Fifth Beckenham South Scout Group Charity Number 1011301 Annual Report April 2024 – March 2025
Group Scout Leader
A successful year of Scouting for the whole Group, celebrated in remarkable fashion by an Easter Celebration of Life mass at St Paul’s Church Bromley in honour of our beloved Group Quartermaster and Scout Leader of over 55 years - John Blair Potter. The event was attended by over a hundred ex Scouts, friends and leader’s past and present to see JP ‘go home’. The service was streamed live over YouTube across the globe to members of the 47[th] Beckenham and 5[th] Beckenham South who could not attend in person. Festivities moved on to our Scout hut where tea and cake was served as John would have wanted before the natural migration took place to the Jolly Woodman pub.
John Potter 1936 – 2024.
A true gentleman, role model, mentor and friend. Deeply missed, never forgotten.
The new hierarchy structure still looms within Scouting, changing traditional role titles across the Group and bringing training and volunteer recruitment and retention kicking and screaming into the 21[st] century with updated online training and streamlined paths to earning Wood Badges. Beta versions are in testing and the launch date sits at around December 2024.
Beavers continue to flourish with numbers and adventures, joining in with Bromley District events such as Easter Egg hunt, Fryland’s Fun Day and running their own successful winter and summer sleepovers too. Cubs also continue to grow their leadership team and adventures with a chilly winter camp and a Cub led Whitsun (Group) camp joined by Beavers for one night and a small contingency of Scouts as new teams grew together through the common enjoyment of camping.
Scouts summer camped in Deal and seemingly had all of the sunshine for another successful week under canvas.
Our partnered Explorer Unit went international for 2024 and visited Iceland, camping at Úlfljótsvatn Scout Centre for 5 nights in the rain and then ending the camp in Dalur HI Youth Hostel staying for two nights exploring Reykjavík.
5[th] Beckenham South Food Bank 2020
All sections have surpassed the Scout Association minimum policy of operating standards despite relentless changes to Policy Organisation Rules and extra additions to risk assessment requirements and adventurous activity permits.
In the Easter term break, we turned to a local ex Fifth Scout who as an electrician was endorsed by St Edmunds Church for his quality of work and charged him with a full electrical inspection of our premises and quotation for renewing our electrics from the ground up. We also investigated with UK Power Networks upgrading our electrical feed to future proof our premises and the planned development work that sits in our long-term
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Fifth Beckenham South Scout Group - Annual Report 2024-25
strategic plan. The works were carried out impeccably and quotes included adding replacement heating to our Scout hut to make the winter months a little bit more comfortable for section meetings.
Over the Christmas term break, the Explorer section with their Leaders spent a few days painting our main hut and jet-washing the exterior grounds and walls, learning some life skills and earning a sense of pride in our Group HQ.
The New Year brings new energy to the Group, after the setbacks of last year we are moving forward with refreshing our HQ and bolstering our section teams and young member numbers, submitting another annual census to the Scout Association that speaks volumes for the continued success of The Fifth.
Adam Young
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Fifth Beckenham South Scout Group - Annual Report 2024-25
Beaver Scouts (6-8yrs)
Pippin Colony was once again led by Dave Barber, Spencer Coward and Paul Blewer, assisted by our Young Leaders Henry, Josh, Amelia and Scarlett, with William joining later in the year.
Merry colony was led by Helen Langston, Lee Anderson and John Noakes, with Young Leaders Ursula, Joe and James.
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Remembrance Day parade saw 19 Beavers take part in the parade through Beckenham
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Winter camp was held at Frylands Wood with 26 Beavers and 4 Young Leaders attending overnight. Activities included Giant Games, Soft Tomahawks, a nature walk, orienteering, the campfire, group and solo performances, Xmas crafts and a visit from Santa!
Spring term 2025:
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Chinese New Year was celebrated, and the Beavers learned about the Year of the Snake
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Pancakes were enjoyed at the start of
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Lent with a variety of fillings
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- St Patrick’s Day and Mother’s Day were celebrated
Our numbers started lower at the start of the year, but ended up slightly above expectations.
- We concentrated on the Teamwork Challenge Award plus the Experiment and International badges
We provided a healthy and varied programme:
Summer term 2024:
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The main event was attending our Group Camp in May camp at Cudham Shaws
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18 Beavers attended overnight
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Activities included climbing, the assault course, cave bus, games, exploring and the campfire
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Badgework included the Communicator and Safety badges
A busy and enjoyable year that saw 9 Beavers achieve their Chief Scout Bronze Award.
Our thanks, as always, go to our parents who have supported us throughout.
Dave Barber & Helen Langston
Autumn term 2024:
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Badgework this term included the World Challenge award and Emergency Aid badge
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The Beavers enjoyed Halloween activities at the hut, and many took part in clearing the park on Sunday morning after our annual fireworks display
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Fifth Beckenham South Scout Group - Annual Report 2024-25
Cubs (8-10½ yrs)
The year for cubs has been a busy one and we have continued to meet weekly and work on badges. We have had three camps, Whitsun 2024 in Cudham Shaws with the beavers joining us for a night, and scouts camping in the adjacent field, our winter camp in January 2025 and a further night in March 2025.
Numbers have remained steady with 24 cubs in each pack. We have lost some leaders, and new ones have joined us, so the team is now Anna, Liz, Matthew, Andrew, Olivia and Laurie. A huge thank you to Ray and Sinead for all they have contributed to cubs over the last 3 years and look forward to seeing you on camps. We continue to have support from our YL’s who are a great asset in cubs.
The highlight of the year, as always is our Whitsun camp and in May we once again did a joint camp with beavers and scouts. A great weekend full of activities including backwoods
cooking, campfires, archery, air rifles, tomahawks and a bouncy castle.
Our weekly meetings have seen a variety of activities, including cooking challenges, pioneering, shelter building, fires, and the end of summer term our water slide evening. We had a great day out at the docklands scout project in July 2024 trying out dinghy sailing, rowing, canoeing and some of the cubs went on the yacht in the amazing setting of Canary Wharf. We also had an evening in the spring term at Laser Quest.
Autumn term saw us completing our chef’s badge and learning some home skills. We joined the group Remembrance Day parade. We had our annual Winter camp at Frylands in January with a theme of space and did activities from astronaut training, egg landing crafts to making our own model of the solar system and learning about the phases of the moon with Oreos.
In February we attended the District DIY badge day and made pencil cases or bird boxes and learnt how to use the tools (closely supervised!)
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We had another overnight stay in Wilberforce in March (in preparation for our Trip to Disney in May 2025) and our final activity of the year was to the planetarium at Greenwich where we made our own solar systems to complete the space badge and had fun in the park afterwards.
Liz Martin & Anna Clough
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Fifth Beckenham South Scout Group - Annual Report 2024-25
Scouts (10½ - 14yrs)
Both troops continue to flourish with Thunder (Thursday) led by Tim Younge and Lightning (Friday) led by Andy Dawe. The core team of scout leaders includes Spencer, Alistair, Andrew S, Ray, Dickie, CJ, Matthew and Joan and others on an ad hoc basis. Almost 30 scouts with leaders attended the regular Group Whitsun camp at Cudham Shaws activities including Archery, Air Rifles, inflatable assault course, laser tag, blackwood cooking, and climbing.
Our summer camp at Betteshanger - a camp site just outside Deal - challenged the scouts to green field camping, with just running water and portable toilets. We enjoyed many activities on site including archery, rifles, tomahawk throwing, cooking Spatchcock chicken on open fires, sleeping in Hammocks, a self-made bivouac and having the freedom to roam around the local woods. The busy week also included day trips out to Port Lympne safari Park, a skateboard park and swimming in the local Swimming pool and a day out to the beach. On the last night of camp, we all had fish and chips on the seafront and the scouts slept out under the stars.
Gilwell park hosted our annual winter camp this year, with the scouts braving the cold for a weekend in January. The frost on the ground outside didn’t stop us from getting involved in everything from high ropes to archery, team building to backwards cooking, or orienteering to climbing, with a cosy film in the evening.
My particular thanks to Tim for organizing amazing both events.
Other trips include an always-popular weekend at Alton towers and a Scout-led weekend on Roseanne, a Canal boat based at Leighton Bussard on the Grand union, alongside a water sports day and a short stay at Wilberforce campsite. These supplement a busy, varied programme of troop evenings including, cooking, first aid, games nights, knots, lighting fires and cooking on them, water slide night, Laser Tag, and several patrol leaders showing their leadership in our Patrol leaders’ night. On our last troop night before Christmas the Scouts were treated to a trip to the local 10 pin bowling for a few games and pizza to celebrate the year.
We are only able to do this because of a fantastic team of leaders, adults and parents giving up their free time, energy and skills. We would like to thank all the leaders and occasional helpers who have helped throughout the year to achieve all of this as we look forward to 2025.
Matthew Martin
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Fifth Beckenham South Scout Group - Annual Report 2024-25
Fireworks & Easter Egg Hunt
We continued our organisation of the annual Beckenham Fireworks display and the Easter Egg Hunt in Croydon Road Recreation Ground and were very pleased to raise a record amount for local charities – over £80,000.
This is only possible with a huge commitment from the group and our many volunteers, and the continued support of the local community, to whom we offer our very grateful thanks.
www.beckenhamfireworks.com
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REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1011301
5% Beckenham South Scout Group Report of the Trustees and Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2025
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rs
5th Beckenham South Scout Group
Contents of the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2025
oo
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Report ofthe Trustees | { |
| independent Examiner's Report | 2 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 3 |
| Balance Sheet | 4 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 5to7 |
| DetailedStatementofFinancialActivities | 8to9 |
a
5th Beckenham South Scout Group
Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2025 ;
The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended - 31 March 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice
(SORP) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ issued in March 2005.
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Charity number 1011301
Principal address
The Scout Hut
Bishop Challoner School 228 Bromley Road Bromley BR2 OBS
Trustees
O Colville- Chair T Younge
N Chrumka
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A Dawe
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A Stroud
D Barber
C Godart-Smith
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R Tierney
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C Jones
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A Young
EJ Jenes Boree.
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C Martin
E Martin
P Cole
D Mullane
Independent examiner Hugh Watchorn
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Governing document The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes an unincorporated charity.
Risk management
The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.
Approved by order of the board of trustees on AL SAW 221 G ana signed on its behalf by:
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a tm, ornare
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5th Beckenham South Scout Group
Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of 5th Beckenham South Scout Group
| report on the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025 set out on pages three to seven.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under Section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is required.
it is my responsibility to:
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- examine the accounts under Section 145 of the 2011 Act - to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under Section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act); and
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- to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of the independent examiner's report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view ' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statements below.
Independent examiner's statement in connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements
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to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 130 of the 2011 Act; and
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- to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act
have not been met, or (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Hugh Watchorn
Date: 11 Jan.6..
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5th Beckenham South Scout Group Statement of Financial Activies for the Year
.
Ended 31 March 2025
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||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|31.3.25|31.3.24|
|Unrestricted|Unrestricted|
|Notes|£|£|
|INCOMING|RESOURCES|
|Incoming|resources from|generated funds|
|Voluntary income|88,104|79,121|
|Activities|for generating|funds|2|137,215|'|118,630|
|Other|incoming|resources|4,141|3,196|
|Total|Incoming|Resources|229,460|200,948|
|RESOURCES|EXPENDED|
|Charitable|Activities|.|
|Scouts|28,881|32,813|
|Cubs|15,795|8,406|
|Beavers|1,074|1,880|
|Explorers|50,924|3,054|
|Donations|35,813|35,127|
|Governance|costs|9,223|7,398|
|Fund Raising Costs|45,980|39,733|
|Other|Resources|Expended|.|36,797|37,689|
|Total|Resources|Expended|224,487|166,100|
|NET INCOMING/(OUTGOING)|RESOURCES|4,973|34,848|
|RECONCILIATION|OF|FUNDS|
|Total|Funds|Brought Forward|377,933|343,085|
|TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD|382,906|377,933|
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5th Beckenham South Scout Group
.
| Balance Sheet at 31 March 2025 | - | : | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes | 31.3.25 Unrestricted £ |
31.3.24 Unrestrictes £ |
||||
| FIXED ASSETS | ||||||
| TangibleAssets | 4 | 178,612 | 190,047 | |||
| CURRENTASSETS | " | |||||
| Stocks | 5 | 54 | 49 | |||
| Debtors | 6 | 23,920 | 17,526 | |||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 206,891 | 208,155 | ||||
| 230,865 | 225,730 | |||||
| CREDITORS | ||||||
| Amounts falling due within one year | 7 | 26,571 | 37,844 | |||
| NETCURRENTASSETS | 204 294 | 187,886 | ||||
| TOTALASSETS LESS CURRENT | LIABILITIES | 382,906 | 377,933 | |||
| NETASSETS | 382,906 | 377,933 | ||||
| FUNDS | ||||||
| Unrestricted Funds | 8 | 382,906 | 377,933 | |||
| TOTALFUNDS | 382,906 | 377,933 |
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5'4 Beckenham South Scot Group
Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2025
- ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Accounting Convention
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smafler Entities (effective April 2008), the Charities Act 2011 and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities.
Going Concern
The trustees have considered whether the charity remains a going concern. At the balance sheet date the charity held cash at the bank of £206,891, this is significantly in excess of all running costs. The trustees are confident that they are able to meet all liabilities as they fall due and have sufficient reserves to manage risk.
Incoming resources
All incoming resources are included on the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.
Resources expended
Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Tangible fixed assets
Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life:
Equipment 20%
Motor Vehicles 20%, Buildings are not depreciated.
Stocks
Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value, after making due allowance for obsolete and slow-moving items.
Taxation
The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.
Fund accounting
;
Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. The Trustees consider that no funds are restricted.
- ACTIVITIES FOR GENERATING FUNDS
| ACTIVITIES FOR GENERATING FUNDS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 31.3.25 | 31.3.24 | |
| £ | £ | |
| Beckenham Firework Display | 137,210 | 108,755 |
| Other Fundraising events | 5 | 9,875 |
| 137,215 | 118,630 |
- TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS There were no trustees’ remuneration nor other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2025 nor for the year ended 31 March 2024. In 2024 the group rent storage space from a former trustee for £1,500 pa, this was at less than market rate.
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5th Beckenham South Scout Group
Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 March 2025
4 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
| 4 | TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group | Scouting | Marine | ||
| Buildings | Equipment | Equipment | ||
| £ | £ | £ | ||
| Cost | ||||
| At 1 April 2024 | 149,673 | 67,082 | 1,050 | |
| Additions | - | |||
| At 31 March 2025 | 149,673 | 67,082 | 1,050 | |
| Depreciation | ||||
| At 1 April 2024 | - | 51,998 | 956 | |
| Charge foryear | - | 3,017 | 19 | |
| At 31 March 2025 | - | 55,015 | 975 | |
| Net Book Value | ||||
| At 31 March 2025 | 149,673 | {2,067 | 75 | |
| At 31 March 2024 | 149,673 | 15,084 | 94 | |
| Computer | ||||
| Minibus | Equipment | Totals | ||
| £ | £ | £ | ||
| Cost | ||||
| At 1 April 2024 | 41,994 | 8,609 | 268,408 | |
| Disposal | - | - | - | |
| Additions | - | - | 0 | |
| At 31 March 2025 | 41,994 | 8,609 | 268,408 | |
| Depreciation | ||||
| At 1 April 2024 | 16,798 | 8,609 | 78,361 | |
| Disposal | - | - | ||
| Charge foryear | 8,399 | - | 11,435 | |
| At 31 March 2025 | 25,197 | 8,609 | 89,796 | |
| Net BookValue | ||||
| At 31 March 2025 | 16,797 | - | 178,612 | |
| At 31 March 2024 | 33,595 | - | 190,047 | |
| 5 | STOCKS | |||
| 31.3.25 | 31.3.24 | |||
| £ | £ | |||
| TuckShopStock | 54 | 49 |
Sn [ne
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5th Beckenham South Scout Group
Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 March 2025
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|6|DEBTORS:|AMOUNTS|FALLING|DUE|WITHING|ONE|YEAR|
|31.3.25|31.3.24|
|£|£|
|Other amounts|due|23,920|47,256|
|7|CREDITORS: AMOUNTS|FALLING|DUE WITHIN|ONE YEAR|31.3.25|31.3.234|
|a|£|£|
|Other|Creditors|23,071|26,294|
|Accruals|3,500|11,550|
|26,571|37,844|
|8|MOVEMENT|IN|FUNDS|
|Net|
|Movement|
|Unrestricted|funds|At|1.4.24|in|funds|At|31.3.25|
|£|£|£|
|General|Fund|377,933|4,973|382,906|
|TOTAL FUNDS|377,933|4,973|382,906|
|Net|movement|in|funds,|included|in|the|above|are|as|follows:|
|Incoming|Resources|Movement|
|Unrestricted|funds|Resources|expended|in|funds|
|:|£|£|£|
|.|
|General|funds|229,460|224,487|4,973|
|TOTAL FUNDS|;|229,460|224,487|4,973|
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