A Lanarkshire 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 over 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 a couple of weeks ago 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 subsequently 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 a 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, and Graeme was honoured to receive the same recognition as Dr Greenhill.
He said: "I hope that 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 8 and progressed through the different sections.
In 2001 Graeme became the lead volunteer of the group (Group Scout Leader) and has been at the forefront of this 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.
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