Scouts says thank you to Matt Hyde

Matt Hyde will be leaving his role as Chief Executive at Scouts after 11 years, becoming Chief Executive of the Lloyds Bank Foundation.

Jennie Price, our Chair of Trustees, said, ‘I want to express our sincere gratitude to Matt for his leadership as Chief Executive at Scouts over the last 11 years. There have been some real highlights for Scouts during this time, including launching Squirrels, our new provision for 4 and 5 year olds, in 2021, and developing the award-winning social action campaign “A Million Hands” engaging over 250,000 young people to take action on issues they are passionate about.

'We’ve worked through the pandemic, a rebrand for Scouts, and championed opening over 1,300 new groups in areas of deprivation within the UK. We’ll greatly miss his passion and dedication to Scouts.’

Bear Grylls, Chief Scout, shared, ‘Matt has been a truly inspirational leader, showing kindness and courage with every step through his journey at Scouts over last decade. I feel so grateful to have been able to work so closely alongside him during this time. Thank you Matt, you’re a real Scout hero.’

Matt Hyde said, ‘I want to thank, and pay tribute to, the many volunteers and staff I have worked with at Scouts over the past 11 years. It’s been a huge privilege to play a part in helping hundreds of thousands of young people gain skills for life over that time. Scouts is an incredible movement with amazing people, who I will miss greatly.

'We’ve delivered two strategies during my time at Scouts, and now is an exciting time as we move into our planning as an organisation for 2025 and beyond. It’s an immense honour to be joining the Lloyd’s Bank Foundation as chief executive and I’m grateful to their trustees for putting their faith in me.’

Matt will continue in his role until 1 September 2024, finishing after the National Annual General Meeting. (AGM) and Gilwell Reunion event for Scouts.

A recruitment process for his successor will start shortly.