New Year Honours 2024: Longton Scout Leader receives BEM

We’re honoured to announce that Oliver Wood has been honoured on the King’s New Year’s Honours list, being awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for his services to young people at Scouts.

Oliver was awarded the British Empire medal for his dedication to helping young people develop essential life skills. He was a Scouts’ national team member and served as the UK Youth Commissioner for the Scouts from 2018 to 2022.

Oliver joined his local Beaver colony at the age of six and became the UK’s first County Youth Commissioner for West Lancashire, taking the lead on expeditions to Mongolia and China. The former pupil of Hutton Grammar School remains actively involved in scouting as the chair of the Waddecar Scout Activity Centre and with the 2nd Longton – St. Andrews Scouts, where he has volunteered since he was 18. Additionally, he runs his own housing and design business.

Oliver Wood, from 2nd Longton Scout Scout Group, added: “I am so proud to accept a British Empire Medal for services to young people, following my time as UK Youth Commissioner for The Scouts. You never expect any recognition as a volunteer, which has come as a huge surprise. I am inspired every daily by the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who support the delivery of Scouting to over 440,000 young people across the UK.

“I’m so grateful to them, and it is the volunteers who gave their time each week that meant I enjoyed my time in Scouts as a young person and inspired me to start volunteering myself when I turned 18.

“I love volunteering with The Scouts; it is so rewarding and has played a significant role in shaping who I am and my development, as well as giving me lifelong friends and memories.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to volunteer locally and nationally for the organisation that has given me so much.”

Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, added: “Each and every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities.

They represent the best of the UK and the core value of service, which I have put at the centre of everything this government does.

The New Year Honours List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution.”