A MAN who has dedicated most of his life to scouting has been put forward for volunteer of the year in the Proud of Barnsley awards.
Charles Wilkins has been involved in scouting since he was nine and for more than 50 years he has been a scout leader to youngsters aged between eight and 18 years.
Based at Barugh Scout hut on Dearnehall Road, Charles inspires his groups to take part in work that benefits the community, builds confidence and teaches them valuable life skills.
He spends his weekends driving a minibus to make sure his groups are able to take part in the activities they want to get involved in, whenever they want to, working around their needs and exams at the expense of his own free-time.
The nomination said without dedicated people like Charles, provision for youngsters in the Barnsley area would suffer.
"It is amazing that he has never lost his enthusiasm for scouting and has remained within the organisation for such a long time", it states.
