A bit about me

There are now only 34 months to go until August 2014 and WINGS. Having just been appointed as the WINGS Director I am trying to get my head around all the things that have to happen for WINGS 2014 to be a success.

My professional background is in aviation, mostly in air traffic control. I spent 6 years in operational roles at several airports before moving to head quarters . Since 2005 I have worked in quality and business management, and latterly in operational safety performance and improvement leading a programme of activities to maximise the safety of aircraft operating in the UK.

My time in Scouting

In regular scouting I have held a number of roles including Assistant Scout Leader and District Explorer Scout Commissioner. I have also been involved in a number of international events. I was Manager Arrivals & Departures for EuroJam and the World Scout Jamboree here in the UK. This was followed in 2009 when I was the Safety Advisor for WINGS. In 2011 I was the logistics lead for the 2nd 3 weeks of the Uganda project.
I hope that these experience will serve me well in the preparation for WINGS 2014,  but it is going to need the collective efforts of a number of people. The first of these roles, namely that of the 2 Deputy Directors, have been advertised this week. They will be followed by Finance, Marketing and Programme roles. I hope to have most of the key team in place by early 2012.

My vision for WINGS 2014

This leads me on to WINGS 2014 itself, for it is this that most of my messages will be about! Having come to WINGS 2003 as a visitor and been on the staff for 2009, I am amazed at the sheer scale of the achievement that is possible by a dedicated team of volunteers. There is a saying ” the work of 1 volunteer is worth that of 10 pressed men”, WINGS is a testament to that. This is a spirit I intent to foster as we build toward 2014.

As I said, the next few months will be spent developing the core team and starting to get the initial plans finalised. There are so many positive things to build on from 2009 and much to live up to.

I hope this will be the first of at least 34 Directors’ messages (yes, I am trying for at least 1 per month), which will help me to share with you the journey that is the creation and development of WINGS 2014. This is a team effort and I am keen to hear what you think about WINGS. If you have any questions or thoughts please get in touch at 

I look forward to meeting many of you at WINGS!

Brendan