Our Team
Uniformed Leaders
Group Leaders
Rob Cannell heads up the team of uniformed leaders as our Group Scout Leader (GSL). Rob was previously our Scout Leader and regularly assists at both Scouts and Cubs sections. Rob was awarded the Chief Scout’s Commendation for Good Service in 2020.
Carole Needham is our Assistant Group Scout Leader (AGSL) and Training Coordinator. Carole was previously an Assistant Leader in our Cubs section. In 2019, Carole received the Award for Merit, which is given for keen, conscientious, imaginative and dedicated service to scouting over a sustained period, of at least 12 years duration.
Beavers Leaders
George Burton, known to the Beavers as Otter, is our Beaver Scout Leader (BSL). George has been running the group since 2021, our previous beaver section leader Wilber having retired from the position after 20 years with the group.
George is ably assisted by Puffin (Jennifer Williams), Badger (Neil Beardmore) and Owl (Chris Brass).
As well as these uniformed leaders, we operate a weekly rota of parent helpers, to ensure we always have a sufficient ratio of adults to young people.
Cubs Leaders
Kirstie Wood (Bagheera), Debbie DiBiase (Chil), Lisa Pugh and Rob Cannell (our GSL) together run our Cubs section. Kirstie first took on the challenge of running the section during 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 restrictions, when we were meeting on Zoom, and is very pleased to be back to running face-to-face meetings now.
This team of adult leaders is often joined by one or two young people of age 14-18 from our Explorers section, who are participating in the scouts Young Leaders scheme. We also ask parents to help out at our weekly meetings, particularly if the Cubs are engaged in off-site activities.
Scouts Leaders
Nick Fisk is our Scout Leader (SL). In 2020, he became our Scout Leader for the second time, having spent several years as Assistant Scout Leader. He holds a Chief Scout’s Commendation for Good Service, awarded in 2012.
He is assisted by section assistants Mark Cody, Richard Darby-Dowman, Rob Williams and Malcolm Woods.
We also ask parents to help out when needed, on bike rides, hikes and camps.
Explorers Leaders
Paul Collyer leads our Explorer Unit for young people aged 14-18. The Explorer Scouts themselves play a significant role in planning their own meetings and events. Our explorer unit cooperates closely with other Esher District explorer groups, arranging many meetings and events jointly.
Many of our explorers are enrolled in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, which is coordinated by the Dragon scout and DofE group, a joint venture between five of the Esher District scout groups.
Executive Committee
Nigel Harris is our group chairman.
Chad Newton is our group vice-chairman, having previously served as chairman for several years.
Andy Panayides is our group treasurer.
Fiona Wood is our group secretary.
Angela Cody is a charity trustee and parent representative for the Beavers section.
Clare Wright is a charity trustee and parent representative for the Cubs section.
Emma Harris is a charity trustee and parent representative for the Scouts section.
Also on the executive committee are Rob Cannell (our GSL) and Carole Needham (our AGSL).
Other Adult Volunteers
The group is extremely grateful to have several parents and other adult volunteers who kindly offer their time to help with administrative tasks such as maintaining our waiting list, badge record keeping, activity planning and camp organisation, looking after our equipment and vehicles. Other parents help by managing communication between parents, keeping everyone informed and arranging car sharing etc. through WhatsApp groups, or by compiling news reports for our website.
Beth Beardmore handles the administration of badges for the Beavers section.
Angela Cody manages parent communications for the Beavers section.
Susie Constable handles the administration of badges for the Cubs section.
Emma Harris is our membership secretary. She also manages parent communications and handles badges for the Scout section.
Lauren Manning-Brown coordinates parent involvement in our annual Christmas tree collection.
Charlotte McCabe is our vehicle bookings manager.
Chad Newton runs the information technology (online booking and vehicle routing) for our annual Christmas tree collection.
Tom Pugh ensures our vehicles are taxed, insured, tested and serviced.
Clare Wright manages parent communications for the Cubs section.
We’re always looking for more help, so if you want to help the group maximise its hugely positive impact on its young members, let us know.
