The Scout Association has appointed Matt Hyde as chief executive, taking over from Derek Twine in April when he retires after 16 years at the helm.
Since 2006 Hyde has been in charge of 80 staff nationally as chief executive of the National Union of Students, where he has been congratulated for achieving a financial turnaround and an award-winning programme of governance. He will take up his new post with the Scouts on 29 April 2013.
The announcement comes as the Scouts advise it will be consulting on whether to allow atheists into the movement. The move would amend the currently Christian Scout promise which includes the words “duty to god”, creating an alternative for those without belief.
Twine, who will retire passing the reins to Hyde, has been instrumental in implementing a programme of diversity at the 105-year-old organisation. Female membership has grown by 69 per cent in the past decade (up to 114,651) and there are now over 50 Scout Groups in the UK catering mainly for young people from Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities.
Hyde will face the challenges of growth in both diversity and in finding more adult volunteers. Adult volunteers are desperately needed at the organisation to accommodate the 35,000 young people currently on waiting lists to join the movement.
Hyde said: "I am delighted to be joining the Scout Association at such an exciting time for the movement. The Scout movement plays a vital role transforming the lives of young people across the UK and I believe my leadership, skills and experience will help the Scout Association to achieve its 2018 vision to make a real social impact on the communities we serve."
Hyde is something of a student union stalwart. He graduated from Queen Mary University of London where he obtained a BA Hons in English in 1996 and went on to become president of its student union for two years. He then became president of the University of London Union for a year, then deputy general manager of King's College London Student Union for 19 months. Following this he furthered his education at the University of Westminster where he graduated in 2003, whilst holding the position of general manager of Goldsmiths College Students' Union for almost six years prior to his appointment as CEO of the National Union of Students.
He is also a trustee of the NCVO.
