I am pleased to announce that I have made a number of appointments to the Regional Leadership Team. Find out more about our new (and familiar) faces below.
Martin Elliot
Regional Commissioner
George Devine, Active Support Manager, Bonaly Active Support Unit
In this role, George will be a key member of both my Regional Leadership Team and the Bonaly Leadership Team led by Peter Casebow.
George will be a well-kent face to some in the Region from his long association with Bonaly as well as his past roles in the Region which included Assistant Area Commissioner for Venture Scouts in Edinburgh Area. George was also manager of the UK International ASU until last year.
In this role George will manage our incredible team of volunteers at Bonaly Scout Centre and will be a key link between the ASU and the Bonaly and Regional Leadership Teams.
Please join me in congratulating George on his new roles and wishing him every success.
Of his new role, George said: “This is almost like coming full circle. My relationship with Bonaly started around the age of 13 or 14, I was clearing the Roman Bath. Now, 56 years on and I’m still cleaning it! I have under taken a number of roles in my Scouting career and I am really looking forward to this one.”
Neil Hogg, Squirrels Advisor
I am very pleased that Neil Hogg has agreed to extend his existing responsibilities as Assistant Regional Commissioner (Section Support) for the Beaver, Cub and Scout Sections to become the Region’s Squirrel Advisor.
The new Squirrels section is for 4 and 5 years olds and our first Squirrel drey within the Region is due to launch later this year. In this important role Neil will work with the Regional Commissioner and Scouting Support Officer to support groups establishing or looking to establish Squirrel dreys to provide Scouting opportunities to more young people.
I am very grateful to Neil for agreeing to take on this role and look forward to working with him to make our newest section successful in South East Scotland.
Hermione Morris, Regional Communications Working Group
Recognising the importance of communication both to those within and outwith the Region, particularly over the past 18 months, the Regional Communications Working Group was established in 2020. As some members of the group have stepped down recently, I am pleased that Hermione Morris has agreed to join the group and support its work helping manage the Region’s communication channels. She will also look at how we can further improve our engagement and outreach.
Sadly, we also had to say goodbye to one member of the Regional Leadership team as Martin Browne, Assistant Regional Commissioner (Communications) decided to step back from Scouting. Martin has held a number of roles in his time in the Region, including Group Scout Leader, Assistant RC (Youth Involvement) and Acting District Commissioner in Midlothian. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Martin for his contributions to the work of the Region in all of these roles and the work that he has done most recently to expand our communications reach, particularly through social media. I have benefitted from Martin’s advice and counsel both as chair of the Communications Working Group and more recently taking on the RC role.
