2025-03-31-accounts

Epsom and Ewell Scout District

Annual report and accounts 2024-2025

Epsom and Ewell Scout Council Annual General Meeting

Thursday 25th September 2025

St Mary's Church, Cuddington, The Avenue, Worcester Park, Surrey

AGENDA

1. Introduction and welcome

2. Apologies for absence

3. Governance topics

• a. Approve the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 26 September 2024

• b. Adopt the model constitution from Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR)

• c. Note the District’s financial year

• d. Agree the number of members that may be appointed to the Trustee Board

• e. Agree the quorum for future meetings of the District Scout Council (excluding this AGM)

4.

Review of the previous year

• a. The District Lead Volunteer’s review of Scouts during the past 12 months in Epsom and Ewell

• b. Receive and consider the Annual Report of the District Trustee Board, including the annual Statement of the Accounts

5.

Making appointments

• a. Appoint the District Chair

• b. Appoint the District Treasurer

• c. Appoint members of the District Trustee Board, following recommendations from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board

• d. Re-appoint District Vice Presidents

• e. Appoint the Auditor

• f. Nominate representatives of the District Scout Council to represent the District on the County Scout Council

6. Words from the County Representative:

7. Presentation of Awards

8. Closing remarks

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Annual report and financial statements 2024-25

Reports

District Commissioner	3
The Chair of Trustees	5
District Officials and Contacts	6
The Scout Association	7
Our Banks	8
District Beaver Scouts	9
District Cub Scouts	10
District Support Team	11
District Scout Shop	14
Boidier Hurst Campsite	15
1stCuddington Warspite	17
1stEwell Court	18
2ndCuddington (Rowe)	21
2ndEpsom	24
2ndEwell	27
3rdEpsom (St Martin’s)	30
7thEpsom (Methodist)	33
Treasurer	37
Auditors Report	38
Examined Annual Accounts	39

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What a year it has been!

It is a real pleasure to introduce this year’s Annual Report and to reflect on another exciting and inspiring year for Scouting in Epsom & Ewell. Our District is made up of twelve thriving groups, each with its own character and strengths, yet all united by the same purpose: to give young people skills for life, a sense of adventure, and a supportive community in which to grow.

Across the District, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, and Explorers have taken part in a remarkable variety of activities—from traditional camping and pioneering skills, to adventurous expeditions, creative projects, and community service. Week after week, our young people have embraced challenges, pushed boundaries, and discovered what they can achieve when they work together.

Major events such as Scoutabout 2024, the Great River Race, and international trips have provided unforgettable experiences, while many young people have proudly earned top awards, from Chief Scout’s Awards to the King’s Scout Award, reflecting their perseverance, growth, and confidence.

Success extends far beyond the campfire, the water, or the woods. Our volunteers and supporters—the heartbeat of the District—have worked tirelessly to ensure that every programme runs safely and effectively.

Scout Shop has gone from strength to strength, not only as a hub for uniforms and equipment but as a vital fundraiser that supports Scouting across the District. Their dedication, alongside that of trustees, parents, and adult helpers, has made a real difference for young people and the wider community.

Across our twelve groups, there are countless stories of achievement. Some groups have celebrated growth in numbers, welcoming new members and making Scouting accessible to more families. Others have delivered innovative programmes of outdoor adventure, taking full advantage of our local parks, countryside, and campsites.

Many have achieved outstanding fundraising results, supporting both Scouting initiatives and local charitable causes. Collectively, these successes demonstrate the impact of Scouting, both on young people’s lives and within the wider community.

This has also been a year of shared celebration. District events, parades, and St George’s Day gatherings have brought groups together, building friendships and strengthening bonds across the District. Whether around campfires, on adventurous hikes, or during competitions, these moments have highlighted the power of Scouting to unite and inspire.

None of these achievements would be possible without the extraordinary commitment of our volunteers, parents, supporters, and partners.

The District Support Team has provided guidance, training, and encouragement to leaders, while the

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While we have faced challenges—changes in leadership, the introduction of new systems, and difficulties with meeting spaces—the Scouting spirit has shone through, turning obstacles into opportunities.

Looking back, there is much to be proud of. Looking ahead, we are excited by the opportunities to come. With the continued dedication of our leaders, the enthusiasm of our young people, and the support of families and the wider community, Scouting in Epsom & Ewell will continue to thrive, offering adventure, friendship, and inspiration for life.

Thank you to everyone who has played a part in our success this year. Together, we are ensuring that Scouting remains a place where young people can find adventure, friendship, and inspiration for life.

Karl Nicholas

District Lead Volunteer

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Squirrels
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From the Chair of

Trustees

Last year the old and familiar District Scout Executive Committee was replaced with a charity Board of Trustees led | by the District Chairman and consists of a group of volunteers (max 12) responsible for governance and financial administration of a Scout District.

Its key responsibilities include supporting the District Lead Volunteer (new name for the District Commissioner), ensuring compliance with Scout Association Policies, managing finances and accounts, and providing resources to Scout Groups.

The committee includes ex-officio members like the District Chair and District Lead Volunteer, along with elected, nominated, and co-opted members.

The changed responsibilities requires volunteers with different skills and abilities and I am pleased that David White has agreed to be put forward as volunteer trustees with responsibility for “Boidier Hurst and Group Sites” and Adrian Sancroft has agreed to be put forward as volunteer trustee with “Surveyor” responsibility for buildings, insurance and property.

• Peter Harvey (Treasurer)

• Jane Weller (Admin)

• Richard Hunt (Legal & regulatory)

• Joyce Nicholas (Scout Shop)

• Clare Peckett (Adult Support Team)

• Karl Nicholas (DLV) and Alex Connor (Youth DLV) are both ex-officio members.

Apart from myself as Chair, this leaves two vacancies and over the coming year I am planning to find an assistant treasurer and assistant chair.

Meanwhile I have asked John Hughes to continue as trustee.

My sincere thanks go to Elaine Mustow who has served for many years on the District Exec Committee and Robert Baker who was co-opted and responsible for the purchase of the Scout Shop.

This leads me nicely on to the successes of the last year!

We had the opportunity to purchase the freehold of the Scout Shop in Stoneleigh which, after due diligence, we went ahead with and the District are now the proud owners of the freehold currently valued at £130,000. This investment means that the District are £11,000 a year better off, the annual rent paid to the freeholder.

In addition to the Scout Shop purchase, the Shop continues to offer a fantastic service to the Scout District and beyond as well as ploughing a healthy profit back into district.

The District received a Surrey County Council grant for 1st Ruxley Scout HQ. Although we have the funds to complete the project the developer who needs to do their promised work first continues to be a challenge with the their sub-contractors being thrown off site due to lack of progress and poor workmanship. Hopefully, this year will see the Scout HQ operational again.

To end, I would like to thank everyone who helps in so many different ways to ensure the success of Scouting for young people in the District.

Neil Dallen

Chair of Trustees

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District Team

Board of Trustees – 2024-25

District Lead Volunteer	Karl Nicholas	Chairman	Neil Dallen
		Treasurer	Peter Harvey
Youth Commissioner	Alex Connor	Secretary	Jane Weller
		Trustees	Richard Hunt
Deputy DLV (Programme)	John Hughes		Joyce Nicholas
Deputy DLV (Support)	Richard Denyer		Elaine Mustow
Deputy DLV (Training)	Lauren Mansell		Clare Peckitt
			Karl Nicholas*
Deputy Youth Lead	Sam Featherstone		Alex Connor *
District Beaver Leads	Judith Sitford		John Hughes
	Martyn Holloway-	* Ex officio
	Neville
		Presidents
District Cub Leads	Elaine Mustow
	Steph Howard	Vice President	Hazel Luxton
		Vice President	Geoff Whitehead
District International Lead	Caroline Pearce
		District Assets
Support Team Manager	Clare Peckitt
		District Scout Shop:	22 Broadway
Nights Away Manager	Dave Mustow		Stoneleigh
	Jack Lee		KT17 2HU
Young Leader Leads	Karen Kelly	District Campsite:	Boidier Hurst
	Jack Lee		Box Hill Road
			Headley
Shop Manager	Joyce Nicholas
		Support Team Store:	Rear of 2ndCuddington
District Administrator	Carol Priddy		HQ
			Salisbury Road
			Worcester Park
			Surrey
			KT4 7DD

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THE SCOUT ASSOCIATION

THE SCOUT LAW

A Scout is to be trusted.

THE PURPOSE OF SCOUTING

Scouting exists 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: Integrity - We act with integrity; we are honest, trustworthy, and loyal. Respect - We have selfrespect and respect for others.

Care - We support others and take care of the world in which we live.

Belief - We explore our faiths, beliefs, and attitudes.

Cooperation - We make a positive difference; we cooperate with others and make friends.

A Scout is loyal.

A Scout is friendly and considerate.

A Scout belongs to the worldwide family of Scouts. A Scout has courage in all difficulties.

A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property.

A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.

OUR VISION

As Scouts, we believe in preparing young people with skills for life. We encourage our young people to do more, learn more and be more.

Each week, we give young people the opportunity to enjoy fun and adventure while developing the skills they need to succeed, now and in the future.

THE SCOUT METHOD

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

Enjoy what they are doing and have fun. Take part in activities indoors and outdoors. Learn by doing.

Share in spiritual reflection. Take responsibility and make choices. Undertake new and challenging activities Make and live by their Promise.

THE SCOUT PROMISE

On my honour, I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God (to uphold Scout values) and to the King (the country in which I now live), to help other people and to keep the Scout Law.

We are talking about teamwork, leadership, and resilience – skills that have helped Scouts become everything from teachers and social workers to astronauts and Olympians. We believe in bringing people together. We celebrate diversity and stand against intolerance, always. We are part of a worldwide movement, creating stronger communities and inspiring positive futures.

We are preparing more young people with skills for life, supported by amazing Leaders delivering an inspiring programme. We will be growing, more inclusive, shaped by young people and making a bigger impact in our communities. We are proud to say we are a values-based movement.

Our Scout values of integrity, respect, care, belief, and cooperation guide everything we do.

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Bankers CAF Bank Limited 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, ME19 4JQ.

National Westminster Bank PLC National Counties Building Society Victoria Branch, Ebbisham House PO Box 1357, 30 Church Street 169 Victoria Street, Epsom SW1E 5NA. KT17 4NL.

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Beaver Scout Report

Through 2024 and early 2025, we have seen a big change in our District Beaver Team. While Judith Sitford and I have remained in our roles, we said a fond farewell to Michelle Davies as she moved away. We will miss her energy, enthusiasm and bright ideas in the Team.

Colonies and Chief Scout Bronze Awards

We have 14 Colonies across the 12 Groups in Epsom and Ewell, and it is fantastic to see that the numbers of young people we are supporting on a weekly basis only seems to go up each year. I have also been hearing a lot about the number of Chief Scout’s Bronze Awards being achieved right across the District. A massive well done to all of these children for their achievement this year.

County Events

Reach for the Stars 2025

Beavers from all across the District joined several hundred others from all over Surrey in February for the annual Reach for the Stars event. Reach for the Stars is a weekend of challenges and activities, all provided virtually, and the young people are encouraged to spend the night ‘virtual camping’ - be that in a tent in the garden, or building a ‘fort’ in their house!

catchers and (very fashionable) headbands, panning for gold (!) and the (fully risk assessed) tug of war competition! Beaveree takes a year off in 2025 as it’s a Bazzaz year.

Emergency Aid Day - 23 November 2024

With slightly lower takeup this year, 40 Beavers took part in a single, morning session at 1st Cuddington’s HQ - all with the aim of completing their Emergency Aid Stage 1 badge! The Beavers learnt about ringing

the emergency services, applied plasters to (thankfully) drawn on injuries, and put some very tall adults into the recovery position!

We look forward to the next Em Aid day in November.

Lizard Hike - 16 March 2025

Good (if slightly cool) weather allowed the annual Lizard Hike on Headley Heath to go ahead this year. Most Colonies were able to send along some young

people, who all enjoyed themselves walking the Lizard Trail (although, as usual, seeing any lizards proved a step too far!)

The Lizard Hike will return (weather permitting) for 2026.

Martyn Holloway-Neville

District Beaver Team

District Events

Beaveree - 21 September 2024

This year, 54 participants from 6 Groups came together at Little Acres Campsite in Epsom for a half-day of Wild West-themed activities and fun! Highlights included making dream

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Cubs Scout Report

June 2024 saw packs from the district start to take part in the annual Cub Challenge, unfortunately due to the very wet weather this event had to be stopped due to dangerous under foot conditions and various people not having suitable clothing.

Night Hike

October was the Cubs District night hike, this saw over 120 Cubs walking from various different drop of points back to Boider Hurst Camp site for hot dogs, hot

chocolate, soup squash that was catered by the district team this was followed by a camp fire sing song which was ably lead by Richard Ascough the singing could be heard all over the site. My thanks must go to the walk leaders Ian Peckitt, Clare Peckitt, Dave Tilliyer, Nigel Bird, Stuart Willes and Howard Park.

Emergency Aid

November saw 100 cubs attend and achieve their First Aid level 2, great fun was had by all as they learnt how to roll even the tallest of leaders into to recovery position

February 2025 saw the District Quiz take place this was closely contested and was won by 2[nd] Ewell who went forward to represent Epsom and Ewell at the County Quiz.

Chief Scout Silver Award 2024-2025

There were thirty five Chief

Scout Silver awards presented to the cubs this year, a huge well done to them all, it’s a great achievement.

I close this report with my heartfelt thanks to all the cub leaders and their teams in the district, for all their hard work in putting on interesting and challenging programmes for their young people.

Here's to next year, watch this space, plans are being put in place. There’s a new exciting cooking experience as well as a whole fun day to learn new skills and have fun look out 2026/2027

Elaine Mustow

Cub Section Lead

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Epsom and Ewell Support Team

While at Scoutabout:

Colin Thomas was awarded the Bar to the Silver Acorn and David White received the Award of Merit

New members are encouraged to join with any support being greatly appreciated, from towing a trailer, marshalling a checkpoint, making tea’s, putting up a mess tent or introducing / training in a new activity.

We regularly meet on 2[nd] Wednesday of every month. Contact Clare if interested in joining:

[e-mail]

November 2024

April 2024

The inaugural District Quiz with fish’n’chips was held at 1[st] Cuddington, hosted by EEST. It was a sell out and enjoyed by all, with some showing their competitive side.

As always, we supported the annual Fireworks at Hook Road.

Our donation for support this year was larger so we were able to invest this in some new equipment, including soft tomahawks and connect 4.

December 2024

The Christmas working party was again at Boidier Hurst. Main tasks were tidying site, including leaf blowing, clearing dead wood and chipping or burning it. Also a lovely lunch prepared by Kimberley.

June 2024

SCOUTABOUT - We had a large contingent and managed, with the district’s help, to run three activities: Climbing Wall, Runway and Cave Maze. A fun weekend was had by all.

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January 2025

One January morning, 10 of us and 2 dogs met in Kingston and did a circular walk (AKA Hip Flask Ramble) along the River Thames, stopping at Teddington for a welcome coffee then on to Richmond for a pub lunch and back via Richmond Park. Followed by dinner in one of the team’s home.

The annual challenge hike run by the support team took place in March, with 39 teams competing against each other, starting from 2[nd] Epsom Scout Hut on Epsom Common. Lots

of competitive and happy kids enjoying being outside.

Thanks to all who helped marshalling and shadowing, as it would not be possible without you.

February 2025

Shrove Tuesday evening was spent eating pancakes at a member’s home, all bringing our own favourite topping.

Top Golf was visited and enjoyed by all. It was also where we established that more practice was required by all members!

March 2025

Monopoly Run

3 Teams entered the ‘Monopoly Run Live’. Fun was had by all, chasing challenges and properties. The ‘boys’ beat both ‘girls’ teams by successfully visiting all properties on Monopoly board (with an hour to spare!).

Challenge Hike

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Scout Shop

This year has been another successful one for our District Scout Shop, and that success is thanks to the dedication of our wonderful team of volunteers. We now have 13 enthusiastic helpers covering different days and tasks, and we were delighted to welcome two new members to the team this year. Their energy and commitment ensure the shop continues to thrive as an invaluable resource for our Scouting community.

Listening to feedback from parents and leaders, we have adapted our opening hours to better meet everyone’s needs. The shop now opens during half term holidays and has introduced Thursday opening, making it even easier for families to get the items they need.

We are proud to keep prices as affordable as possible. By negotiating better deals with our suppliers, we’ve been able to reduce the cost of key items such as programme badges, scarves, and woggles—helping both families and leaders manage their Scouting budgets more easily.

The shop continues to hold a wide stock of uniform across all sections, alongside badges, books, and camping equipment. Leaders also benefit from discounts on their own purchases. A much-valued badge sewing service is available too, with all proceeds donated directly to the District as a generous gift from our volunteer sewers.

Looking ahead, an important development is the renewal of our shop lease. As the owners have indicated they wish to sell the property, the District is exploring the exciting possibility of purchasing the premises. This would be a long-term asset to the District and provide stability as rent costs are set to rise later this year.

The shop is not only a place to pick up Scouting essentials but also a hub for community spirit. We continue to maintain high standards in cleanliness, stock control, and safety. Our Fire Risk Assessment was recently reviewed by Surrey Fire Service, who praised its quality—a credit to the care taken by the team.

We also remain active members of the Stoneleigh Broadway Traders Association. Unfortunately, the Broadway Christmas Lights event could not take place in 2024 due to station redevelopment works, but we look forward to joining in with the celebrations again in 2025.

We are very grateful to the many individuals who give their time and talents to make the shop what it is. Special thanks go to:

• Peter Harvey – for keeping our finances in order.

• Robert Baker – for his invaluable odd-job support (and for rarely charging us!).

• Pat Askey & Linda Stacey (Kingston) – for their steady work with accounts.

• Sue Beard, Sue Sparrow, Janice Posner & Sarah Edwards (Guiding).

• Carol Priddy, Jean Teasdale, Paul Huitson & Nicola Archer (Epsom).

• Lee Coltham – who joined us as a volunteer and has been a real asset.

Without these volunteers, there would simply be no shop. Their commitment not only supports Scouting locally but also strengthens the wider community. We thank them all sincerely for everything they do.

Joyce Nicholas

Volunteer Shop Manager

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Did You Know?

Here are some fun facts about your District Scout Shop this year:

• We sold over 1954 uniform items across all sections and 649 Girlguiding uniforms

• More than 37,963 programme badges found new homes on proud Scout uniforms.

• Families saved hundreds of pounds thanks to our price reductions on essentials.

• Our volunteer sewing team stitched over 700 badges, raising money as a gift to the District.

• Together, our volunteers gave over 5000 of hours of their time to keep the shop running smoothly.

The shop is more than just a place to buy uniforms—it’s a hub of Scouting support, teamwork, and community pride.

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Boidier Hurst Scout Campsite

We have had another busy year up here at Boidier Hurst, not only have we been keeping the site looking good, we have also been undertaking some other big projects to ensure we keep improving our great campsite up on Box Hill.

Last year we had a record 225+ bookings, over 7,500 camping nights and 3000+ day or evening visits, our best numbers recorded yet, bookings so far this year are running at over 195 and we have a couple more months to go. In addition, everyone seems to be booking early for 2026, with 30 bookings taken already for next year.

The Boidier Hurst Service Crew, to which I am deeply indebted, in 2024, completed more than 3360 hours of work between them, equivalent to a person working continuously for 140 days without a break, that is no mean achievement and I thank them for their dedication. This year they have also been busy with two major projects, to finish off cladding the Manly building, which was completed in August, just in time for contractors to put on a new roof for the building. While this was a major expense for us and we had to close the site for two weeks, while they did the work, the investment in a new roof with extra insulation and guaranteed for 20 years I believe was worth it.

Our steady refurbishment of the toilet block is still ongoing, with some taps, shower units and mirrors, plus other repairs carried out. This will continue over the closed period with targeted refurbishment.

We have also made a significant investment in a new ‘Zero Turn Mower’ to replace the underslung mower deck on our Kubota tractor, ensuring we can adapt the grass cutting, by site and season, making it easier, neater and quicker to cut our grass.

We are always looking for people to help on the service crew, assist as a keyholder or warden for a weekend, if you can help – please get in contact. We hope to see you soon, up at your campsite, either for an evening, a day, or a night’s camp, where you can have some time to enjoy the site.

Lady Catherine Warberg of Epsom gave ‘Boidierhurst’ to the Boy Scouts in 1946 and next year, our 80th Anniversary, we will are going to celebrate this fact, certain she would be pleased to see that it is still being used as she intended.

Chris Rose

Chair of Management Committee.

The vision for the infamous, Site 9, moves closer to completion. We have finished levelling the site and have almost finished the edges. We already have seeded grass growing on these profiled edges and hope to fully seed Site 9 in a couple of weeks, with the intent to bring it back in to use mid-2026.

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1st Cuddington (Warspite) Sea Scouts

The year from April 2024 to March 2025 has been full of Scouting at every level, from the epic to the individual.

Every week our sections from Squirrels to Explorers have met and their programme has been varied; from tasks that challenge to gains that entertain. Every age group has cooked to some degree and we have varied locations from our HQ to many local areas. There have been fires, sausages, challenges, badges and awards.

On the water, the group was active with Explorers and Scouts meeting every week at our Water Activity Centre from March to September. Above this, we had the major events with 3 sailing weekends in Chichester Harbour, the RNLI 200 celebrations, 5 boats of young people successfully completing the epic 21.6 mile Great River Race rowing event through central London as well as comprehensively winning the National Sea Scout Regatta including all of the age group trophies and coastal powerboating. We have had adult volunteers and Explorers achieve national coaching qualifications in Paddleboards, Kayaks and Powerboating to allow us to deliver fantastic & safe activities.

Camping is always a massive part of 1st Cuddington and this year was no exception. Weekend camps across the sections, a brilliant week long summer camp for the Cubs in sunny Surrey and an epic trip to the Netherlands for our Scouts and Explorers. There were first camps, last camps and fantastic nights away.

A few moments provide a perfect illustration of the range of scale and impacts over the last year.

• In 2024 we celebrated the 200th Birthday of the RNLI. To celebrate, and fundraise, we coordinated other local Sea Scout groups in bringing well over 200 people afloat on a July evening. Joined by our local Teddington RNLI Lifeboat, we filled the Thames outside Hampton Court with boats and smiles. It was a great reflection of how we can bring the community together.

• In March, at our new Cub sleepover, the young people tried lighting a small fire using a spark from a flint and steel. This needs perseverance, concentration and a little luck. To see those who thought they couldn’t persist and achieve was a brilliant example of the individual challenges which are the bedrock of Scouting.

• Our Squirrel Scouts take such joy in all activities and seeing them take to the water for the first time illustrates the impact that Scouting can have on building confidence and expanding horizons.

• One of the enduring memories will be watching a Scout Patrol Leader, a veteran of the National Regatta and Great River Race; pass on the skills he has learnt to a Beaver taking their first attempt at rowing a small boat.

None of this would be possible without an amazing and varied team of volunteers - including those over and under 18, those working with young people and those facilitating. My massive thanks to them all for their dedication, their skills and most of all their good humour. This year has seen some changes to our volunteer team that do deserve a moment of reflection.

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At the end of the year, Linda stood down from running our Beaver Scouts weekly. Whilst still part of the Warspite team, she has stepped back following 20 years of weekly meetings and handed the reins to Deborah and Orion. Words cannot express our thanks to Linda, but the size of the crowd that showed up for her final muster in charge gave a good impression! Perhaps the best words are those of two of “her” Beavers:

joined over this last year. Together they allow us to support our young people in their development.

Richard Hunt

Group Lead Volunteer

“ I am forever grateful that you introduced me to my favourite thing ever, Sea Scouts. Thank you so much for all you have done for the group and for leading such a great Beaver Colony.”

“you have made a huge difference to not only my childhood but every child who went through Beavers.”

In July, 2024 Rosemarie Brooker passed away. Rosemarie had given over 30 years service as a Beaver Leader, Cub Leader and Trustee. From weekly musters to fire station visits, she provided fantastic experiences for young people. At the end of the year, Rosemarie’s husband Len also stepped back from day to day Scouting- which in Len’s case has been 30 plus years in charge of our boat fleet. Len’s legacy is huge and involves the complete rebuild of a number of our rowing boats. In March 2025 we were able to welcome Len back to the Water Activity Centre to name our “new to us” gig in honour of Rosemarie.

In February 2025, Nigel Mansell, a long time member of the group passed away after an illness. Butty, as he was known to us, was a major part of the Cub Camp kitchen volunteers for many years.

We, and I, are grateful for the extraordinary commitment of our volunteer teams, from our longest serving volunteers to those who have

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1st Ewell Court (St Clement’s) Scout Group

We have had yet another fabulous year of scouting. The whole team has worked very hard to carry on providing traditional scouting skills, with pioneering, navigation and cooking all playing a big part within a varied and interesting program for all the sections.

The badge statistics show how the program has not only had a balance of traditional and modern, but also just how many of our Beavers, Cubs, Scout and Explorers have achieved.

The trustees have also been busy with some brilliant equipment purchases which were funded with some fundraising projects like the annual ECRA quiz and supporting the Roundtable with Carshalton Fireworks. This year we also managed another cooking event with both burgers and hotdogs being provided to a local leader’s big birthday bash by our wonderful SASU unit.

Our SASU (Scout Active Support Unit) has continued to grow; they have managed a couple of social gatherings alongside doing some work at HQ. All these young people are at university and manage to fit in helping out our group alongside their studies which I think is amazing given the pressures being at university can bring.

In 2024, all our sections were under canvas again, Beavers and Cubs went up to Boiderhurst, Scouts attended Scoutabout and then visited the New Forest for their summer camp (with activities including Mega Wall, All Aboard, Zip Lining, Gladiator Challenge, Tomahawks to name but a few).

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Our Explorer unit spent the year completing the Surrey Silver Woggle at various campsites including Birchmere & White Beeches with each camp having a focus on scouting skills such as backwoods cooking, whilst most of them were also studying for their GCSEs and A Levels. They also competed in the London Monopoly Run (always a firm favourite).

Our young people make us very proud to be leaders and they show on a weekly basis their kindness and thoughtfulness. They are all quick to welcome new members and make sure they feel part of the wider scouting community.

Our group's peer leadership shines when we are at camp with the younger members being looked after and helped by their older peers who have been camping before. The numbers in each section are growing. The achievements of our young people show their zest for scouting and its many facets.

Karen Kelly

Group Lead Volunteer

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2nd Cuddington (Rowe) Scout Group

Achieving the Kings Scout Award is truly exceptional and it was a pleasure to see Philippa Carslake receive her very well-earned award this year.

Like every other Scout Group in the country we have been coping with the national changes to how we volunteer, our leadership structures, adult training and perhaps most disastrously, a new digital management system which sadly proved not fit for purpose when it was introduced and which has occupied a disproportionate amount of adult volunteer time.

The important thing – and the real tribute to all Group leader teams, is that the ongoing work to cope with the new system and changes hasn’t affected our programmes, activities or achievements and we hope the administrative challenges have gone unnoticed by our young people.

On a far more positive note the Group continues to thrive. Numbers aren’t everything, but the fact is that the Group is bigger than ever with a growth in both young people and leader numbers.

Outdoor activities predominate in the programme and overnight activities in the last year were extensive. During the year the Beaver Scouts had termly sleepovers, including camping, each coupled with a day visit to somewhere exciting.

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Various Cub Pack ‘overnights’ included an activity weekend at PGL and their major camp in the summer near Westcott on the North Downs. The Scout Troop included a frost camp, backwoods camp and a May camp as well as their major camp in the summer in Somerset which apart from a host of Scout activities, included time spent on the beach, and of course, attendance at Scoutabout.

The Explorer Unit headed north to Scotland for their major expedition of the year packed with activities which included climbing Ben Nevis, whilst the SASU (now the Active Support Team) grew to over 30 members and has supported all these events.

Throughout the year the weekly sectional meetings have been supplemented by a multitude of other activities, both during the week and at weekends, from Monopoly Runs around London to night hikes. Although we are fortunate in our Scout Headquarters, about a third of the weekly Sectional meetings take place away from the HQ This has enabled us to include climbing, abseiling, caving, archery, axe throwing and shooting in our weekly programmes.

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‘Whole Group’ activities in the year included our Group St George’s Day outing, and in 2024 we returned to Dover Castle. Quite an achievement in moving the whole Group to Dover! Scouts renew their promise on St George’s Day and we had special permission to use the Saxon Church before spending the rest of the day exploring the castle. At the other end of the year over 80 members of the Group travelled to Hythe for our visit to Father Christmas on the Santa Special on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway where we had our own private train. Christmas also saw the whole Group at the Wimbledon Theatre for a panto visit. We continue to maintain our strong links with St Mary’s in Cuddington and held Parade services and our annual Group Carol Service in the church as well as using it as a venue for a Cub sleepover and Section visits for the Faith badge.

I know we are fortunate to have the support of a large and very committed team of leaders, young leaders, Trustees and Supporters and I am so grateful for all that they do – very many thanks!

Martin Gerrard

Group Lead Volunteer

As a DofE Award Centre, Gold, Silver and Bronze awards were achieved during the year and with a new leader qualifying as a DofE Leader/Expedition Supervisor and it was great to have the extra support on both practice and qualifying expeditions.

Our Supporters Team did another great job with the Cuddington Beer Festival which remains our major fund-raising event and together with Summer and Christmas Fairs, generates sufficient funds for us to have avoided any increase in membership fees since 2019. Over 800 attended the Beer Festival which remains a major community and PR event for the Group and importantly is raising funds from outside of Scouting.

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2nd Epsom (Christchurch) Scout Group

It has been a mixed year for 2[nd] Epsom Scouts. We have had a number of fantastic new adult leaders joining the team bringing with them new skills and perspectives and managed to retain our experienced leaders.

Sadly, in December 2024 we were served with an eviction notice on the 19[th] December and locks changed on our HQ by Christchurch, our lease holder. This was a hugely difficult time for us working with the uncertainty of regaining access and also for our children and parents, particularly those who had not yet held their Scout Christmas parties. A massive thank you to John Hughes (deputy DC), Karl Nicholas (DC) and our chair Tracy Vlaeminck for their tireless working with the lease holder, solicitors and stakeholders to resolve this issue successfully.

Our leaders and adult volunteers also deserve a special commendation for their efforts to reassure parents and children during this difficult time and put on exciting events to keep the Group going in the absence of a HQ. We were all relieved to get access back to our HQ in February 2025. We have incurred a drop in our membership due to these circumstances but it has been amazing to see the resilience of the 2[nd] Epsom leadership team and enthusiasm and ideas to grow the group again.

Amie Adkin-Pepper

Group Lead Volunteer

Beavers

This year has been a busy and rewarding one for our Beaver Colony, with plenty of fun, learning, and achievement for all our young members. The Beavers have worked hard across a wide range of badge areas, developing new skills and growing in confidence. Some highlights include:

• Emergency Aid – practising simple first aid skills, from knowing how to call for help to learning what to do if someone is injured.

• Faith – exploring different beliefs and values, sharing stories, and learning about the importance of kindness and respect.

• Outdoor Adventures – enjoying walks, nature activities, and seasonal games that gave Beavers a chance to explore and appreciate the world around them.

Cody Vlaeminck (lead) and Trevor Foale

Cubs

Our Cub Pack has continued to thrive through the year, enjoying a good mix of fun activities and opportunities to learn. We spent some time in the early part of the year training the Cubs in basic Scouting skills such as First Aid, Knots and Fire Lighting in advance of the Annual Cub Challenge event run by our District Team. It was held in June at Boidierhurst, our local camp site, and tested the learning of all the Cubs in Epsom and Ewell. We had a good turnout but unfortunately despite doing really well and having a terrific time, the Cubs came away disappointed as the event was called off at lunchtime due to torrential rain!

In August we went to PACCAR Camp Site (Chalfont Heights), for our annual Summer Camp. Here the Cubs were able to enjoy a local hike, axe throwing, air rifle shooting, laser gun tag, crate stacking and the zip wire. Our last night at camp saw us having a

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barbecue and finishing with our now traditional and legendary game of bingo.

We have also had some trips out, including the Remembrance Park at Langley Vale, a ‘Wildlife Safari’ on Epsom Common, where the Cubs saw lizards, cattle and lots of poo, and an abortive trip to the Fire Station where we had to leave as there was an emergency call out!

We did some activity badge courses late in the year, including fire safety and artist, and had several evenings where we lit fires and cooked marshmallows, which are always popular!

Just before Christmas, we had “Akela’s Yuletide Extravaganza” where the Cubs ran stalls and raised money for the Group. It was a terrific evening., with everybody having a great time, and the Cubs managed to raise over £400!!! Despite the difficult circumstances over the winter with our HQ, we engaged with stargazing on Epsom Downs (didn’t see any stars, just airliners!), a hike on the Common, and another marshmallow cooking fire. Once back in the HQ we carried on where we had left off with some great meetings, including rope making by hand, and a Lego challenge night.

My thanks go out to my Leader Team – Raksha (Emma), Baloo (Lawrence), Rikki (John), Jacala (James), Shere Khan (James), and our DofE Helpers Charlotte, Luke and Aliyah, without them all, our Cub Pack would not be the success it has been over the last year,

Scouts

We have had a great year and it has been great to see the section mature, with our older Scouts now moving on to become the first Explorers since we restarted the 2[nd] Epsom group in 2020.

We have enjoyed a varied programme, focusing on teamwork and communication skills, campcraft, and navigation. Summer brought us outdoors with campfires, shelter building, gardening, hiking and kayaking, plus fun evenings like Rocket Night and World Chocolate Day. We held creative themed nights such as making LED cards at Christmas and Spring brought plenty of variety, from spy missions to Ready Steady Cook. The Scouts had an “egg-cellent” night before Easter, where they designed protection, so their eggs survived drop tests from a height. Fortunately, it wasn’t too messy!

(Alex) I want to thank the volunteers that make Scouts possible, with special thanks to Angela and John for supporting the Scout leadership team and for their active support this year and are great assets

Explorers

We were very excited to hold our first meeting of the Explorer Scout Unit in November 2024 with some key achievements in the opening 9 months as follows:

Akela (Ethel).

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Explored a variety of different activities over the year, including basic hydroponics and alka-seltzer rockets whilst learning about space exploration; building new log stores for the Group, now in situ outside HQ. Shelter building, fire lighting and backwoods cooking whilst learning about survival skills, and building a large-scale spaceship around which we based an escape room activity.

We have managed consistent attendance across the period, even despite the HQ challenges at the start of 2025 and this being a new unit and anticipate a number of our scouts moving up later in 2025.

.

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2nd Ewell Rainsters Scout Group

This is my first report as GLV for the 2[nd] Ewell and I am very happy to have found a happy home at the 2[nd] Ewell and Epsom & Ewell District.

The group has a fantastic team of volunteers who are putting on a range of activities for the sections. Here’s a resume of what we’ve been up to over the last 2 months….

Beavers - The Autumn Term had more indoors badgework, focusing on Global Issues and Community Impact, which culminated in the annual Beaver and Cub Carol Service in early December. The Beavers also received a longawaited visit from the British Transport Police and took part in the Remembrance Day parade. Several Beavers also earned their Emergency Aid Stage 1 badge at the District event in November.

Spring Term 2025 was a set of new beginnings – including a visit from newly-appointed Group Lead Volunteer Andrew, and a visit to the Town Hall (ever more poignant as that may be the last time we are able to run such a visit). The Beavers loved indoor archery at the Hut, and several also took in the District’s Lizard Hike activity.

We awarded 343 badges (counting Membership as a single, so over 400 in total if you split those out) during the year, including 9 Beavers who achieved their highest award, the Chief Scout’s Bronze Award. Congratulations to them! We have an excellent Colony of 24 young people who are having fun and working hard each and every week. Our waiting list continues to expand as well.

Cubs

We had a visit from the British Transport Police to talk about railway safety although the highlight was getting to see their drone and police car!

The District night hike to Boidierhurst was popular and the Cubs had good memories of the hot chocolate and campfire at the end of the hike. 2nd Ewell were well-represented at the Remembrance day parade, looking smart to pay their respects for those who died for our country. The Cubs ended the year with the traditional charity fund-raising carol singing with the Beavers. Sadly, we did not repeat our previous years’ success at the District Cubs Quiz and had to relinquish the trophy this year.

The first half of the term focused on cooking skills and the second half was partly about doing your best and thinking of others, and partly about wildlife and the environment. With the help of our new Group Lead Volunteer, Andrew (Baloo), the Cubs did a litter pick evening to help clear up our local area. The Home Help challenge for the Easter holidays was definitely appreciated by parents! With more daylight evenings and good weather, the Cubs were able to practice core Scouting skills such as map reading for incident hikes, campfire cooking, and pioneering. The Cubs who took part in the District Cub challenge had a great time doing all the challenge activities and tried their best in the tug of war competition. The pack have awarded just the one Chief Scout Silver Award bu there will be plenty more to come over the next 12 months!

Scouts

Well another year in the books… This year we have awarded the following number of Badges: 1 Chief’s Scout Gold 34 Challenge Badges 108 Activity Badges 59 Staged Activity Badges 27 Joining in Awards We had a record attendance of 18 Scouts for Scoutabout ’24, ably assisted by 2 Explorer

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young leaders. Activities on offer to the Scouts included Climbing wall, zip line, archery, crafts, dunk tank, sim racing, drone flying and of course the open-air festival.

We finished the term with the now infamous Manhunt wide game which saw the Scouts pitted against a team of Explorers hellbent on “capturing” the Scouts before they made it to an undisclosed location from an undisclosed start point, the only stipulation was that the game was played within the borough of Epsom and Ewell. I am pleased to say the majority of the Scout teams were successful in avoiding capture.

November saw us pay our respects at the Village’s Remembrance Parade. We marched from the ATC base to St Marys Church yard. Again the Scouts were excellently turned out and extremely well behaved. After the wreath laying we held our own little Scouts own outside the church afterwards we awarded some Chief Scouts Silver Awards to Scouts that had completed this challenging task in their first term since moving on from Cubs.

November rolled into December and the Scouts were tasked with making Candy cane tree decorations from Red and White Paracord, it was nice to see families sharing pictures of the completed artefacts on our what’s app group. In the New Year we held Shrove Tuesday on a Friday and the Scouts cooked pancakes on open fires that they had made. We apologised to their families in advance due to the amount of sugar that the Scouts would consume!

March saw the introduction of the 1st Annual Scout-Master competition based in no way whatsoever on the popular channel 4 show of a similar name. Thomas Cotter was crowned as the inaugural champion and the trophy presentation was incredibly moving.

We also threw ourselves at the mercy of fate and took part in a penny hike, this is as the name suggests a hike with no other goal then to let the

flip of coin dictate which direction the Scouts would take when faced with a junction. Heads for Left, tails for Right. One group made it from the hut to the Odeon in Epsom, a different group after several laps of Court Rec made it out to the Wetlands project down by the Hogsmill.

It goes without saying that our Scouts are truly amazing young people. The eagerness that they throw themselves into the task and challenges we set them is truly inspiring. We will be sending three Scouts up to Explorers at the end of Summer term and hopefully gain another 3 Chief Scouts Gold awards to go with the 1 that was awarded at Easter.

Explorers

On behalf of the Explorer leadership team, I’m delighted to share what has been an incredibly busy and rewarding year for the 2nd Ewell Rainsters “Storm” Explorer Unit.

Over the past year, our Explorers have taken part in a wide variety of activities that have challenged their skills, encouraged teamwork, and—most importantly—been a lot of fun.

We’ve spent time developing bushcraft and survival skills, including fire lighting and backwoods cooking (though I’ll admit, there may have been more things burnt than baked!). We tried our hands at shooting and axe throwing and took part once again in the annual Manhunt—despite not securing the win, spirits remained high, and we’ll be back next year with renewed determination.

Badgework has been a big focus this year. We’ve made great progress on our Survival Skills and Emergency Aid badges—although the latter didn’t quite make it to the top of everyone’s favourites list! We also worked on our ICVs, built paracord poppies for Remembrance Day, and crafted Christmas-themed creations—some of which were impressively ambitious. A Christmas scavenger hunt with a BSL (British Sign Language) twist took us out and about in the community and added a fantastic layer of learning and fun.

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We’ve also explored the skies thanks to Matthew’s brilliant Astronomy evening, which was a real highlight—we’re all looking forward to doing more in this area. Josh led an engaging session on Air Activities, and our time with Richard from Warspite at Ditton Reach helped many Explorers tick off key elements of the Paddle Sports badge.

Our creativity was put to the test building bridges from lolly sticks and tackling lashings, and a largescale pioneering project gave us the chance to really think big. We also took time to reflect during Pride Month and wrapped that session up with a lively game of ‘Blankety Blank’—costumes and all! The group has taken an active role in planning future activities too. We held a programme ideas evening to gather everyone’s suggestions, ensuring the term ahead reflects what the Explorers truly want from their experience.

We also hosted a huge badge presentation night last year, celebrating nearly 80 badges earned across the unit. A special congratulations goes to Matthew, Josh, Ben, and Barney who were each awarded their Platinum Chief Scout Award—a major achievement that they should be very proud of.

Looking ahead, we’re excited to get involved with our local food bank, continue our fundraising efforts (including a lovely bake sale), and begin work on our Global Issues, Fundraising, and Community badges. Plus, the summer camp in August is looking to be a very excellent and interesting one this year, hats off to Simon for planning, organising and arranging everything.

Every single Explorer should be proud of what they’ve achieved over the past year.

From the new GLV

You will have read above, the various activities the sections have been up to. Lots of exciting outings, activities residential experiences and inclusive, challenging and rewarding programmes that have enabled our young people to set and achieve new goals, to participate in activities that challenged them to earn the badges that they had worked so far but to also see them develop as they grow after the sections have given them ‘Skills For Life’.

Though this is the current Scout ‘tag’, it’s a very accurate and rewarding statement. It’s fantastic to see the young people grow, become empowered, learn new skills, to build on their knowledge and experience and before confident, kind, active and thoughtful members of society and our local community. I am so proud of our young people and all that they achieve. I firmly believe time spent in Scouting as a child will provide you with some many opportunities and experiences as an adult.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to the entire leadership team at the 2[nd] Ewell. The success of this Group is down to them. We all bring something different to the Group and it is their talents that have made this Group what it is - thank you all so much for your support, experience, knowledge, time, encouragement, patience and understanding.

Likewise, the Group would not be where it is without the continuing support from the Group’s Trustee Board. Thanks also should go to their partners and families for their support too.

Andrew Hayward (Baloo) Group Lead Volunteer

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3rd Epsom (St Martin’s) Scout Group

The 3rd Epsom Scout Group continues to thrive with a full and varied programme of adventure, learning, and community service across all sections. Our young people have once again demonstrated enthusiasm, resilience, and leadership, supported by a dedicated team of volunteers.

Skills for Life in Action

This year, young people across the Group developed a wide range of valuable life skills. Beavers earned badges in Book Reader, Communicator, Navigator, and Emergency Aid, learned how to light candles safely, memorise key phone numbers, and present their ideas confidently through the You Shape Award.

Cubs expanded their leadership and teamwork skills through Pack Forums and Sixers and Seconders training, while presenting astronomy research in small groups. Scouts gained practical skills in wiring plugs, sewing buttons, emergency aid, and bicycle repair. Explorers led games nights and escape rooms, and managed catering at camp—developing independence and organisation through cooking all their own meals on open fires.

Outdoor Adventure and Camps

The outdoors remained central to the programme. All sections came together for a week-long summer camp at Hope Hill, where Explorers joined but ran their own programme strand and prepared all their meals independently. Activities across the week included hiking, shelter building, fire lighting, wide games, and pioneering challenges.

Scouts attended a Canal Boat Camp, learning to steer narrowboats and operate locks. Cubs completed a train hike from Ashtead to Epsom and took part in a district night hike in Horton Country Park. Beavers explored nature on a map-led walk to Stew Ponds, enjoyed games on Epsom Downs, and tackled a themed trail in Alexandra Park. Explorers also took on orienteering challenges and wide games at Boiderhurst.

Community and Environmental Engagement

Community service and environmental responsibility were a strong focus this year. Cubs and Scouts helped with wetland restoration at Hogsmill and Chambers Mead, planting plug plants to support chalk stream habitats.

Beavers and Cubs joined litter-picking sessions at St Martin’s Church, and all sections contributed to working parties at HQ, improving their shared facilities.

The Group had a full presence at the Remembrance Parade at St Martin’s Church, where Scouts led readings and flag duties, Cubs displayed handmade Remembrance jars, and Explorers assisted in the service.

Separately, the Explorers also carried out graveyard maintenance at the church, clearing overgrown ivy and weeds from neglected tombstones, a respectful act of community care.

In addition, Explorers supported the Epsom and Ewell Eco Fair, where they ran seed-planting activities for children, helping to promote environmental awareness in the wider community.

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Creative Learning and Fun

Cultural and creative experiences ran throughout the year. Beavers explored World Hello Day, Burns Night, Chinese New Year, and made paper helicopters, shortbread, and nature art. Cubs experimented with balloon-powered cars and water filters, visited Epsom Fire Station, and completed their Astronomy badge.

Scouts took on sustainability challenges using recycled materials, pitched ideas in a Dragons’ Den format, and cooked international dishes. Explorers ran debate nights, escape rooms, creative cooking evenings, and quizzes, continuing to build confidence and collaboration.

All sections rounded off the year with festive fun, including Christmas parties, Easter egg hunts, and offsite adventures like bowling and crazy golf, creating friendships and memories to last a lifetime.

Looking Ahead

We continue to grow and deliver #SkillsForLife, thanks to our passionate team of volunteers. With high participation across all sections, firm plans and a calendar of exciting events and camps ahead, the year to come promises to be just as adventurous and rewarding.

Richard Ascough

Group Lead Volunteer

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7th Epsom (Methodist) Scout Group

The year ending April 2025 saw a strong Scouting programme delivered and the Group continues to thrive, albeit without a GLV in place. We would like to thank all the Leaders for their extra efforts in the circumstances. We do however face a cliff edge with an ever-ageing Leader population.

The individual sections have continued their rich offering of activities and badges and the Group remains in good overall health. A full programme of camps, competitions, outings and sleepovers all took place with Spring Bank Camp (Bentley Copse), Scoutabout, Summer Camp (Buddens) and Water Weekend (Thames Young Mariners) all well attended. A few section highlights follow.

The Group’s finances remain on a sound basis with enhanced fundraising activities. We ran Community Christmas Post as previously and also a very well supported Quiz evening early in the New Year. Our two minibuses have been used well through the year and in spite of the associated expense provide us with programme opportunities that would otherwise not be possible.

Particular thanks go to the Leaders who organised the Family Fun Day on 28[th] April last year – over 50 families took part and a good time was had by all despite indifferent weather.

Beavers

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This year we have worked on a variety of activity badges, including the camp craft, communicator, creative, international and air activities stage 1. Work on these have also contributed to the beaver challenge badges, My Adventure, My Outdoors, My Teamwork, My Skills and My World. Several beavers have gone the extra mile and have achieved the Chief Scouts Bronze Award before moving up to cubs.

Over the last year we have spent as much time as possible outside. Beavers have put up tents in Rosebery Park, made fires to cook marshmallows at Boiderhurst, tried out pond dipping at the Hogsmill, den building on Headley Heath and learning tracking skills at Horton, made nature pictures in Nonsuch Park, flown kites on Epsom Downs, and hiked around Epsom Common in the twilight.

When the weather and dark have kept us inside, we have worked on our team skills, finding out about scouts and about the world around us. This has included learning about local wildlife as well as different countries and cultures around the world, including food tasting. We have also tried out a range of creative activities from charades to junk modelling.

Cubs

At the end of May we all had a brilliant time being with the rest of the group at Bentley Copse Activity Centre. It was great to see all sections integrating and supporting each other as well as a sense of pride at hearing the Cubs drown out everyone else around the campfire, well that’s how we remember it! It was also brilliant to see all the Cubs try something that they had never had the opportunity to try before and conquer some of their fears, whether that was spending their first night away or finding their way through the dark in the caving tunnels. We also bid farewell to Les (Baloo) who retired after a long career of inspiring young people, many of whom are now leaders in the group and beyond.

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Scouts

In addition to our regular camps of the year, we had the Surrey Scoutabout event held at Ardingly showground in Sussex. The 31 scouts had freedom to go and find their own fun on the huge site, and the leaders and parent helpers saw them occasionally when they needed food and a bed.

In September we lost over half the Scout troop to Explorers and had a large group of cubs joining us, so, there was a massive change in patrols and leaders. Jo Chartres, with several of the other leaders, ran a 24 hour camp at Boiderhurst for all the PLs and APLs. The usual activities were included with a bit of a twist to make them more challenging for these older scouts. The PLs and APLs came back with additional skills for organising themselves and their patrols.

Part of our action-packed Autumn activities focused on the activities around Remembrance Sunday which included making medals of thanks to hang on the memorial at the Centenary Woods in Langley Vale during our annual hike around the impressive and thought-provoking woodland.

In January we entered a team into the District Quiz for the 2nd year in a row and we were blown away when our team of 4 came away with 1st place and the chance to represent the District for the first time at the Surrey Scout Final where they had a fun day, just missing out on placings.

Pitching a tent blind-fold at PL/APL Camp. Friday night climbing and bouldering.

In March we took part in the District Challenge Hike. We had 5 teams taking part with 4 scouts in each, which is the largest group taking part for many years. Several of them were quite young, but we spent a couple of weeks going over navigation skills, and then had a hike on Epsom Common before the event. All teams completed the course and returned safely, and our all-girl team (made up of only 3 girls as one had to drop out because of illness) won the overall event. Well done to Robyn Pratt, Rin Bradley and Eliza Gray.

Over the year we presented 5 Silver Chief Scout awards to our Cubs.

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Explorers

On 21[st] June we invited the founder of the charity, Under One Sky, to come and talk to us with one of his younger volunteers about how the charity was started and what their work involves. We proudly presented them with a cheque for £806.39 – the amount raised by the Explorers over the year.

Explorer programme planning was the first Autumn term meeting, where the Explorers designed their programme to include evenings of: newspaper fashion show, Dragon’s Den, Garage Band (which was so creative), Quiz and Chips night and Gingerbread House making. The leaders sprinkled this in amongst pumpkin carving, London Christmas Lights walk, a first aid night and a firework hike.

Daniel Booker, one of our Explorers was chosen to represent Surrey Scouts in becoming one of the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey’s cadets for the year.

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TREASURERS REPORT

he Accounts ended 31Mar2025 have been prepared on the same basis as last year, to show the clear separation of the three designated funds. This allows us to appreciate the significant contribution that both the Shop and the Support Team (EDST) have made to the financial health of the overall District. T

----- Start of picture text -----
ACCOUNT TOTAL
District EEDST Shop
2024-25 £k
Capitation & Fireworks Shop Sales
Income Event Income &Other Events
8.5 6.6 90.7 105.8
Boiderhurst & Equipment Shop Purchases
Expenses District Youth &Event Costs & Costs
6.7 8.7 77.2 92.6
Transfers -30.0
-20.0 -70.0 0.0
To 22Broadway +120
Net Income 91.8 -22.1 -56.5 13.2
Prev Bal. 86.6 28.7 101.4 216.7
Inc Int'l Fund & Tangible Assets Including shop
Balance
22Broadway now zero stock 26.8
31-Mar-25
178.4 6.7 44.9 230.0
----- End of picture text -----

Overall, the District has a closing fund value of £230,013 on 31-Mar-2025 which is £13,245 greater than the opening value of £216,769 on 31-Mar-2024. Income from group capitation has allowed us to provide funding to Boidierhurst, provide District Training, and cover other general support costs to the groups. We have also administered a Council grant of £47,722 towards the Ruxley Redevelopment.

Putting £120,000 of our capital into the freehold at 22Broadway provides security for the Shop and means that future “Rent” will be retained within the District rather than given to an external landlord. The Scout Shop has made a very significant contribution generating £13,508 of income to the District. Within the Shop, I thank Joyce and her team for their work to provide this generous income stream for the District.

Thanks also to Clare Peckitt and the Support Team in raising income from events such as the Epsom Fireworks. Costs include both the equipment insurance, as well as the rental for the equipment storage provided by 2[nd] Cuddington. The Capital invested in the Runway is now fully depreciated from £2300 to zero.

Finally, I would like to thank Kevin Mallett for his generous support as the independent examiner, as well as his wife Jane for her help in handling our VAT returns.

Peter Harvey – District Treasurer.

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

to the Trustees of Epsom and Ewell District Scout Council

I report on the accounts of the District for the year ended 31 March 2025, and which are set out on the following pages.

Respective responsibilities of the Trustees and the Examiner

The District's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They 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 needed.

It is my responsibility to:

• Examine the accounts (under Section 145 of the 2011 Act

• To follow the procedure laid down in the General Directions given by The Charity Commissioners (under Section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act) and

• To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner's statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the financial statements with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements 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 I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the financial statements.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

• (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements

• to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 130 of the 2011 Act; and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and

• comply with the requirements of the 2011 Act and the Regulations have not been met, or

• (2) which in my opinion, attention should be drawn to, in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statement to be reached.

Dated: 18-Sep-25

18 THE BROADWAY,

STONELEIGH, EPSOM, KT17 2HU.

KEVIN A. MALLETT F.C.A CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT

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Unrestricted Funds

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Designated Designated Funds

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