About Simon and the Tour
Who is Simon?
Simon Gates, also known as 'Yo-Yo', is a Beaver Scout Leader from the north of Cambridge and has been scouting for over 5 years. Born in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, he spent the first few years of his life in the coastal town of Worthing before moving to Cambridge aged 7 years of age. He was never a scout when growing up, despite a number of friends being involved with the movement.
In 2002 he was introduced to the 18th Cambridge Beavers by the then Assistant Beaver Leader and best friend, Chris Gawthrop-Bleet, at a time when the colony was suffered a momentary leadership shortage. He was invited, along with his sister, to help out temporarily to cover the shortage. It turned out to be one of the most inspirational experiences of his life, so within weeks Simon agreed to become a permanent leader with the group.
In 2004, Simon set out on a personal challenge to discover more about Scouting around the country, known as 'Tour2004'. The tour took him to various districts and even included a 6-month stint as a Scout Leader with the 5th Islington Scout Group in London. The tour however came to a sudden end when work commitments changed...but this didn't stop Simon investing the time closer to home instead.
During the tour, he accepted the chance to help turn around a troubled 14th Cambridge colony and with the assistance of the other 18th leaders, gave it stability and exceptional growth. After two years of temporary charge, he handed the colony over to a permanent leader and began putting together plans for an entirely new colony at the 12th Cambridge...which proved so successful that it led to the reformation of the 26th Cambridge colony a few months later to keep up with demand. Nowadays, the 12th, 18th and 26th colonies are collectively referred to as 'TriBe' and are led by Simon and a dedicated pool of leaders.
More recently, Simon has been heavily involved with the County Media and County Beaver Team, alongside his commitment to the 12th, 18th & 26th Cambridge. He has masterminded the county's 'On' branding and was instrumental in the creation of the County Scout magazine (OnRecord), the County Annual Report (OnReview), and maintaining the County website. He took responsibility for promoting the County Beaveree to leaders in 2007, which saw a 40% increase in attendance on previous numbers. For the past 3 years, Simon has been an active tutor and presenter for the Young Leaders Training Course and also promoted numerous scouting events as a Young Spokesperson for the County.
Simon has also taken an active role in developing the Beaver section at district level in Cambridge and in September 2006, was awarded a County Council Volunteer of the Year Award for "Inspirational Services" to Scouting at the age of 21. He describes himself as a compulsive workaholic but is also surprisingly easy-going, even-tempered and caring, though he admits coming across as quite reserved. His greatest quality, as well as the thing he values the most, is loyalty.
Outside of Scouting, Simon is a Library Assistant for the Inter-Library Loans Department at Cambridge University Library and also a School Governor at Kings Hedges Primary School in Cambridge.
What is the Tour?
The Tour is a specialised personal challenge with the aim to discover more about scouting locally. Whereas Tour2004, the original challenge, studied socio-economic differences in Scouting across the country, the new tour is designed to give a greater insight into scouting activities at local level.
In Cambridgeshire, we're very good at reporting big events that take place up'n'down the county...but very rarely do we broadcast the week-in, week-out activities that make scouting what it is. OnTour will give a greater picture of what it is to be a scout, with discussions and accounts from leaders and the scouts themselves.
