EXPLORER Bear Grylls will be sharing some of his skills and expertise with an audience of dozens of people at a Bolton church.

The writer, adventurer, thrill-seeker and risk taker is one of the guest speakers at an upcoming event to inspire leaders.

St Peter’s Church in Halliwell has once again been chosen as a host venue for the two-day Global Leadership Summit (GLS), which provides world-class leadership training at locations around the UK.

In true Bear Grylls fashion, the former SAS reservist and survival instructor, who broke his back in a parachuting accident and climbed Everest 18 months later, will be joining the conference via video from the snow-covered mountains in Switzerland.

The 44-year-old father-of-three will be speaking with his audience about courage, kindness and never giving up.

Amanda Blease, Parish Business Manager, said: “We are among the first batch of locations in the UK to be hosting this year's event, so people will get the chance to see these speakers first here at St Peter’s Church.

“Bear Grylls is a great speaker and a really inspirational individual. There is a major attraction in having him appear, even via video-cast, at St Peter’s. Bear Grylls is a Christian and makes no bones about sharing his faith. We have an excellent line-up of speakers, including Krish Kandiah, founder of Home for Good, who have a support group operating out of our parish centre.

“People who have attended in previous years say this summit changes perceptions. It is for leaders and non-leaders alike; the skills are transferable and can be applied in all walks of life.”

Bear Grylls is a professed Christian and has publicly supported the Alpha Course — a resource for those with questions about faith and an opportunity to explore the meaning of life.

His message has already been heard by visitors to the August conference in Urbana, USA, who said: “So blessed to hear a presentation by Bear Grylls at The Global Leadership Summit. I’m a big fan but after hearing his talk, wow, simply indescribable.

“Bear said, "The truth is, we all have our “Everest”. The key is that we keep pushing forward.""

GLS is organised by Willow Creek Church in Chicago, to equip leaders with teaching from both church and business leaders. Tickets for the Bolton gathering on October 11-12, which will feature worship, DVD talks and discussion time, are available via the homepage GLS banner at www.stpetersparish.info.