SCOUT County Commissioner for West Yorkshire Ian Womersley visited Curly Hill Camp in Ilkley to see a new wooden shelter erected in memory of an exemplary volunteer. Mary Bushell sadly passed away in July 2019 and West Yorkshire Scouts and other charities were beneficiaries of her estate. Mary was a dedicated, committed, and exemplary volunteer in West Yorkshire Scouts for many years.

The legacy was used to purchase a ‘Bushell Shelter’ for each of the ten scout campsites in West Yorkshire, including Curly Hill. The shelter was erected by the Curly Hill volunteer wardens

The County Commissioner took the opportunity to present Jeremy Ince, chair of the Curly Hill Camp Site and Centre with a special award - The Bar To Award of Merit - representing his outstanding service. Jeremy has raised almost £100,000 for Curly Hill Campsite over the last 10 years, transforming the site into a very high-quality centre.

At the meeting David Shaw MBE, awards board chair, outlined the various roles Jeremy has held in scouting since 1993. He was District Treasurer until 2008, then District Camp Warden and Active Support Team Manager since 2010.

David said: "Through his work in more recent years as Chair of Curly Hill Campsite he has transformed the site into a thriving very profitable, extremely well-regarded facility for scouting and guiding plus the local community.

"Jeremy has raised many thousands for Curly Hill Campsite and helped others with grant applications. Through his area bank manager job his specific talents for excellent financial and project management have really been so valuable to the District to produce continued development of a high standard.

"During recent years Curly Hill Camp Site, through Jeremy’s management, has welcomed a record number of visiting groups. Over 3000 adults and young people have used the site generating a total of £29k in income during 2019/20 to be used towards maintenance, improvements and district funds. As well as hosting Scout and Guide groups the site has seen continued increase in use by local schools as a stopover on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. The site was also used by 21 district groups for outdoor activities during this period."

Ian Womersley also presented District Commissioner Tim Haskins with his Wood badge. The Wood Badge is the internationally recognised scouting training insignia awarded to adults by headquarters on completion of the training required for their role.

During the visit there was also a reflection for HM Queen Elizabeth II.