Scout leader honoured with Silver Wolf award
Graeme second 113th troop chief to get nod
A Rutherglen scout leader has been honoured for his many years of “exceptional service”.
Earlier this year we told how Graeme Hamilton had been awarded an MBE after more than 40 years of working with the 113th Burnside Scouts.
Now he has been given another accolade, in the form of the Silver Wolf award from the scouting organisation.
Graeme received his award recently at Scout’s UK headquarters in Gilwell Park, Essex, where he was presented with the honour by the current Chief Commissioner, Carl Hankinson.
Graeme is only the second leader in the 113th Burnside Scouts to have been awarded the Silver Wolf, the first being Scout leader Dr Thomas Greenhill back in 1949.
Thomas Greenhill was born in 1898 in Dunoon, moved with his family to Dalmarnock, where his father was a GP and then settled in Rodger Drive.
He initially joined a gang of “monkey” Scouts in Rutherglen in 1908 before forming the nucleus of the 113th Scout Group, who back then met in the cellar of a house in Peveril Avenue in early 1909.
Over the years he followed in his father’s footsteps as a GP but also championed the Scouts’ cause, including organising the largest Scout event to be held in Scotland at that time – a Rover Scout moot for 3500 young people from 42 countries in the grounds of Monzie castle in Perthshire.
He remained with the group until
his death in May 1959. Graeme was honoured to receive the same recognition as Dr Greenhill and said: “I hope we both inspired young people in Burnside and its surrounding communities to join the Scouts, to take up new hobbies, to learn skills and try new adventurous activities; to camp, to help others, to be role models for their younger Scouts.
“A silver wolf is a small token of
appreciation but the message it shares about working together and voluntary service is big and loud.”
Graeme, who has always lived in Burnside, joined as a Cub Scout in early 1971, aged eight and progressed through the different sections.
In 2001 he became the lead volunteer of the group (Group Scout Leader) and has been at the forefront of the community organisation
since. Over the years he has taken on supportive roles for cubs at district, Glasgow area, Scottish Headquarters and then as the UK Commissioner for Cub Scouts.
Graeme’s service to scouting nationally continued and he held a number of roles with responsibility for the Scout programme before becoming the Deputy Leader of all scouts in the UK (deputy Chief Commissioner) at the end of 2019.
I hope we both inspired young people in Burnside and its surrounding areas to join the Scouts