The Scout Association from the Scout section upwards, including Leaders:

<poem>On my honour, I promise that I will do my best, To do my duty to God and to the Queen, To help other people, And to keep the Scout Law.</poem>

Additional variations of the promise are used for different faiths or for members from other countries, whose allegance is pledged to the country and not the monarch. For the two younger sections, a simpler promise is used: Cub Scouts utilise the normal promise with the omission of the opening 'On my honour' and a change in the final line to the Cub Scout Law, while beaver scouts use a different promise altogether:

<poem>I promise to do my best, To be kind and helpful, And to love God.</poem>

In addition to the promise, there is a Scout Law which dictates what qualities a scout should hold. The Scout Law is as follows:

1. A Scout is to be trusted.
2. A Scout is loyal.
3. A Scout is friendly and considerate.
4. A Scout belongs to the world-wide family of Scouts.
5. A Scout has courage in all difficulties.
6. A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property.
7. A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.

This law is used for all sections except Cubs and Beavers. Beaver Scouts have no law, as these values are to be demonstrated through the meetings themselves. The Cub Scout law is different again:

<poem>Cub scouts always do their best, think of others before themselves and do a good turn every day.</poem>

The motto of the Scout Association, and of scouting as a whole, is 'Be Prepared'. These were explained in the original Scouting books and was expanded in a series of promotional posters for the sections in the early 2000s.

Fund raising[link]

The Scout Association uses a variety pof ways for fundraising activities. In addition to weekly or monthly subs for activities, many of the Scout groups are registered charities and utilise the Gift Aid scheme.

Gimmie 5[link]

The Gimmie 5 challenge is an annual fundraising event, aimed at Scout Groups in the United Kingdom. Organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Scout Association, it lasts for 9 days in March every year. In 2006, it occurred from 18 to 26 March. Participating groups are required to raise money, in any way, with the proceeds shared between The Scout Association, the WWF and the Group.

Scout Community Week[link]

Re-introduced in 2012, the week involves scouts doing work in the community in exchange for a donation to the group. The scheme was an update to an earlier scheme: "Bob a Job Week", where Scouts raised money by doing jobs for their neighbours and were paid a shilling (a "Bob") for the work.

Campsites[link]

Across the country numerous campsites are owned by members of the Scout Association, usually Scout Districts and Counties, and are run by the individual Scout County or District councils. These campsites are also used by others outside the organisation and gains additional income for the scout county or district.

However, eight different sites are run directly from the national levels of the Scout Association. Seven sites are branded and operated as Scout Activity Centres, providing camping sites and adventurous activities alongside. These seven are Gilwell Park on the London/Essex border and headquarters of the organisation, Downe in Kent, Ferney Crofts in the New Forest, Great Tower in the Lake District, Hawkhirst in Northumberland, Woodhouse Park in Gloucestershire and Youlbury in Oxfordshire, the oldest permanent scout campsite in the world.

In addition to these sites, the Scout Association runs two conference centres, one within Gilwell Park, and another at a separate site in central London, Baden-Powell House. Baden-Powell House is also a scouting hostel, providing cheap scout accommodation for central London trips.^[45]

Notable former Scouts[link]

The Scout Association has had many notable members in the past, with the following selection being the best known:

• David Beckham – England international footballer and former captain^[46]
• Tony Blair – former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom^[47]
• Richard Branson – Virgin Group Founder^[47]
• John Major – former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom^[46]
• Paul McCartney – singer/songwriter/bassist of the Beatles and Wings^[46]
• George Michael – singer/songwriter^[46]
• Cliff Richard – singer^[46]
• Keith Richards – member of the Rolling Stones^[47]
• Bear Grylls – adventurer and television personality and current Chief Scout
• Ronnie Corbett – actor and comedian who worked with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies^{[citation needed]}

The Scout Association overseas[link]

As well as controlling for Scouting in the United Kingdom, The Scout Association is also responsible for Scouting in the British overseas territories and Crown Dependencies, as well as some small independent nations.^[48] Non-sovereign territories with Scouting run by The Scout Association include:

Sovereign countries with Scouting run by The Scout Association, as they are without independent Scouting organisations, include:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Solomon Islands
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu

The British Scout programme is also offered to British citizens living outside of the United Kingdom. British Scouts in Western Europe serves Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands^[49] while British Groups Abroad covers the rest of the world.^[50]

See also[link]

Scouting portal

• Scouting
• Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
• World Organization of the Scout Movement

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Block, Nelson R.; Proctor, Tammy M. (2009). Scouting Frontiers: Youth and the Scout Movement's First Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 1-4438-0450-9. 

External links[link]

• The Scout Association Homepage
  • Beaver Section Homepage
  • Cub Section Homepage
  • Scout Section Homepage
  • Explorer Section Homepage
  • Scout Network Section Homepage

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Bear Grylls
Born	Edward Michael Grylls (1974-06-07) 7 June 1974 (age 38) United Kingdom
Residence	A barge moored by Battersea Bridge on the River Thames, England[1] An island on Llŷn Peninsula, Abersoch, North Wales[2]
Occupation	Chief Scout Adventurer Explorer Author Motivational speaker[3] Television presenter
Spouse	Shara Cannings Knight[4]
Children	Jesse, Marmaduke,[5] and Huckleberry[6]
Parents	Sir Michael Grylls Lady Grylls (née Sarah Ford)
Website
BearGrylls.com

Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls (born 7 June 1974) is an English adventurer, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his television series Man vs. Wild, known as Born Survivor^[7] in the United Kingdom. In July 2009, Grylls was appointed the youngest ever Chief Scout at the age of 35.

Personal life[link]

Grylls grew up in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland until the age of 4 when his family moved to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight.^[8][9] He is the son of the late Conservative party politician Sir Michael Grylls and Lady Sarah Grylls.^[10] Lady Grylls was the daughter of Patricia Ford,^[11] briefly an Ulster Unionist Party MP, and cricketer and businessman Neville Ford. Grylls has one sibling, an elder sister, Lara Fawcett, a cardio-tennis coach, who gave him the nickname 'Bear' when he was a week old.^[12]

Grylls was educated at Eaton House, Ludgrove School, Eton College, where he helped start its first mountaineering club,^[13] and Birkbeck, University of London,^[14] where he graduated with a degree, obtained part-time, in Hispanic studies in 2002. From an early age, he learned to climb and sail from his father, who was a member of the prestigious Royal Yacht Squadron. As a teenager, he learned to skydive and earned a second dan black belt in Shotokan karate. He practices yoga and ninjutsu. At age eight he became a Cub Scout.^[15] He speaks English, Spanish, and French.^[16] Grylls is a Christian, describing his faith as the "backbone" in his life.^[17]

Although Grylls was christened 'Edward' he has legally changed his forename to 'Bear'.^[18] Grylls married Shara Grylls (née Cannings Knight) in 2000.^[4][11] They have three sons: Jesse, Marmaduke,^[19] and Huckleberry.^[6]

Military service[link]

After leaving school, Grylls considered joining the Indian Army and hiked in the Himalayan mountains of Sikkim.^[20] Grylls joined the British Army and served in the part-time United Kingdom Special Forces Reserve, with 21 Regiment Special Air Service, 21 SAS(R) for 3 years until 1996.

In 1996, he suffered a freefall parachuting accident in Zambia. His canopy ripped at 4,900 metres (16,000 ft), partially opening, causing him to fall and land on his parachute pack on his back, which partially crushed three vertebrae. Grylls later said: "I should have cut the main parachute and gone to the reserve but thought there was time to resolve the problem".^[21] According to his surgeon, Grylls came "within a whisker" of being paralysed for life and at first it was questionable whether he would ever walk again. Grylls spent the next 12 months in and out of military rehabilitation at Headley Court^[21] before being discharged and directing his efforts into trying to get well enough to fulfil his childhood dream of climbing Mount Everest.

In 2004, Grylls was awarded the honorary rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve for services to charity and human endeavour.^[22]

Everest[link]

On 16 May 1998, Grylls achieved his childhood dream (an ambition since his father gave him a picture of Everest when he was eight) and entered the Guinness Book of Records, as the youngest Briton, at 23, to summit Mount Everest^[23], just eighteen months after injuring his back. (James Allen, an Australian-British climber who ascended Everest in 1995 with an Australian team, but who has dual citizenship, reached the summit at age 22.^[24][25] The feat has since been surpassed by Jake Meyer and, at age 19, by Rob Gauntlett.)

Other expeditions[link]

Circumnavigation of the UK[link]

In 2000, Grylls, led the first team to circumnavigate the UK on a personal watercraft or jet ski, taking about 30 days, to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). He also rowed naked for 22 miles in a homemade bathtub along the Thames to raise funds for a friend who lost his legs in a climbing accident.^[26]

Crossing the North Atlantic[link]

Three years later, he led a team of five, including his childhood friend, SAS colleague, and Mount Everest climbing partner Mick Crosthwaite, on the first unassisted crossing of the north Atlantic Arctic Ocean, in an open rigid inflatable boat^[27]. Suffering weeks of frozen spray and icebergs, battling force 8 gale winds, hypothermia, and storms in an eleven-metre-long boat through some of the most treacherous stretches of water in the world including the Labrador Sea, the Denmark Strait, and the stretch made famous by The Perfect Storm, Grylls and his team were just barely able to finish the journey from Halifax, Nova Scotia to John o' Groats, Scotland.

Paramotoring over Angel Falls[link]

In 2005, Grylls led the first team ever to attempt to paramotor over the remote jungle plateau of the Angel Falls in Venezuela, the world's highest waterfall. The team was attempting to reach the highest, most remote tepuis.

Dinner party at altitude[link]

In 2005, alongside the balloonist and mountaineer David Hempleman-Adams and Lieutenant Commander Alan Veal, leader of the Royal Navy Freefall Parachute Display Team, Grylls created a world record for the highest open-air formal dinner party, which they did under a hot-air balloon at 7,600 metres (25,000 ft), dressed in full mess dress and oxygen masks. To train for the event, he made over 200 parachute jumps. This was in aid of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and The Prince's Trust.

Paramotoring over the Himalayas[link]

In 2007, Grylls claimed to have broken a new world record by flying a Parajet paramotor over the Himalayas, higher than Mount Everest.^[28] Grylls took off from 4,400 metres (14,500 ft), 8 miles south of the mountain. Grylls reported looking down on the summit during his ascent and coping with temperatures of −60 °C (−76 °F). He endured dangerously low oxygen levels and eventually reached 9,000 metres (29,500 ft), almost 3,000 metres (10,000 ft) higher than the previous record of 6,102 metres (20,019 ft). The feat was filmed for Discovery Channel worldwide as well as Channel 4 in the UK.^[29]

While Grylls initially planned to cross over Everest itself, the permit was only to fly to the south of Everest, and he did not traverse Everest out of risk of violating Chinese airspace.^[30]

Journey Antarctica 2008[link]

In 2008, Bear lead a team of four to climb one of the most remote unclimbed peaks in the world in Antarctica. This was raising funds for Global Angels kids charity and awareness for the potential of alternative energies. During this mission the team also aimed to explore the coast of Antarctica by inflatable boat and jetski, part powered by bioethanol, and then to travel across some of the vast ice desert by wind-powered kite-ski and electric powered paramotor. However, the expedition was cut short after Grylls suffered a broken shoulder while kite skiing across a stretch of ice. Travelling at speeds up to 50 km/h (30 mph), a ski caught on the ice, launching him in the air and breaking his shoulder when he came down. He had to be medically evacuated.^[31]

Longest indoor freefall[link]

Grylls, along with the double amputee Al Hodgson and the Scotsman Freddy MacDonald, set a Guinness world record in 2008 for the longest continuous indoor freefall.^[32] The previous record was 1 hr 36 mins by a US team. Grylls, Hodgson, and MacDonald, using a vertical wind tunnel in Milton Keynes, broke the record by a few seconds. The attempt was in support of the charity Global Angels.

Northwest Passage expedition[link]

In August 2010 Grylls lead a team of five to take an ice-breaking rigid-inflatable boat (RIB) through 2,500 miles (4,000 km) of the ice strewn Northwest Passage. The expedition intended to raise awareness of the effects of global warming and to raise money for children's charity Global Angels.^[33]

Media[link]

Grylls entered television work with an appearance in an advertisement for Sure deodorant, featuring his ascent of Mount Everest. Bear was also used by the UK Ministry of Defence to head the Army's anti-drugs TV campaign, and featured in the first ever major advertising campaign for the world-renowned department store Harrods. Grylls has been a guest on television programs, including Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Attack of the Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Harry Hill's TV Burp. Grylls recorded two advertisements for Post's Trail Mix Crunch Cereal, which aired in the US from January 2009. He also appeared as a distinguished instructor in Dos Equis' Most Interesting Academy in a webisode named "Survival in the Modern Era". He appeared in a five-part web series that demonstrates urban survival techniques and features Grylls going from bush to bash. He also has marketed the Alpha Course, a course on the basics of the Christian faith. Warner Bros. had asked Grylls to appear in its remake of the film Clash of the Titans^[34]

Grylls is a best-selling author. Grylls' first book, titled Facing Up, went into the UK top 10 best-seller list, and was launched in the USA entitled The Kid Who Climbed Everest. About his expedition and achievements climbing to the summit of Mount Everest. Grylls' second book Facing the Frozen Ocean was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2004. His third book was written to accompany the series Born Survivor: Bear Grylls. (Released in America in April 2008 to the Man vs. Wild Discovery television show) It features survival skills learned from some of the world's most hostile places. This book reached the Sunday Times Top 10 best-seller list. He also wrote an extreme guide to outdoor pursuits, titled Bear Grylls Outdoor Adventures. In 2011 Bear released his autobiography Mud, Sweat and Tears. and it is still currently the best-selling book in Australia and the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]}

He has a series of children's adventure survival books titled: Mission Survival: Gold of the Gods, Mission Survival: Way of the Wolf, Mission Survival: Sands of the Scorpion and Mission Survival: Tracks of the Tiger.

[edit] Escape to the Legion

Grylls filmed a four-part TV show in 2005, called Escape to the Legion, which followed Grylls and eleven other "recruits" as they took part in a shortened re-creation of the French Foreign Legion's basic desert training in the Sahara. The show was broadcast in the UK on Channel 4,^[35] and in the USA on the Military Channel.^[36] In 2008, it was repeated in the UK on the History Channel.^[37]

[edit] Born Survivor / Man vs. Wild

Grylls hosts a series titled Born Survivor: Bear Grylls for the British Channel 4 and broadcast as Man vs. Wild in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S.A., and as Ultimate Survival on the Discovery Channel in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The series features Grylls dropped into inhospitable places, showing viewers how to survive. Man vs. Wild debuted in 2006 and went on to become the number one cable show in all of America and now reaches a global audience of over 1.2 billion viewers.^[19] The second season premièred in the US on 15 June 2007, the third in November 2007, and the fourth in May 2008.

The show has featured stunts including Grylls climbing cliffs, parachuting from helicopters, balloons, and planes, paragliding, ice climbing, running through a forest fire, wading rapids, eating snakes, wrapping his urine-soaked t-shirt around his head to help stave off the desert heat, drinking urine saved in a rattlesnake skin, drinking fecal liquid from elephant dung, eating deer droppings, wrestling alligators, field dressing a camel carcass and drinking water from it, eating various "creepy crawlies" [insects], utilising the corpse of a sheep as a sleeping bag and flotation device, free climbing waterfalls and using a bird guano/water enema for hydration.^[38][39] Grylls also regales the viewer with tales of adventurers stranded or killed in the wilderness.

In some early episodes, Man vs. Wild / Born Survivor was criticised by some sources for misleading viewers about some of the situations in which Grylls finds himself. Discovery and Channel 4 television subsequently pledged production and editing transparency and clarification related to the criticism.

In March 2012, Discovery Channel terminated its productions with Grylls due to contract disputes.^[40]

[edit] Worst Case Scenario

Grylls' latest project is titled Worst Case Scenario and airs on Discovery in the USA. It is based on the popular books of the same name.^[41]

Chief Scout[link]

On 17 May 2009, The Scout Association announced Grylls would be appointed Chief Scout following the end of Peter Duncan's five year term in July 2009.^[42] He was officially made Chief Scout at Gilwell 24 on 11 July 2009 in a handover event featuring Peter Duncan in front of a crowd of over 3,000 Explorer Scouts. He is the tenth person to hold the position and the youngest Chief Scout since the role was created for Robert Baden-Powell in 1920.^[43][44]

Charities[link]

Many of Grylls' expeditions and stunts have raised money for charitable organisations.^{[citation needed]} Grylls is an ambassador for The Prince's Trust, an organisation which provides training, financial, and practical support to young people in the United Kingdom.^[19] He is also vice president for The JoLt Trust, a small charity that takes disabled, disadvantaged, abused or neglected young people on challenging month-long expeditions.

Global Angels, a UK charity which seeks to aid children around the world, were the beneficiaries of his 2007 accomplishment of taking a powered para-glider higher than Mount Everest. Grylls's held the highest ever dinner party at 7,600 metres (25,000 ft) in aid of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, and launched the 50th anniversary of the Awards. His successfully circumnavigating Britain on jet skis raised money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Grylls' Everest climb was in aid of SSAFA Forces Help, a British-based charitable organisation set up to help former, and serving members of the British Armed Forces, and their families and dependents. His 2003 Arctic expedition detailed in the book Facing the Frozen Ocean was in aid of The Prince's Trust. His 2005 attempt to para-motor over the Angel Falls was in aid of the charity Hope and Homes for Children.^[45] In August 2010, Grylls continued his fund-raising work for Global Angels by undertaking an expedition through the Northwest Passage in a rigid inflatable boat. Many of his expeditions also support environmental causes such as his Antarctica expedition and his circumnavigation of Britain which tested a pioneering new fuel made from rubbish.

In 2011, Grylls was in New Zealand during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Following the incident, he appeared on New Zealand advertisements encouraging people to donate money to help rebuild the city.

Other work[link]

Outside of TV, Grylls works as a motivational speaker, giving speeches worldwide to corporations, churches, schools, and other organisations.^[46] He is also a spokesperson for and owner of a Juice Plus franchise. Grylls has his own outdoor survival clothing range produced by British manufacturer Craghoppers as well as a knife manufactured by Gerber.

See also[link]

• Ranulph Fiennes, British adventurer and a hero of Grylls' growing up^[47]
• Bruce Parry, British adventurer and TV presenter
• Les Hiddins, Australian survival expert and TV presenter
• Les Stroud, Canadian survival expert and TV presenter
• Ray Mears, English survival expert and TV presenter

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bear Grylls

• BearGrylls.com official website
• Bear Grylls on Twitter
• ScoutBase.org (UK) "Meet the Chiefs"