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2025-08-31-accounts

Blandford Scout Group

Trustees’ Annual Report & Accounts

For the period from 1st April 2024 to 31st August 2025 Charity registration number: 1020421

Objectives and Activities

Purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document

Blandford Scout Group’s governing documents are those of The Scout Association. The Scout Association is incorporated by Royal Charter and is a registered charity whose purpose is to promote the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities.

Main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.

Scouts gives young people skills for life. We actively engage and support them in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.

In partnership with adults, young people take part in fun indoor and outdoor activities. They learn by doing, sharing in spiritual reflection and taking responsibility. They make choices, try new and challenging activities, and live their Scout Promise. All of this is underpinned by our Scout values.

Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

We believe we’ve met the Charity Commission’s public benefit criteria for both the advancement of education, and the advancement of citizenship and community development.

Identifiable benefit: The way we help young people in their personal development and empower them to make a positive contribution to society. This benefit is directly linked to the purpose of Scouts.

Public benefit: Blandford Scout Group is open to all young people aged 5 3/4 - 14 and adult volunteers who are willing to make the Scout Promise. We help young people step up, speak up and dream big. Most importantly, we help them gain the skills they need to succeed in life. We’re proud that all young people, particularly those in deprivation, can benefit from our programme and aren’t constrained by their ability to pay the subscription. We do waive subscriptions and apply for grants for those who face financial hardship. The benefits of Scouts are further demonstrated throughout this report.

Additional information

Contribution made by volunteers

Direct Support to Youth:

Mentoring and Skill Development; leading activities, teaching outdoor skills, helping Scouts earn badges, and fostering their personal growth.

Creating a Positive Environment; promoting inclusivity, fairness, and respect within our group.

Organizational Support:

Logistics; managing sections, organizing meetings, and planning events and camps. Finance; fundraising and managing budgets to support the group’s activities.

Administration; handling communication, record-keeping, and other administrative tasks.

A huge thank you to all our volunteers!

Our Scout Group would not be the success it is without your invaluable contributions, no matter the amount of time you give.

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Achievements and Performance

Main achievements of our charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.

Investments:

Due to a big Tesco Donation of £1000 we were able to invest in some new kit to aid more events. We purchased 2x Branded Gazebo’s £650.99, 2x Cast Iron Double Burner Stoves £136.85 & a Portable 3 Burner Gas Griddle/Hotplate £184.79.

Gift Aid:

Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows us to reclaim the basic rate tax you pay as a UK taxpayer. It means that we can claim 25p of tax for every £1 you donate at no extra cost to you. If you haven’t already, all you need to do is make a Gift Aid declaration via OSM (our online Scouting portal). Please ask if you need help with this.

This financial year covered 17 month period (explanation in Treasurers report page 12) so we did apply for two lots of Gift Aid, totalling £4341.97. We also purchased the weights for the gazebos and Tomahawks & Angels, after one of our leaders attended a course on how to run these sessions. Along with the popcorn fire pans, that we also purchased with this money, it has been a great year for trying new things! Total spend £583.83.

Fundraising:

Group Quiz Night on 20th April 2024 organised and quiz questions created by our Scout section and they made £207.57. The Scouts also ran a stall at the towns Blandford Yuletide Festival taking an income of £107.50. These events were great for our Scouts to build their confidence and raise money in aid of them going to Essex Jamboree.

Community Events:

On behalf of the Scout Group, the Cub packs created a fantastic display for the Blandford Forum Christmas Tree Festival, an annual event where many community groups create and display beautiful Christmas decorations on a theme. This was displayed in the pharmacy’s window in town.

In November we were asked to support a refreshment tent at Stickland Fireworks. Some of our volunteers (big thank you to them) miraculously ran this event at very short notice and took an income in of £111.88.

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In November we attended the annual Remembrance Parade in town. Our young people benefit from attending Remembrance Parades by experiencing first-hand the importance of service, community, and respect for the sacrifices made by others in conflict, fostering a sense of national unity and civic duty, learning about history, and developing gratitude, empathy, and a commitment to peace.

In July 2025 we were able to show off our new gazebos and archery equipment by attending Blandford Forum Community Summer Fayre. We ran an ‘have a go archery stall’ and raised a whopping £351.68. Many thanks to the volunteers who setup and ran this event. The gazebo’s really helped us stand out and we had many enquiries to join our waiting list and general positive chats about the benefits of Scouting.

Volunteers Experience:

In January 2025 our volunteers enjoyed a skittles evening at Bryanston Club and in June 2025 our volunteers had a lovely night off in the woods! Team building, chatting, cooking over the camp-fire followed by sleeping in hammocks and shelters (some of them very pretty!). Our volunteers benefit from these social events as they build stronger social skills and networks, learn and share new skills, improve well-being and confidence and foster a sense of community and shared purpose within our Group.

Group Events:

As a Group we celebrated St Georges Day with an evening event on the 23rd April. We had Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorer Scouts, Young Leaders and all volunteers taking part in many activities around our site, followed by BBQ and renewal of promises. We also went to the Circus in July 2025! This was such a lovely event and big thank you to our volunteers for organising and attending the event.

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Hut Maintenance:

Our boiler was replaced along with all radiator valves at a cost of £6156 and we had all 19 lights replaced in the hut costing £806.46. In the new year bought windy weather and we had to have a new ridge fixed costing £200.

In May 2025 we held a ‘Repairs Day’ many volunteers turned up to help and we managed to get many jobs ticked off our ‘To Do’ List. Thank you to all the families that supported this event.

Over the last year some Trustees have; replaced all smoke detector and carbon monoxide batteries, set up a reporting/log system for; hut defects, smoke detector tests, section fire drills, emergency exit light tests, fire extinguisher, asbestos, boiler maintenance, PAT and electrical testing, header tank checks and tree inspections, plus created a fire evacuation plan, had an asbestos survey, COSHH sheets, created lone working policy and working at height and regular checks to keep first aid kits restocked and in date. The trustees have also revised the ‘Financial Rule’ policy and created Expense Card guidance. We have added ‘Raising a concern’ link to our website to make reporting any issues easier.

Additional information

Achievements against objectives set

As a Group we have offered many exciting opportunities for young people - see the section reports on pages 6-11.

Trustees main objective last year was to complete a ‘Safe Scouting Premises Audit’ and a ‘Risk Register’. Both are available to view on our website.

Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set - see financial report

Investment performance against objectives - see financial report

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“18 months full of adventure... we’ve had fun exploring, learning, creating and connecting!” Phobos / Sam Elliott Beaver Scout Volunteer

Chief Scout Bronze Awards achieved and awarded to: 4 Deer Park Beavers 2 Riversdale Beavers

Our first term was themed ‘Around The World’ and we made passports, treasure maps, learnt about travel and safety on trains, planes (including a trip to Bournemouth Aviation Museum) and automobiles!

We followed this with a water filled summer term; making and testing mini rafts, crabbing on Poole Quay and swimming at Shaftesbury Lido.

After the summer we themed the term around ‘Survival Skills’, having a go at archery, tent erecting, fire building and lighting, map skills, nature hike with litter pick, first aid, knot skills and pioneering. We also had a go at Geocaching in Charlton Marshall.

Before Christmas our Beavers enjoyed a 2 night Home Alone themed sleepover, where they enjoyed making prank and traps!

In the new year we themed the term around the ‘Book Reader’ Activity Badge. We read and took part in activities based around; The very hungry caterpillar, Winnie the pooh, Love you to the moon and back, The big pancake, Percy the park keeper, Super worm and Guess how much I love you.

We also had a great 2 night Lego themed sleepover at the hut where we did loads of activities which included a walk over to the Library to enjoy their Saturday afternoon Lego workshop.

We invited female family members in for a ‘Mothers Day’ fun evening where we had lots of mini activities to have fun together and then the Beavers made hot drinks and we shared stories together.

Our next term was filled with activities outside. We learnt how to play rounders, went on a nature / senses walk on the Milldown, had an Olympic themed evening and visited the Blandford Animal Sanctuary and helped feed all their animals.

For Fathers Day we met at Badbury Rings and played some games together around the rings.

This term we also had another go at Archery and used the new Tomahawks / Angels.

In June we joined Cubs for a great two night summer camp at Buddens Activity Centre in Wareham where the Beavers climbed the tower and took to the water on rafts and bell-boats... finished off as always by a great camp-fire with s’mores and singing!

We finished our year off by walking to a local care home and playing some games with the elderly residents, it was great to see the Beavers interacting so well with the older generation.

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From building, biking and baking to camping, climbing and cooking - our Cubs packed the year with adventures and fun! Cub Team Leaders

Chief Scout Silver Awards achieved and awarded to: 4 Shottsford Cubs 7 Portman Cubs

We started the year creating hedgehog houses for the DIY Activity Badge. These were taken to Bushy Farm Campsite and have now become lovely homes for hedgehogs like Ridley (pictured right) and Hawkeye. In September Cubs continued the badge by making animal bird feeders.

We went to Buddens for Raft Building sessions and an Activity Day where they were super brave and climbed the big tower. During June and July we continued getting out and enjoyed a cycle ride to Stourpaine, an archery session and ended the term with a swim at Shaftesbury Lido.

Some of the Cubs had some training sessions for the County Cub Boot Competition, despite the actual event being cancelled they continued and completed a very long hike around the Cranborne Chase area.

In September the Cubs spent a session blackberry picking and then the following one making a delicious fruit crumble over a fire. We visited the local fire station where we were kindly shown what firefighters have to wear, we looked around the engines and the equipment they use. We finished off the term with a great visit to Hollywood bowl to beat the Leaders at bowling!

In the new year the Cubs became scientists and created circuits and made cress heads, they also cooked haggis, neeps and tatties in celebration of St Andrews day plus pancakes in the week of Shrove Tuesday (completing Chef badge) and recorded a Podcast for their Communication Badge. They also took a fantastic trip to London and explored the Science Museum.

The Cubs had a session on bike maintenance before taking to the trailway for a bike ride from Milldown to Stourpaine and back. We also met at Upton County Park and completed a litter-pick for our Community Impact badge.

We enjoyed a great two night Summer Camp in 2024 at Ferny Crofts in the New Forest with Charlton Marshall Cubs and in 2025 at Buddens, near Wareham, with our Beavers.

Cubs went back to basics for the summer term by cooking Dampers over fire, using knot skills to make catapults and they also enjoyed archery and tomahawk sessions... all finished off with the annual fun water activities session and BBQ.

Some Cubs along with others from the Group also volunteered their time to support the Steam Fair at Breamore’s Historic Weekend.

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I’m so proud of the way our Scouts have tackled all of these activities, their attitude makes it a pleasure to be part of the Scout team, a team whose attitude always seems to be yes, that seems like a good idea, how can I help. Jonathan Bowell, Scout Team Leader

Chief Scout Gold Awards achieved and awarded to: 5 Jack Thomas Scouts 6 Stour Valley Scouts

It feels like this report is as much of a review of my journey with Scouts as it is theirs. Prior to this period I was predominantly a Cub leader but to avoid closing a section and to support Jamboree I transitioned over. Since then the Scouts often amaze me with how they step up to any challenge in front of them. This in turn inspires myself and the other leaders to continue offering them new and challenging activities.

During the last 18 months we have grown both Scout troops to the point where Stour Valley Scouts are at capacity and Jack Thomas, although smaller, has around twice as many active members.

Within weekly sessions we have worked towards a number of badges including pioneering (building bridges and moving cars), air activities (aircraft structure and international phonetic alphabets), orienteering both by day and night, target sports (archery, air rifles and tomahawks), outdoor cooking, local history (Tarrant Rushton airfield), fishing (Todber lakes), camp planning, electronics (soldering), science (dancing raisins and volcanoes), survival (knife skills and shelters), communicator (morse code and visiting the Royal Signals museum), skills (cleaning, sewing and changing bulbs), teamwork (wide games and taskmaster), paddle sports (canoeing), navigation (Okeford Hill and route planning for London).

Essex International Jamboree (EIJ) had endless activities available to the Scouts from running a company, driving tanks, shotguns, craft, metal detecting, tribal drumming, running a TV studio… the list goes on and on. They also had the opportunity to mix with thousands of other young people from 27 countries around the world. I still say this is the best thing I have seen done for young people in the UK. Ahead of the Jamboree the Scouts undertook various fundraising activities.

Scouts joined other local Scouts and Explorers and canoed down the river Wye for a weekend. Others joined us for a 20+ mile bike ride in the New Forest, and cooking over fires and sleeping in shelters in the woods above Durweston. Scouts took part in the Monopoly Run, a live game of Monopoly around the streets of London. Our Patrol leaders and assistant patrol leaders joined others from local districts on a camp. We planted trees to widen a hedge line for nature at Bere Marsh Farm. We also had a hike camp where they navigated over 10 miles from Bere Regis to their campsite near Lytchett where they slept in hammocks and sang around the campfire. Last but by no means least 16 brave of our Scouts and 3 leaders took to the skies with the Dorset Gliding Club.

Financial Review

Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period

This financial report covers a 17 month period from 1st April 2024 to 31st August 2025 . The board of Trustees decided to extend the financial year as a one-off and from now on we will run every 12 months. This decision was made in order to synchronise the financial year with the Scouting year (our largest events run in the summer term however payments for these usually start from the September the previous year so running September to August means money going in is usually spent in the same financial year). So, it is important to bear this in mind when looking at the accounts as you will see much larger amounts compared to last year.

Blandford Scout Group remains in a strong position financially. As a charity to support young people we make every effort to spend the money we raise in fulfilling our objectives.

The Group’s principle source of funds are from subscriptions, fundraising, grants and gift aid. The headquarters is funded from rental income.

The annual report works in such a way that the subscription income is split into ‘pots’ (see diagram below). You will see corresponding income and expenditure categories which shows how we assigned the money and how it was spent.

Subscriptions per young person every half term (approx 6 weeks) £20 Capitation is collected annually and is currently just under £50 per scout per year. The fee is for The Scout Association’s national and local services, including member insurance, Census safeguarding programs, leader training, support for District (also known as and County administrative functions, and maintaining national Capitation) facilities. Some Scout Groups ask families to pay this each £10 but have lower Subs, we think it’s best to collect a little more throughout the year so families don’t have to pay the annual fee in one lump sum. Section Meetings For Beaver, Cub or Scout section and spent on materials, £5 activities, crafts, food etc... Group We use this money to pay for Online Scout Manager, Group £3 events like St Georges Day Celebration, purchasing Group (or £2.25 if paid via equipment, stocking up the first aid boxes and purchasing the GoCardless) neckers, Badges Used entirely for purchasing the badges young people receive £2

There may be a need to tweak the pots slightly for next year as there was a slight over spend in Badges and Group however the rest of the pots had some income left.

It does appear that the Cub section had a lot left to spend however they subsidised some events with section income.

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The ‘Events’ section covers all camps and activities. All events we aim to run to break even, some are ongoing which is why there is more income than expenditure showing.

The Gift Aid and Fundraising pots show the amount received and the amount spent so far.

The income received from renting out our headquarters mostly covers the running costs. This year we invested in a new boiler system (and other bits noted in Hut Maintenance on page 5) which we were able to pay for from income saved from previous years.

Expense Account, is a lump sum of money we have holding for our volunteers to purchase what they need for meetings, events and hut maintenance which then get allocated to the relevant expense pots.

Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held

Total in Group account at the end of this year £11550.35

of which... Events leftover (incl. Poacher 26) £5494.88 Gift Aid to spend £3758.14 Fundraising & Grants to spend £551.15 World Scout Jamboree Support £526.59 Section/Group/Census left for balance 25/26 £1219.59

Total in H/Q account at the end of this year £9815.02

Blandford Scout Group Trustee board considers that the group should hold a sum equivalent to six months running costs, circa £6000 in reserve and this is held on deposit in the Blandford Scout Group H/Q bank account.

We would like to continue to build and fundraise to increase this sum, for the ongoing maintenance and possible future rebuild.

We are thankful to Richard Bailey, a parent of one of our volunteers and a retired forensic accountant, for scrutinising our accounts again this year.

I ask that you take a moment to read the audited accounts and if you have any questions just ask.

Mike Booth

Treasurer

Blandford Scout Group

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BLANDFORD SCOUT GROUP BLANDFORD SCOUT GROUP BLANDFORD SCOUT GROUP BLANDFORD SCOUT GROUP BLANDFORD SCOUT GROUP
Annual Report 01/04/2024 - 31/08/2025
2024-2025 2023-2024
Income
Badges 1,358.00 790.00
Census 6,750.00 4,625.00
Donaton 0.00 108.00
Events - Group/Mult Sectons 22,826.70 12,739.95
Gif Aid 4,341.97 391.96
Group 2,230.36 0.00
Membership Deer Park 0.00 0.00
Scoutng Fundraising 2,143.65 1,510.37
Secton: Beavers 683.50 990.00
Secton: Cubs 1,632.00 1,763.83
Secton: Scouts 1,527.50 1,818.00
The Headquarters: Income 13,059.80 7,752.80
Expense
Badges 1,377.01 1,192.24
Census 6,555.00 5,891.20
Events - Group/Mult Sectons 17,332.42 15,129.04
Gif Aid 583.83 0.00
Group 2,798.92 1,995.91
Insurance 1,596.80 1,509.71
Scoutng Fundraising 1,065.91 1,122.83
Secton: Beavers 557.42 284.84
Secton: Cubs 1,106.85 691.87
Secton: Scouts 1,277.61 729.79
The Headquarters: Maintenance 13,163.33 5,231.78
The Headquarters: Rates 267.59 135.68
The Headquarters: Utlites 4,965.14 2,463.38
Account balances
Blandford Scout Group 11,550.35 1,340.77
Blandford Scout Group H/Q 9,815.02 16,748.08
Expense Account 694.75 65.62
Summary
Account balance brought forward 18,154.47 22,042.83
Total income 56,553.48 32,489.91
Total expenditure 52,647.83 36,378.27
Net income 3,905.65 -3,888.36
Account balance carried forward 22,060.12 18,154.47

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Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts

We are an educational charity operating under The Scout Association’s charter, bye-laws, and Policy, Organisation and Rules (P.O.R).

Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)

The governing document for a Scout group is called a Constitution. This formal document, which is a type of constitution for a charity, outlines the group’s purpose, governance structure, and operating procedures. Blandford Scout Group has adopted the model constitution found in The Scout Association’s Policy, Organisation and Rules (P.O.R), scan the QR code to view on scouts.org website.

How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)

Our scout group is registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).

Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to

post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees

We have an open selection process for appointing Trustees. Trustee vacancies are advertised publicly to try and reach a wider range of potential applicants. This gives more people the chance to consider the opportunities and express interest, while increasing the mix of skills and experiences on a Trustee Board.

Additional information

Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees

Scout Trustee induction and training policies emphasise mandatory completion of online learning modules covering Safety, Safeguarding, Data Protection, Creating Inclusion, and Who We Are and What We Do.

The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works

The Scouts is structured as a federation of charities, with The Scout Association at the national level governing a network of independent charities at local County, District, and Group levels, all operating under the guidance of the national Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR). We are managed by our own Trustee Board, responsible for local operations and member support.

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Reference and Administrative details

Blandford Scout Group

Registered charity number 1020421

Blandford Scout Hut, Eagle House Gardens, Blandford Forum DT11 7BS

https://blandfordscoutgroup.com ~~Bl tpl~~

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Chris Bartlett Group Lead Volunteer Sybille Maddock Chair Mike Booth Treasurer & Scout Team Member

Caroline Wawman Trustee Jonathan Bowell Trustee & Scout Team Leader Sam Elliott Trustee & Beaver Team Leader

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved this trustees’ report for 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] August 2025

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature

Full name Position Date

Sybille Maddock Chair 30[th] September 2025

Signature

Full name Chris Bartlett Position Group Lead Volunteer Date 30[th] September 2025

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