Skip to main content

Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means

Notable former Scouts

A list of notable former Scouts, who at some time have been members of the Scout Association.

  • Sir David Attenborough - broadcaster and historian
  • Sir Richard Attenborough - former actor and film director
  • Graham Norton - TV presenter
  • Greg Davies - Comedian, writer and TV presenter
  • Alex Brooker - Comedian, journalist and TV presenter
  • Jamie Oliver MBE - chef, TV presenter and cook-book author
  • James Acaster - comedian and TV presenter
  • Ross Kemp - actor and TV presenter
  • Richard Hammond - TV presenter
  • James Buckley - actor
  • James Martin - chef
  • Ray Mears - survival expert
  • Suzy Eddie Izzard - comedian, actor and activist
  • Derek Jacobi - actor
  • Jeremy Paxman - broadcaster and TV presenter
  • Ainsley Harriott - chef
  • Ronnie Corbett - former comedian and actor
  • Kenn Dodd - former comedian and entertainer
  • Richard Barker OBE - life sciences and healthcare leader
  • Sir Michael Parkinson CBE - broadcaster and TV presenter
  • Chris Tarrant - TV presenter
  • Alan Titchmarsh - gardener and TV presenter
  • David Bellamy OBE - botanist, television presenter, author and environmental campaigner
  • Michael Barratt - TV presenter
  • John Craven OBE - journalist and TV presenter
  • Ed Crooks - TV reporter
  • Phil Gayle - newsreader
  • Michael Hurll - TV producer
  • Denis Norden - comedy writer and TV presenter
  • Richard Whitely - TV presenter
  • David Wickham - producer
  • Richard McCourt - TV presenter as one half of double act, ‘Dick and Dom’
  • Natasha Kaplinsky - newsreader
  • David Beckham - footballer
  • Andy Murray - tennis player
  • Gareth Southgate - former footballer and current England manager
  • Michael Owen - footballer
  • David Seaman - goalkeeper
  • Gordon Pirie - athlete
  • Mark Ramprakash - cricketer
  • Trevor Brooking - pundit
  • Paul Bracewell - footballer
  • Brian Clough OBE - former manager and football player
  • Nigel Clough - footballer
  • Martin Keown - footballer
  • Robert Lee - footballer
  • Sammy Lee - footballer
  • Malcom MacDonald - manager
  • Derek Mountfield - footballer
  • Bobby Robson - manager
  • Graham Stuart - footballer
  • Brendon Batson - footballer
  • Tommy Taylor - manager
  • Peter Oosterhuis - golfer
  • Ian Clough - mountaineer
  • Bob Willis - cricketer 
  • Tim Foster -  rower 
  • Graeme Le Saux -  footballer
  • Christopher Lambert - athlete
  • Gordon Bulloch - rugby player
  • Lee Sharpe - footballer
  • Sir Paul McCartney - singer-songwriter and member of The Beatles
  • David Bowie - singer-songwriter
  • Bob Geldof - singer-songwriter
  • Ian Wallace - singer
  • Jarvis Cocker - singer
  • George Michael - singer-songwriter
  • Fat Boy Slim (Norman Cook) - DJ
  • Sir Cliff Richard - singer-songwriter
  • Boy George - singer-songwriter
  • Mike Harding - singer and comedian
  • Karl Green - singer from ‘Herman's Hermits’ 
  • Mark Feehily - singer from ‘Westlife’
  • Ian 'H' Watkins - singer from Steps
  • David Gilmour - musician from ‘Pink Floyd’
  • Pete Waterman - record producer
  • Vera Barclay - first prominent Cub leader and author
  • Simon Mayo - radio presenter and DJ
  • Richard Branson - entrepreneur
  • Raymond Briggs CBE - author of The Snowman, Ethel & Ernest and Fungus the Bogeyman
  • David Hockney - artist
  • Rhys Jones - youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest
  • John Nicol - RAF pilot, author and broadcaster
  • Lord Owen - British politician and physician
  • Lesley Thomas OBE - author
  • Sir Christopher Catherwood - author and historian
  • Lord Burnham BT JP DL
  • Sir Ralph Carr-Ellison - businessman 
  • Sir Austin Pearce CBE - chairman of British Aerospace
  • Tony Warren MBE - creator of Coronation Street
  • Professor Arnold Wolfendale - astronomer
  • Sir Michael Edwards - British-South African chairman of British Leyland
  • Lord Hunt CBE DSO - former British Army officer and explorer
  • Major General Robin Short - former director general of Army Medical Services
  • Martin Townsend - journalist
  • Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar - RAF pilot in the Second World War
  • Tony Blair - former Prime Minister
  • John Major - former Prime Minister
  • Harold Wilson - former Prime Minister
  • Neil Kinnock - former leader of the Labour Party
  • George Robert ‘Bob’ Cryer - former Labour politician
  • David Evans - current general secretary of the Labour Party
  • Peter Fry - former Conservative politician
  • Sam Galbraith - former Scottish politician and neurosurgeon
  • Lord Gormley - former President of the National Union of Miners and Labour peer
  • Ron Hayward - former leading activist in the British Labour Party
  • Eric Heffer - former Labour MP for Liverpool, Walton
  • Lord Howe of Aberavon Kt CH QC - former British Conservative politician, who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1990
  • Adam Butler - former Conservative politician
  • Tony Benn - former Labour politician and MP for Bristol South East and Chesterfield
  • Peter Mandelson - current Labour politician
  • Lord Mason of Barnsley DL
  • Austin Mitchell - former academic, journalist and Labour politician
  • Hon. Sir Charles Morrison - former Labour politician and Cabinet minister
  • Lord Pitt of Hampstead - former Labour politician and GP 
  • Lord Pym MC DL - former Conservative politician 
  • Lord Rochester DL - former Liberal Democrat politician 
  • James Shea - NATO Spokesman
  • Robert Walker, Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe - English barrister and former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He sat in the House of Lords until 2021.
  • Sir John Devereux Ward CBE - former Conservative politician 
  • David Lammy - current Labour MP for Tottenham and Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
  • The Very Revd. Professor Barbour - former Dean of the Chapel Royal, Church of Scotland
  • The Very Revd. Edward Carpenter, MA BD DPh - former Dean of Westminster
  • Rt. Revd. Tom McMahon - former RC Bishop of Brentwood
  • Rt. Revd. Roderic Coote MA DD - former Bishop of Colchester
  • Rt. Revd. John Kirkham MA - former Bishop of Sherbourne
  • Rt. Revd. Maurice Wood DSC, MA, RNVR - former Bishop of Norwich
  • Cardinal Thomas Winning - former Scottish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and former Archbishop of Glasgow
  • Neil Armstrong - astronaut
  • Steven Spielberg - film director
  • Buzz Aldrin - astronaut
  • Harrison Ford - actor
  • Taylor Swift - singer songwriter (Girl Scouts of America)
  • Venus Williams - tennis player (Girl Scouts of America)
  • Condoleezza Rice - American diplomat and political scientist (Girl Scouts of America)
  • Queen Latifah - rapper, actress and singer (Girl Scouts of America)
  • Mariah Carey - singer (Girl Scouts of America)
  • Chris Pratt - actor
  • Barack Obama - former President of the United States
  • Michael J Fox - actor
  • Jack Black - actor
  • Martin Luther King Jr - civil rights activist
  • John F Kennedy - former President of the United States
  • James Lovell - astronaut
  • Mark Spitz - US swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion
  • Richard Gere - actor
  • Caitlyn Jenner - US Athlete
  • Bill Clinton - former President of the United States
  • Jason Donovan - actor and singer
  • Ex-King Constantine of Greece
  • Jean-Louis Dumas - chairman and creative director of Hermès fashion house in France
  • James Stewart - actor
  • Armandou M'Bou - UNESCO director general 
  • Sir Sonny Ramphal CMG QC - former Commonwealth Secretary General
  • Jacques Chirac - French Politician
  • Walter Cronkite - US Journalist
  • Prince Emmanuel of Lichtenstein
  • Hon. Daniel Moi - President of Kenya
  • Gerald Ford - former US President
  • Valery Giscard d'Estang - French politician
  • Dr Julius Nyerere - President of Tanzania

Chief Scout

  • Bear Grylls - adventurer, TV presenter and author - Chief Scout 

Scout Ambassadors

  • Ellie Simmonds - Olympic swimmer 
  • Warwick Davis - actor 
  • Tim Peake - astronaut 
  • Dwayne Fields - explorer and adventurer 
  • Ed Stafford - explorer and survivalist
  • Julia Bradbury - TV presenter 
  • Saray Khumalo - explorer and mountaineer
  • Megan Hine - survival consultant, adventurer, writer and TV presenter 
  • Steve Backshall - TV presenter and wildlife expert
  • Helen Glover - Olympic rower

Scout adventurers

  • Karen Darke MBE - Paralympian 
  • Phoebe Smith - wild camping adventurer 
  • Darren Clarkson-King - kayaker 
  • Laura Jones - runner
  • Sal Montgomery - kayaker
  • Alastair Humphreys
  • Sean Conway
  • Rhys Jones - mountaineer
  • Mark Wood 
  • Robert McArthur - adventurer 
  • Poldy van Lynden 
  • Joe Doherty - explorer and polar expedition leader
  • Ben Saunders - polar explorer
  • Mahroof Malik - mountaineer