Bob, 28, is new Bedfordshire Scout Commissioner

Bob Calver is the youngest person to be appointed county comissisoner of Bedfordshire Scouts in its 103-year history

The new leader takes over at a boom time for the movement with responsibility for an army of over 6,000 Scouts in the county.

In a first for Bedfordshire, Scout leader Bob Calver has been appointed county commissioner at the age of 28, the youngest in a line of 19 going back to 1910 and the youngest in the UK.

It is a crucial role as Scouting continues to grow in popularity.

In the past 10 years total membership in the county has increased 11.8 per cent from 5,535 in 2004 to 6,188 this year.

However, the new leader says Bedfordshire Scouts still needs more volunteers.

He said: “There is something for everyone as a flexible Scouting volunteer.

“Adults get as much out of their involvement whether as transferable skills for the workplace, greater confidence or simply the satisfaction of knowing they are helping their community.”

He added, “I am excited to be taking on the new challenge of county commissioner at a time when we are about to see big changes to our structure in places such as Luton as well as the challenge for 36 of our young people as they train for the 2015 World Scout Jamboree in Japan.”

For more information on Scouting go to www.scouts.org.uk