Group Scout Leader’s Report 2022-23
From April 2021 Covid-19 was still impacting the Group with restrictions on activities we were able to provide. However, as more restrictions were lifted we saw the return of more activities and nights away events. It has been fantastic to see our Group bounce back and to see our members enjoying the adventure of Scouting once again.
Membership
This year we have seen a drop in our membership back to levels last seen in 2013/14. Some of this can be traced back to the holt on new members during the pandemic. Although this sounds like a drastic drop, we still have 209 youth members. When this is compared to our peak of 244 youth member in 2020 it shows the a strong and healthy position the Group has been in for over a decade. Despite this decline we are still one of the largest Groups in South Yorkshire and are high above the national averages. Although our membership remains at a healthy level, we are still seeing a decline in adult volunteers, in particular regluar leaders. As well as this, there have been several long serving Leaders who have expressed that they would like to step back. This does present the Group with challenges going forward and we would really welcome volunteers who can offer regular support.
The total membership for the Group 2022/23 was 268. This was made up of 48 Beavers, 70 Cubs, 91 Scouts and 59 adult members. This equates to an decrease in youth members by 11% and a decrease in adult members of 8%. Despite the drop, we have seen a large increase in Occasional Helpers from 29 to 51. We are really grateful for this extra support and hope that further down the line some of these helpers may be able to make more regular commitments to the group.
We have also seen an increase in retaining our Young Leader as they transition to adults. This period has always proved a challenge to retain young members who have years of ‘Scouting’ experience as many of them move away for University or can no longer give their time due to work or other commitments. However, the fantastic Young Leader training programme, led by Aaron King and excellent co-ordination of Young Leaders by Jack Dyson has resulted in many of these young adults taking roles within the group. Although several of these young adults are still moving away from Sheffield, we are hopeful they will remain connected with the Group, offering their support where they can and will take regular roles when they return. We are very grateful to the work Aaron and Jack have put into this.
Attached to this report are graphs taken from the January 2023 census, which show how we have changed in the last few years. There is also a graph which compares our Group to the national average in the UK. As you will see from the data, our Group size is nearly four times
larger than the national average and our sections are almost double the national average. This is a testament to the amazing job our Leaders do in providing excellent programmes and our Executive Committee and other volunteers do in supporting and managing the Group.
Programmes & Nightsaway
It has been great to see members back at our Scout HQ with the return of our regular activities and visitors. We have also seen the return of our Nights Away programmes too. We are not back to our full programmes yet but we hope to be in the near future. There were too many great activities and trips to mention but here are some of the highlights;
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Scouts Overnight Incident Hike
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Beaver Sale
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Christmas Through the Ages Beaver Sleepover
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Scouts Winter Weekend
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Loxley Cup (Scout District cooking competition)
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Teddy Bears Hospital
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Starry Eyed
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Foodbank visit
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Upcycling
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Knot, Knot, Who’s there?
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Diwali
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Jar light
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Commonwealth cooking
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Night Hike
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Open Fire Cooking
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Pioneering Bridges
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Democracy in Action
It has also been great to see the return of some of our BIG Activities during this period. These amazing adventurous activities are offer by our Scout Active Support group, who are a team of activity instructors. A BIG thank you to the team, the group manager (Aaron King) and behind the seens supporter (Katherine Whitley).
As well as taking part in all these fantastic activities our young members earnt 1,651 badges including 40 Chief Scout’s Awards.
In November, it was looking likely that we would no longer be able to host a bonfire event due to our current volunteers being stretched already. However, an amazing group of volunteers stepped forward and we were, once again, able to hosted a brilliant bonfire even raising money for our Group and it’s young people. The event was a great success we a large turn out of parents and children from the Group and many others from the community. It was a brilliant evening and it was great to see so many people there. Thank you to all the volunteers who made this happen.
Training & Awards
All adult leaders (Section Leaders, Assistant Section Leaders & Section Assistants) have to undertake training as part of their role. The training is divided up into modules. As a Group, we have tried hard to focus on making sure our leaders are getting the training they want and need. This year our volunteers have completed a total of 91 training modules and we saw Callum Dawson achieve his Wood Beads by completing all of his adult training. Alongside the training scheme, all our volunteers have to keep up with the mandatory safeguarding and safety training. This is just some of the behind-the-scenes work our volunteers have to do to make sure our members are safe. Thank you to everyone who has kept this up.
During this period, nine of our volunteers received a Long Service awards for 5, 10, 15 and even 20 years of service. This dedication is fantastic to see and has led to many awards for Good Service being issued later in the year. Thank you everyone for your years of service to the Group and young people.
Thanks
I would like to finish by thanking everyone who has supported our Group. From helping to clear up at the end of a night through to leading a camp; every bit helps to make it the Group the success it is and helps provide life changing experiences to young people.
Henry Bryan Group Scout Leader 150th (Wadsley Church) Sheffield Scout Group
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Section Gendar Split PNS 11 Female • Male 125 91 ioo 70 75 23 33 25 Youth Gender Split SIIPNS 11 Female 11 Male ioo. 75% 50% 25% YOUTH 2017 YOUTH 2018 YOUTH 2019 YOUTH 2020 YOUTH 2021 YOUTH 2022 Group Gender Split SIIPNS 11 Female • Male 100% 75% 50% 25% TOTALS 2017 TOTALS 2018 TOTALS 2019 TOTALS 2020 TOTALS 2021 TOTALS 2022
Age distribution 2019 30 20 Hallam District and UK National Average 100 1501h Scoul Group Hallam District Average Per Group 75 Nalional Average Per Group 50 1501h Average Per Section 25 National Average Per Section Beaver Scouts Cub Scouts Scouts Adults
Group Volunteer Awards 2022-2023
Long Service Award
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Jack Dyson
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● Ruth Adamson
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David Whitley
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● Marcia Black
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Cameron Black
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Phil Tricklebank
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Sarah Smith
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Peter Rochell
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Rob Darrington
Wood Badge (Leader Training)
- Callum Dawson
Group Members Awards 2022-2023
Chief Scout’s Bronze Award
Tuesday Beavers x 14 (total 429 badges)
Thursday Beavers x 10 (total 303 badges)
Chief Scout’s Silver Award
Monday Cubs x 4 (total 327 badges)
Wednesday Cubs x 8 (total 45 badges)
Friday Cubs x 0 (total 29 badges)
Chief Scout’s Gold Award
Monday Scouts x 0 (total 148 badge) Tuesday Scouts x 3 (total 174 badges) Thursday Scouts x 1 (total 113 badges) Friday Scouts x 0 (total 83 badges)
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