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2021-12-31-accounts

1[st] Ince and Elton Scout Group Trustees Annual Report

2021/2022

Table of Contents

1. Reference and Administration Details................................................................................... 3
1.1 Trustees...................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Structure, Governance and Management.............................................................................. 3
2.1 Governing Document.............................................................................................................. 3
2.2 Group Scout Council................................................................................................................ 3
2.3 Constitution............................................................................................................................... 4
2.4 Trustee Selection..................................................................................................................... 4
2.5 Group Executive Committee.................................................................................................. 4
2.6 Risk and Internal Control....................................................................................................... 5
2.6.1
Injury to Leaders, Helpers, Supporters or Members........................................... 5
2.6.2
Damage to Buildings, Property or Equipment..................................................... 5
2.6.3
Reduced Income from Subscriptions and Fund Raising..................................... 5
2.6.4
Reduction or Loss of Leaders................................................................................... 5
2.6.5
Reduction or Loss of Members................................................................................ 5
3. Objectives and Activities........................................................................................................... 6
4. Achievements and Performance.............................................................................................. 6
4.1 Public benefit statement........................................................................................................ 6
4.2 Beavers Section Report.......................................................................................................... 7
4.3 Cubs Section Report................................................................................................................ 7
4.4 Scouts Section Report............................................................................................................. 8
5. Financial Review......................................................................................................................... 9
5.1 Treasurer’s Report................................................................................................................... 9
5.2 Reserves Policy....................................................................................................................... 11
5.3 Investment Policy................................................................................................................... 12
6. Declaration................................................................................................................................. 12
Appenidix 1 – Full Accounts 2021................................................................................................ 13
Appenidix 2 – Independant Examiners Report........................................................................... 14

Trustees Annual Report 2021/2022

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1. Reference and Administration Details

Charity Name: 1[st] Ince and Elton Scout Group Charity Number: 1025963 Principal Address: 28 Lime Grove, Elton, Chester, CH2 4PX

1.1 Trustees

Position Vacant Group Chair Lynda Canham Group Secretary Nicole McNally* Group Treasurer Sarah Price Section Leader – Beavers Graham Proctor Section Leader – Cubs Ashley Proctor Section Leader – Scouts

Sharon Lennon, Callum Linger, Linda McKay, Natalie Tudor, Nicole McNally (as Exec Member).

*Part of year.

2. Structure, Governance and Management

2.1 Governing Document

The Group’s governing documents are those of The Scout Association. They consist of a Royal Charter, which in turn gives authority to the By-Laws of the Association and the Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR) of the Scout Association.

2.2 Group Scout Council

The Group Scout Council is the electoral body to which the Group Executive Committee is accountable. Membership of the Group Scout Council is open to:

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2.3 Constitution

The Group is operated as an educational charity under the Policy, Organisation and Rules of the Scout Association. It has a constitution agreed by the Group Scout Council, but which is subservient to its governing documents.

2.4 Trustee Selection

The trustees are appointed in accordance with the Group’s constitution and the Policy, Organisation and Rules of the Scout Association.

2.5 Group Executive Committee

The Group is led by a Group Scout Leader and managed by a Group Executive Committee. They are accountable to the Group Scout Council for the satisfactory running of the Group.

The Executive Committee exists to support the Group Scout Leader in meeting the responsibilities of their appointment.

Members of the Executive Committee must act collectively as charity Trustees of the Scout Group, and in the best interests of its members to:

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2.6 Risk and Internal Control

The Group Executive Committee has identified the major risks to which they believe the Group is exposed which are:

2.6.1 Injury to Leaders, Helpers, Supporters or Members

The Group supports compliance with the Safety Policy and ensures appropriate risk assessment; elimination, reduction and control measures are taken to reduce the likelihood of any injuries.

In addition, through membership fees, the Group contributes to the Scout Association’s national accident insurance policy.

2.6.2 Damage to Buildings, Property or Equipment

The Group would request the use of buildings, property and equipment from neighbouring organisations. The Group has sufficient buildings and contents insurance in place to mitigate against permanent loss.

2.6.3 Reduced Income from Subscriptions and Fund Raising

The Group is primarily reliant upon income from subscriptions and fund-raising. The Group holds adequate reserves to ensure the continuity of activities should there be a major reduction in income. The committee could also raise the value of subscriptions to increase the Group income either temporarily or permanently.

2.6.4 Reduction or Loss of Leaders

The Group is totally reliant upon volunteers to run and administer the activities of the Group. If there were a reduction in the number of volunteers to an unacceptable level, then there would have to be a contraction, consolidation or closure of activities or sections.

2.6.5 Reduction or Loss of Members

If there were a reduction in membership of a particular section or the Group as a whole then there would have to be a contraction, consolidation or closure of a section.

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3. Objectives and Activities

The primary objective of the Group is that of the Scout Association generally, namely:

“to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.”

The Values of Scouting

As Scouts we are guided by these values:

The Scout Method

Scouting takes place when young people, in partnership with adults, work together based on the values of Scouting and:

The activities of the Group are:

4. Achievements and Performance

4.1 Public benefit statement

The Group meets the Charity Commission's public benefit criteria under both the advancement of education and the advancement of citizenship or community development headings.

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4.2 Beavers Section Report

Sarah Price – Section Leader (Beavers)

We have had an amazing year at Beavers. At the time of writing, we have 25 active Beavers.

We are all glad to be back face to face again. We have covered many badges including builder, craft, and adventure. We have awarded 191 badges and 7 Beavers achieved the highest accolade their Chief Scout Bronze award before leaving us for Cubs.

The Beavers have taken part in various activities throughout the year. We have been to Hayrack Church Farm to feed the animals and meet Father Christmas, we have had a skills day comprising of fire lighting, making our own food, and whittling.

Some of Beavers attended the Gang show which they really enjoyed, parents and Beavers helped the community by distributing the “3 Villages News” magazine. We had an exciting walk to Tesco Helsby to shop and then cooked the food. Great skills day at Queen Charlottes and had a lovely service to commemorate Remembrance Sunday which is an annual event.

Our weekly activities have seen the Beavers challenging themselves by completing activities without the use of a particular sense or limb, improving their understanding of those with a disability. They have learnt how to use the four points of a compass and identify various symbols on an OS map. All have completed their bike badge. This was a great achievement especially for one of our Beavers who left after 2 hours being able to ride his bike, we all had a big smile on our faces after that. The beavers were asked to use their imagination and fill their smarty tube with as much money they could, the only thing they had to do was earn it.

We had shared a camp with the Scouts and Cubs. The crystal maze camp saw them team up with the other sections to complete various mental, physical and skill challenges including crate stacking and nerf shooting. Again, great achievement as many of the Beavers hadn't stayed away from their family before and all of them had a fab time.

We have really enjoyed having honorary beaver parent helpers and thank you! And we hope that we will get support in rest of year as you all seemed to enjoy it!

Finally, I would like to thank Hayley and Jaimie for all their support, it wouldn’t be as good without you

4.3 Cubs Section Report

Callum Linger – Section Assistant

Where do we start, firstly it’s great to see everyone face to face as we all know too well COVID prevented us from meeting face to face for the last couple of AGMs, so it’s fantastic

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to no longer either see lots of circles with people’s initials in a circle or comments like “we can’t hear you, you’re on mute”.

For the Cub section it has been about us returning back to normal and we have seen many of our older Cubs for the past year move up and onwards to Scouts and we have been receiving a steady flow of new Cubs from the Beaver Section, as such our current numbers stand at: 16 and most nights we get between 10-14 young people and it’s great to see them every week getting involved and stuck into the activities we have been up too.

Since the last AGM we have awarded 118 badges at an average of 12 per young person From Hikes to Nights always

From Adventure and Athletics to Scientist and Road Safety.

Last year we also took part in SCI Jam, organised by University of Liverpool saw us pack 2 weeks full of interesting science-based activities from simple circuits to understanding light refraction in the sea.

On top of this we have had treasure hunts and tracking, Christmas night out at the Chill Factor-E.

Coming into the new year we have ramped up our activities outside and have done a QCW Activity Day, Group Camp, Sports, backwoods cooking, shelter building, Nerf night and more recently a bike and bike safety night and a trip to Cosford air show just last weekend.

As you can see and will have /will hear about this evening the external work that has been completed has really allowed us to have a safer setting to run more activities outdoors, that’s if the good old English weather is kind to us.

On behalf of the leadership team, I would like to thank all the young people for showing up every week and taking part in all the activities and showing great enthusiasm.

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank all the leaders (Christie, Kim and Callum) for their continued and focussed efforts to bring ideas to life and provide great activities for the Cubs.

4.4 Scouts Section Report

Ashley Proctor – Section Leader (Scouts)

It’s nice to finally be able to write a report of the last 12-months containing some normalcy after the disruption that COVID-19 brought. Whilst the coronavirus did bring some disruption to the programme in the first half of the last 12 months – it was minor in comparison to its full force in 2020/2021!

With the section being able to run face to face again for the last 12 months, it has allowed us to return to a more balanced programme. As such, this last year has seen us award the following badges:

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This time, we had 1 Scout who successfully achieved their Chief Scout Gold Award, and there’s another one due to be awarded imminently!

With COVID-19 restrictions easing over the latter half of 2021, it brought a greater flexibility in the activities we could do with the Scouts. For a start, the loosened restrictions saw the return of our “Macmillan Coffee Evening” fundraiser!

Scouts also had the opportunity to hone their marksmanship skills as we headed to the District Centre for an evening of Air Rifle Shooting. Unfortunately, a major traffic accident on the motorway caused some severe traffic disruption on that evening, which resulted in a significantly smaller turnout!

Other activities over the last 12 months included DIY (building a Bird Box), Cooking, Crafts (with the wonderful volunteers at the Community Centre), Hiking and working on Community Impact.

When it comes to getting out and about again, we managed to bag a trip to Alton Towers, a Christmas Night out at Ten Pin Cheshire Oaks, our first proper camp in two years with the rest of the group at Queen Charlotte’s Wood, and of course the return of the Cheshire Hike (where are teams did exceptionally well – our Pathfinder teams came 3[rd] and 4[th] in the District and our Pathfinder Plus team came 4[th] in the District).

Once again, a massive thank you goes out to Steve and Sarah for everything they have done to support the section over the last year.

5. Financial Review

5.1 Treasurer’s Report

Nicole McNally – Treasurer

All figures are rounded to the nearest £100.

Throughout 2021, renovations to the external area of our HQ were undertaken and near completed - with the grounds immediately surrounding the HQ being paved or stoned, becoming more usable for outdoor activities. Security fencing was also installed around the perimeter to deter vandalism and damage being caused to the HQ.

We also resumed fundraising events, namely the Bonfire and Fireworks display – which achieved record figures this year.

Income

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The total income for 2021 was £84,360.29. This is massively greater than 2020 due predominantly to the successful grant application to Veolia of over £49K. A breakdown of income as below:

income as below:
2021 2020
TOTAL INCOME £84,400 £21,300
Subs £4,600 £4,600
Donations and Grants £64,600 £13,000
Fundraising £10,300 £1,100
Outings and Activities £200 £2,100
Other £4,700 £500

Donations and Grants

Our largest doner this year was Veolia. We received just over £49,000 from them in this period which funded the majority of the groundworks, fencing and cladding to our HQ. I think we can all agree this was much needed and the Hut is now looking much more safe and modern.

We were also fortunate to benefit from grants from Elton Parish Council, Encirc and a final amount of COVID-19 grants from Cheshire West and Chester. Protos have also agreed to donate £1200, which we are working on spending to replace old resources for our children and young people.

After record attendance at our Bonfire and Fireworks display in November 2021, donations received from buckets on the night and in advance via Eventbrite totalled over £3,000.

Fundraising

With COVID-19 restrictions only being lifted in the latter half of the year, fundraising events have been few but very successful. As mentioned earlier, the Bonfire and Fireworks display this year exceeded all previous years raising over £2,500 (via sales of food and drink, on top of the £3,000 made in donations). A huge thank you to all the volunteers that made this event possible.

Outings and Activities

Outings resumed towards the end of the year with COVID-19 restrictions being lifted. However, refunds for cancelled trips have been accounted for in this period.

Expenditure

The total expenditure for 2021 was £68,587.38. This is massively greater than 2020 due predominantly to the renovations to the external areas of the Hut. A breakdown of expenditure as below:

expenditure as below:
2021 2020
TOTAL EXPENDITURE £68,600 £8,900

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Hut Renovations £53,300 £100
Fundraising £2,600 £600
Equipment& general expenses £2,100 £400
Outings and Activities £1,500 £500
Badges and uniform £400 £200
Camps £100 £1,000
Utilities(heat, water, light and maintenance) £200 £1,600
Census £2,400 £2,900
Insurance £300 £300
Other £5,700 £1,200

Clearly, the hut renovations have been the greatest expense this year. As mentioned earlier, this was mainly funded by the Veolia Grant of £49,000. Fundraising expenses generate more income whilst the outings, activities and camps are self-supporting.

Despite an increase in the cost of Membership to the Mersey Weaver Scout Association, the cost was slightly lower as, at the time of census, the number of members was significantly lower than the previous year.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions dipped during the first half of the year 2021. We believe this was due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19. Since returning to face to face meetings, membership numbers have significantly increased and we hope they continue to increase in the future.

Membership fees cover the costs of the group, including the Census, HQ costs, weekly meeting costs, etc.. We calculate a yearly cost and then divide by 12 for easy monthly payments, so please all be aware that the subs don’t stop during the holidays.

We are working to hold subs at £12 per month for as long as feasibly possible.

Bank Accounts

Amounts held in Bank Accounts or cash as at 31st December 2021 were £41,647.25.

£
Cash and bank balances @ 31/12/20 25,800
Net income 15,800
Cash and bank balances @ 31/12/21 41,600

A full set of the 2021 Annual Accounts are included in the appendix at the end of the document.

5.2 Reserves Policy

The Group's policy on reserves is to hold sufficient resources to continue the charitable activities of the group should income and fundraising activities fall short.

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The appropriate level of reserves for operating the group for 6 months is judged to be circa £6,000.

As reported earlier in this report, the group ended 2021 with total funds, including reserves and grant monies of £41,647.25, which is above the level required for operating expenses. However, this can be explained by:

5.3 Investment Policy

The Group's Income and Expenditure is very small and as a consequence, does not have sufficient funds to invest in longer-term investments such as stocks and shares. The Group has therefore adopted a low-risk strategy to the investment of its funds. All funds are held in cash using only mainstream banks or building societies or The Scout Association's Short Term Investment Service.

6. Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signature: Date:

Full Name: Ashley Proctor

Position: Scout Leader and Group Executive Committee Member

Signature: Date :

Full Name: Nicole McNally Position: Group Treasurer

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Appenidix 1 – Full Accounts 2021

1st Ince and Elton Scout Group 1st Ince and Elton Scout Group
Annual Accounts for Year Ended 31st December 2021 - DRAFT
Opening Balance as of 01/01/2021
Bank 24,991.28
£
Cash 883.06
£
Total 25,874.34
£
Income Expenditure
Subscriptions 4,644.00
£		 Hut Renovation 53,354.00
£
Donation 64,619.73
£		 Census 2,388.75
£
Fundraising 4,927.03
£		 Fundraising 2,579.99
£
Camps 165.00
-£		 Camps 75.00
£
Outings and Hik
505.00
£		 Uniform 53.64
£
Rent -
£		 Badges 358.99
£
Sundry 4,731.09
£		 Equipment 2,037.94
£
Transfer cash to
5,254.67
£		 Outings and Hikes 1,543.34
£
Stripe/GC fees 156.23
-£		 Electricity 110.71
£
Water -
£
Hut Maintenance 73.50
£
Insurance 323.19
£
Sundry 794.83
£
Donations 4,920.00
£
84,360.29
£		 68,613.88
£
Closing Balance as of 31/12/2021
Bank 40,367.69
£
Cash 1,253.06
£
Total 41,620.75
£
Split by Reserve General Total
OpeningBalance as of 01/01/2020 25,874.34
£		 25,874.34
£
Income 84,360.29
£		 84,360.29
£
Expenditure 68,613.88
£		 68,613.88
£
Closing Balance as of 31/12/2021 41,620.75
£		 41,620.75
£

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Appenidix 2 – Independant Examiners Report

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