Before joining Scouting he had been a Royal Marine, and he used the skills he learnt in this role to benefit many Scouts in later years.  His first Scouting appointment was as a Scout Leader in the Truro Scout Scout Troop, Cornwall, from 1 February 1952. However, he moved to Wycliffe College, Gloucestershire, as a member of the teaching staff in 1955, where he was Scout Leader and later Group Scout Leader at the College’s Scout Troop for over twenty years.

While remaining as Group Scout Leader at Wycliffe until 1977, Derek also supported Scouting across the district as Assistant District Commissioner from 1963 and then as Stroud and Tetbury District’s District Commissioner from 1965 until 1977. 

Derek had many achievements in Scouting, and was a great organiser, believing that the Movement needed to constantly evolve in order to remain relevant.  His countless experiments and schemes for new ways of working, and improving the organisation and methods of Scouting would fill a small volume, but here are a few of the more notable examples.

His Scout Group was one of the Headquarters' pilot groups in the early initiatives to introduce girls into the Venture Scout section, and is daughter (Christine) was one of the first young ladies in Scouting to achieve the Queen's Scout Award.

In the 1970's Derek formed a mobile response unit of Venture Scouts to help the community in the case of incidence such as floods, heavy snow, etc., and travelled with this unit to a meeting of similar units held in London.

Always keen to grasp an opportunity and to embrace new ideas, Derek initiated the inclusion of one of the first artificial climbing walls to be built into the designs for Wycliffe College's new Gymnasium so that the Venture Scouts and older Scouts could be trained in climbing skills before going out to real rock faces.

Derek pioneered the idea of linking newly formed groups to well established ones to given them help and support until they became able to become independent.  This method of expanding Scouting in the District proved successful and led to notable growth in Scouting across the District under his stewardship. 

After retiring from uniformed Scouting in 1977 Derek continued to provide wise guidance to the district as District Chairman for a further fifteen years from 1978 to 1993, after which it was to the delight of the District the he accepted the role of District President. Added to all of this Derek’s support of the County as a member of the County Executive Committee and his involvement in supporting adult leaders it is clear that Derek was a dedicated and life-long supporter of Scouting. It is no surprise that he was awarded, and greatly deserved, the Scout Association’s Medal of Merit in 1966, the Silver Acorn in 1976, the Bar to the Silver Acorn in 1985, and finally the Silver Wolf in 1997 in recognition of his outstanding service to Scouting.

In recent years Derek has continued to take a great interest in District activities and events, attending many of the Centenary Celebrations, and providing much material and guidance for the District’s Centenary of Scouting Exhibition in Museum in the Park in April 2007. His presence in Scouting and his advice will be greatly missed.