Meet the team: 14-24 re-design

We know our provision for 14-24 year olds could be better. Too many of our Scouts don’t continue to Explorers, and too many Explorer Scouts don’t make it to Network. So, we’re now starting work on reviewing our offering for 14-24 year olds.

Over the next five years, we’ll be exploring what Scouting should achieve for future generations of 14-24 year olds. With nothing off the table, we’ll explore the outcomes we hope young people can achieve, the activities that will get them there, and the programme and support that make the delivery of those activities as easy as possible. 

Who will be helping us do this? Here's a little more about the makeup of the team.

Kevin Munday, Programme Sponsor 

Kevin is a Deputy Group Scout Leader and District Explorer Scout Commissioner from Greater London North.  Professionally he is Chief Executive of the youth work charity City Year UK, which empowers 18- to 25-year-olds to support pupils furthest from opportunity to succeed in school.  He is also dad to his own Explorer Scout.  

Lewis Dangerfield, UK Commissioner for Programme 

Lewis Dangerfield joined the movement as a Beaver Scout at the age of six, and hasn’t left since. Lewis began his leadership journey as a Young Leader in Cub Scouts, before going on to hold manager roles, including Acting District and County Commissioner in Gloucestershire, and most recently the County Training Manager. Outside of Scouting, Lewis is the Chief Financial Officer for Osprey Group, a specialist in construction logistics supporting the low carbon economy.

Georgia Galloway, Assistant Chief Commissioner for England - Programme

Georgia joined the England Leadership Team in 2022.  She is currently an Explorer Scout Leader as well as supporting our County Assistant Commissioners with responsibility for the programme. She is also part of the International Service Team for the 25^th World Scout Jamboree.  Professionally Georgia is a doctor and is currently an Internal Medicine Trainee and Royal College of Physicians Associate College Tutor.

Linda Thelwell, District Commissioner 

Linda has been a volunteer with The Scout Association for many years and held many different roles, most recently being District Commissioner in Humberside. In the 1980s & 1990s, she volunteered with the Venture Scout section, an age range she particularly enjoyed working with. She was a member of the team who created the Explorer Scout and Scout Network sections which we launched in 2002 and feels passionate about the opportunity we now have 20+ years on to redesign the 14 to 24 provision. 

Humaairah Jama, Explorer Scout Unit Leader/MSF National Explorer Lead

Humaairah is an Explorer Leader at an Explorer Unit based in East London and she is also the head of Explorers for the Muslim Scout Fellowship. She is passionate about ensuring that the programme for 14-25 year olds is enriching, relevant and inclusive and that young people continue their scouting journeys past the age of 18 and 25. Outside of Scouting she is the Equity and Equality Specialist Midwife at her local hospital.

Elinor Wood, Explorer Scout Leader 

Elionor is an Explorer Scout Leader. She’s been in scouting since she was 14, and through Explorers and her time as a leader she has found a passion for outdoor activities (in particular, paddle sports, walking, climbing) and enabling young people to get out and try new activities.

Benjamin Hobson, District Network Commissioner 

Ben has been in scouting since he joined Beavers, and has gone through all the different sections, been a young leader, then moved onto being a Scout and Explorer leader, and District Youth Commissioner. Now, his primary role is District Scout Network Commissioner, where he’s restarted the Network section in his area. He’s excited to work on the 14-24 review to make sure that this age range has a provision that reflects the desires of those in it. Outside of Scouts, he’s a full time student at the University of Bristol.

Nikki Parr, Assistant UK Commissioner for Programme (Explorer Scouts)

Nikki has been involved in Scouts as a youth member when she joined as Venture Scout at the age of 14 and since has had the privilege to hold a number of roles such as Deputy County Commissioner for Programme in Merseyside, as well as going to the 24th World Scout Jamboree in West Virginia. Professionally she is a Team Manager for a safeguarding team in Children’s Services.   

Nirav Patel, Assistant UK Commissioner for Programme (Explorer Scout Young Leaders)

Nirav joined the movement as a Cub Scout at the age of eight and has enjoyed the adventure ever since. His most memorable moments as a young person have been becoming a Queen's Scout and carrying the Olympic Torch as a Torchbearer for the London 2012 Olympics. Nirav’s leadership journey began at the age of fourteen as a Young Leader in Cub Scouts and he has held adult volunteer roles as a leader within the Scout and Explorer Scout sections. 

Megan Richardson, Assistant UK Commissioner for Programme (Scout Network)

Megan loved the Scouts programme and went on to be a young leader, helping with the Beavers and Scout section and going on to hold leader roles with Beavers, Cubs and Explorers, as well as supporting different sections. Professionally she is a secondary school teacher in Essex. She is looking forward to support more volunteers with this exciting role. 

Adrian Suhanea, WOSM Services Consultant  

Adrian has volunteered with the European region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) since 2014.  An avid Scout, he aided in the development of the first Scout Centre in Romania and served as the head of the educational programme department the National Organization of Romanian Scouts from 2008-2012.  Professionally he is an educator in the outreach department of the European Space Agency in the Netherlands.

Charli Clement, young person representing the 14-24 Youth Panel 

Charli is a disability activist and Scout from Birmingham. As a Network member, Cub and Scout leader, and previous Community Impact Group member, she is passionate about changing the 14-24 programme to be more inclusive and accessible for all. Elsewhere, she works in the NHS and third sector to improve care for autistic and disabled people.

Daniel Bavister, young person representing the 14-24 Youth Panel

Dan is 23 and from Wiltshire. He first joined as an Explorer Scout, aged 14, in a newly established unit. He went on loads of amazing adventures with his unit, including our trip to attend the Roihu 2016 International Jamboree in Finland. More recently, he has taken on the role of County Transformation Lead for Wiltshire, supporting our volunteers with the upcoming changes to our volunteer journey.

Alfie Francis, Youth Shaped Community of Practice Member

Alfie is 20 and the County Youth Commissioner for South London as well as supporting all of the County Youth Commissioners across the Greater London Region.  He is a Queen’s Scout and is particularly proud to have been involved in The Queen’s State Funeral. He's been in Scouting since the age of six going through all the sections, including the young leaders programme where he was able to develop leadership skills. As a Youth Commissioner he's been focusing on the young leaders provision in London and how London as a whole could improve the provision of the Young Leaders programme.

Tomas Arias, Inclusion Community of Practice Member 

Tomás has been in Scouting since the age of 13, joining his local unit in Panama. He moved to the United Kingdom in 2016 to study at Brunel University London and joined Scouts in the UK shortly thereafter. Tomás now lives in County Down and holds roles in his local Explorer section and is a member of both the Northern Ireland Inclusion Team and the UK National Inclusion Team. His achievements in Scouts include receiving the Youth Award and Youth Support Recognition in Panama, his Queen’s/King’s Scout Award in the UK, and being a joint recipient of the World Scout’s Messengers of Peace Heroes Award.