Meet our Team

Hi, I’m Paul. Father to two teenage boys and the leader of Pegasus
explorers.

By trade I an a computer network engineer with over 35 years experience.

I was a member of the cubs when I was a young lad – many years ago and my
own boys are working their way through sections. My eldest has recently left
explorers and is hoping to join Network and my youngest is currently an
explorer.

I have seen what The Scouts have done for my boys and want to give something
back to help others benefit.

Open water swimming is one of my main activities with my normal spot being
Pennington Flash – I am often there early on a Saturday morning – a swim
really sets me up for the day.
I am a less frequent cyclist, but hopefully I will get more time shortly.

When I have time I head out to the hills, improving navigation skills and
working towards the Hill & Moorland leader qualification.

I am a firm believer in the youth shaped scouting principle. I want to
provide a programme that the members enjoy, and love to hear what my members
would like to do from long walks and camping to learning about voting and
insurance!

Paul Matthews
Pegasus ESL – Bolton South with Farnworth

My name is Derek Price and I’m the Section Leader of Beavers also called Bear, I started my scouting journey in the early 90s being a beaver and a cub but unfortunately did not make it to the scouts. During this time my father became a beaver leader (Grey Beaver) and stayed with the 12 Warrington East for over 10 years and was a very enthusiastic campfire leader. I remember these time well and once I managed to get my twins into cubs I found that I wanted to help out like my father did. Unknown to me there was a position for beaver leader that needed to be filled urgently to allow the beavers to keep going. I had a quick zoom with our GSL and went from trying to help out at cubs to the Beaver Leader for 20th Bolton and haven’t looked back since.

In 2023 our Group Scout Leader moved to Wales and I took on the Group Scout Leader role in early 2024 and i look forward to leading 20th Bolton over the coming years.

In my normal day to day life I’m an ethical hacker at a technology company in Manchester and spend most of my time advising clients on the risk their cyber presence could have on their business. Outside of work I have Boy Girl twins and another little girl, with the twins in cubs and my girl in beavers, she has the accolade of being my first beaver.

I love that I am able to give back and become the leader of 20th bolton Beavers like my father did and can’t wait to see what fun we get up to over the years.

Hi my name is Sally also known to the cubs as Akela. I am the section lead volunteer for cubs.
Growing up I attended a different uniformed organisation called Royal Rangers, I loved it and moved up through the age groups and was a runner up in the National Trail Ranger of the year competition. I was also the first girl in the UK to get my Gold Medal of Achievement with a gold Buffalo. It all sounds very strange now, but I am still proud of all I achieved. It forged the foundations of a love of the outdoors that I
wanted my children to have too. My son joined cubs and it rekindled a flame in me.. I started helping out and then went on to become a leader and then in 2023 to take on the role of Akela.
I have made some amazing friends in other volunteers we have a brilliant set of people that give their time to help children have fun and explore the outdoors and engage with new things.
In my life outside of Scouting, I am married with 4 children. I also co-run the productions team at Audacious church. I work for a charity who help communities’ welcome refugees and are responsible for development and running of the IT infrastructure and systems.