## FAREHAM WEST DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL ## ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ## HELD ON 26th JUNE 2025 Registered Charity Number: 1033062 ## **Trustees of the Fareham West District Scout Council 2024/25** District Lead Volunteers Mark Elbourn & Claire Ashley District Chairman Eric Williams Secretary Sheila Good Treasurer Malcolm Harvey-Ross ## **Ex-Officio** District Lead Volunteer Mark Elbourn Youth Commissioner Jamie Crowe ## **Trustees** Elected for 3 years Eric Williams Anna Greenfield Paul Dowman-Tucker Richard Cannadine Keith Jefferies Claire Ashley Malcolm Harvey-Ross Cllr Malcolm Daniells (until 4th March 25) Registered Charity Number 1033062 ## **Fareham West District Scout Council Annual General Meeting** ## **Thursday 26[ th ] June 2025 at 7:30pm** ## **1[ st ] Stubbington Scout HQ** ## **AGENDA** 1. **Introduction and welcome** 2. **Apologies for absence** 3. ## **Governance topics** - a. Approve the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 27th June 2024 - b. Adopted the model constitution from Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR) 5c https://www.scouts.org.uk/por/5c-constitutions-of-groups-districts-and-coun ties-except-scotland/#5c.2 - c. Note the District’s financial year - 1st April to 31st March - d. Approve appointed and community members of the District Scout Council - e. Agree the number of members that may be appointed to the Trustee Board - f. 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 in the Fareham West Scout District - b. Receive and consider the Annual Report of the District Trustee Board, including the annual Statement of the Accounts 5. ## **Making appointments** - a. District Chair Eric Williams 2nd year of the 3 year term. - b. Appoint the District Treasurer, following recommendation from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board - c. Appoint members of the District Trustee Board, all are in their 2nd year of the 3 year term. - d. Appoint the Independent Examiner 6. ## **Closing remarks** ## **Fareham West District Scout Council Minutes of Annual General Meeting Held on Thursday 27[ th ] June 2024 at 1[ st ] Stubbington Scout HQ** **Present:** There were 16 people present. [sheet attached] ## **1. Introduction and welcome:** Eric Williams, District Trustee chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting. He thanked 1st Stubbington for the use of their HQ and acknowledged the voiced disappointment from the floor that only 16 Adult Volunteers were attending from the 222 Adult Volunteers registered in the 2024 Census. However, as the District Constitution requires a minimum of 15 to be in attendance to be quorate, the meeting would continue and resolutions could be voted on and determined. ## **2. Apologies for absence:** Apologies have been received from Councillor Malcolm Daniells; Joe Mountain; Amanda Thompson; Brian Graham and Ashley Franklin. ## **3. Governance topics** - **a. Approve the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 22[ nd ] June 2023.** The minutes, as contained in the report book available tonight, were approved by the Trustees at their meeting on 14th September 2023 and are now brought to this AGM for the formal approval of the meeting. Proposed by: Eric Williams and Seconded by: Claire Ashley. The meeting voted unanimously to accept the minutes as a true and correct record. - **b. Adopt the model constitution from Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR).** Eric will e-mail copy of FW details - https://www.scouts.org.uk/por [March 2024 POR Chapter 5] - **c. Note the District’s financial year.** 1st April to 31st March. - **d. Approve appointed and community members of the District Scout Council.** None. - **e. Agree the number of members that may be appointed to the Trustee Board.** The Trustees recommend 12 be appointed. Seconded by Paul Dowman-Tucker. Unanimous vote of approval. - **f. Agree the quorum for future meetings of the District Scout Council (excluding this AGM).** After a short discussion the proposal of retaining the number at 15 was put by Eric Williams, seconded by Claire Ashley. A unanimous vote of approval is recorded. ## **4.** ## **Review of the previous year** - a. **The District Lead Volunteer’s review of Scouts in the Fareham West Scout** ## **District is contained in the AGM report book.** District Lead Volunteer, Mark Elbourn, brought the meetings’ attention to the drop in number for 2024 Census of Adult Volunteers and the drop in Nights Away and other activities. He was appreciative of the Adult Volunteers sustained efforts to keeping training up-to-date and commented on the excellent number of Awards achieved by both Adults and Young People. He thanked Maria Lennan and Claire Ashley for their outstanding support given by covering multiple vacant positions in the District, and also thanked **all** Adults in the District for their commitment and work in the past year. Jim Cook asked if any recruitment drive for Adult Volunteers had been done in the past year? Mark advised that both 1st and 2nd Stubington Groups had done some work with the County Development Team over the last year and this resulted in 3 possible Adult Volunteer recruitments, so not overly successful. However, more work will be done in the coming 12 months. Rachel Smithson – [ADC Squirrels] was pleased to report the recruitment of 15 leaders in the past 2 years – however, they appear to ‘move with their children’ when the children progress to the next group. They have also seen successful Family Day events, but more of this will be published when the National Pilot Scheme [of which they are a part] gives its report later in the year. ## **b. Receive and consider the Annual Report of the District Trustee Board, including the annual Statement of the Accounts.** Copies of all financial accounts have been circulated prior to this meeting and are also contained in the Report Book. The District Trustee Board has approved the Annual Reports and Statement of Accounts, and the report on the accounts has been received from the Independent Examiner. Eric briefly talked the meeting through them. The District is in a good state of affairs, however there is currently no District Treasurer. In accordance with POR, Eric has undertaken the role of Bookkeeper and Malcolm Harvey-Ross has undertaken the role of authorised Finance Payer. Mark thanked them both for their diligence and hard work. ## **5. Making appointments** ## **a. Appoint the District Chair, following recommendation from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board.** There were no nominees through the open selection process and the Trustee Boards therefore propose Eric Williams to serve as District Chair for a period of 3 years. This was accepted unanimously. Eric reminded the meeting that if anyone wishes to attend a Trustee meeting, they now need to pre-request to attend as no one is able to just ‘turn up on the night’. - **b. Appoint the District Treasurer, following recommendation from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board.** No - recommendations were received. The position remains vacant. ## **c. Appoint members of the District Trustee Board, following** ## **recommendations from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board.** Chair explains the open selection process agreed by the Trustee Board. The recommendation to the District Scout Council is that Paul Downam-Tucker, Richard Cannadine, Claire Ashley, Keith Jefferies, Malcolm Harvey-Ross, Anna Greenfield & Clr Malcolm Daniells should be appointed as members of the District Trustee Board for the next 3 years. Duly appointed also are: ex-officio: Mark Elbourn as team DC rep.; Jamie Crowe as DYC. The Treasurer position is vacant. District Secretary is not now a Trustee position – in accordance with Charity Commission rules. There remains room for the appointment of 2 or 3 more Trustees. Eric thanked both Nicola McCullum and Richard Thompson for their contributions to the Board over the past year. ## **d. Appoint the Independent Examiner.** David Kemp was proposed and unanimously approved to be the Independent Examiner. ## **6.** ## **Closing remarks.** Eric thanked everyone for supporting tonight’s AGM attendance. **7. Presentation of Award.** Richard Cannadine was presented with his 30 year service award by the District Lead Volunteer, Mark Elbourn. **8.** ## **Final item!** After a short discussion among those present at the meeting, Malcolm Harvey-Ross volunteered to become Treasurer for a period of no longer than 12 months. Claire Ashley proposed and Jim Cook seconded the motion to appoint Malcolm Harvey-Ross to the position of Treasurer. It was carried by a unanimous vote to accept. ## **There being no further items for discussion the meeting closed at 2000hrs.** ## **Date of the next Trustee Board meeting: 19th September 2024, 7.30pm at 1st Stubbington HQ.** ## **District Chair’s Report 2024/25** I would firstly like to thank the District Trustees for their time and commitment over the past year, we have met 6 times over that period and the meetings have been well supported. Decisions have been made to enhance the District with a new activity - Crossbows which will be launched in 2025. This one activity has cost nearly £2000 but I am sure will be popular by those who will be using them in the near future. We hope we can provide funding for some other activities around the District, possibly for our younger sections as we need to make sure there is a proper progression in what each section does as they go through Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers. There isn’t a bottomless pit of money so we cannot do everything you would like but if you have any suggestions please feel free to reach out to the District Trustees. Following on from the “All Leaders Meeting” in January 2025, the District Trustees took into account the recommendation from this meeting to keep funding the Everetts campsite from our funds. We are lucky in our District to have three camping sites - A.E. Roberts (Fareham West owned), Everetts (jointly owned with Denewulf) and Lyons Copse (jointly owned by us and 3 other Districts) but each of these sites need to be kept in good order by volunteers, which we are eternally grateful for the time given by the volunteers who go along to do this. Everyone has a responsibility to help out when asked even just an hour or two, it was disappointing when the Lyons Copse “Big Clean” weekend was so poorly supported by our District. A.E. Roberts and Everetts are funded by the District whereas Lyons Copse is funded by the fees it charges when you camp or have activities there. My sincere thanks goes out to all the District Team Volunteers and each and everyone of the volunteers which keep the Groups going whether it be in a leadership or a supporting role the Young People could not be a member of our great Scouting Movement without you. YIS Eric Williams Chairman, District Trustee Board of Fareham West Scouts ## **District Lead Volunteer Annual Report Annual General Meeting 2025** The last 12 months have been busy and provided quality Scouting both from within the Sections in the Groups, the Explorer Units and the District as a whole. Many thanks to the adult volunteers, whether you are there in an operational or governance role for enabling the young people to attend weekly meetings, the young people themselves and their parents. This year saw us change from the online membership system that was known as Compass (it sometimes pointed in the right direction) to the new system known as scouts.org.uk. Otherwise known as Compass Replacement Adult Portal due to it not living up to the hype we were given. At the end of December, Brian Graham stood down as a part of the DLV Team. We are looking at filling the following roles in the District Team, and if anyone would like to volunteer to be considered, please email us: Team Leader – Volunteer Development Team Leader – Support Group Lead – 1[ st ] Titchfield Sea Scout Group Team Members for various supporting and activity teams Various roles within many if not all of the groups plus Explorers. If anyone is interested in helping with any of the above roles, please reach out to us and we can point you in the right direction. The census for this year (January 2025) has seen an overall small drop in young people numbers again compared to January 2024. The census has once again shown that as a District, we have enough registered on waiting lists to open three more groups.579 in January 2024 compared to 450 in January 2025. The table below shows the numbers for this year, compared to last: |**Section**|**2024**|**2025**|**+/ - **| |---|---|---|---| |**Squirrels**|69|58|11| |**Beavers**|249|249|0| |**Cubs**|302|308|6| |**Scouts**|233|244|11| |**Explorers**|60|48|12| |**Network**|1|2|1| |**Youth Totals**|**914**|**909**|**5**| |**Adult Volunteers**|293|253|40| |**TOTAL**|**1207**|**1162**|**45**| We would like to thank all those that have supported the District and ourselves over the last year. Whether you are Leaders, Trustees, Parents or Young People. We would like to make a special mention to Malcolm Harvey-Ross for covering the role of Treasurer since the last AGM when he agreed to cover for 12 months to keep us in line with the rules of Scouting and Charity Commission. Over the last 12 months, the number of adults with outstanding Mandatory Ongoing Learning (MOGL), has dropped significantly. A big thank you must go to all the GLVs, Tas (old system), and those that have required to update their safety and safeguarding training to bring this number down. We receive monthly reports from HQ, and we try to anticipate this by pulling reports off the system (but this is not usually very helpful). Part of the report from HQ now is looking at first aid, New Safety module, and logging in to the system, as well as the continuation of including Safety and Safeguarding. Permits for activities have continued to be issued where it is required. These are for both land and water-based activities. Lyons Copse Duties have continued to be covered, but we could do with more support to cover our allocation of duties each year. Please remember that it doesn’t have to be a leader that covers these duties, it can be a Trustee or an Occasional Helper. The minimum training for this is Safety and Safeguarding. There are people within the District and Lyons Copse, who will support those who have not covered a warden duty before. This can be done either beforehand, or over the weekend. Congratulations to all those that have gained their top award for their section, whether this be Chief Scout’s Acorn Award, Chief Scout’s Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond or Platinum Awards, or the King’s Scout Award. Also, to those adult volunteers who have been awarded years service or meritorious awards or Wood Badges. Every one has been well earned and deserved for the dedication and effort it has taken to be recognised. This report has gone on long enough, so I would like to once again, thank everyone for what you are doing for Scouting within Fareham West, and look forward to continuing to work with you over the coming days, weeks, months and years. Stay safe and continue to provide the excellent Scouting experiences you have been providing for the young people of the district. YiS Mark Elbourn and Claire Ashley District Lead Volunteer Team - Fareham West EVERETT’S COPPICE REPORT TO THE DENEWULF AND FAREHAM WEST DISTRICTS AGMs FOR 2025 General maintenance e.g., ditch clearing, re-instating fences, cutting up falling trees, repairing bridges, strimming brambles, transplanting plants within the coppice etc. was carried out during the year. All logs and brush from these from fallen trees were moved to existing piles and Log Stores. Wood Chippings have been laid on some of the tracks. Both Denewulf and Fareham West Districts donated £500.00 each for maintenance of the Coppice. Joe Mitchell as Warden of the Coppice has attended Denewulf Executive Meetings and Group Leader meetings during the year. Everett’s Coppice reports were given to Fareham West for their meetings. The four working parties held during 2024 were well supported and our thanks go to all those groups that came along and for their great efforts that they made to make them successful. Four dates for the Working Parties during 2025 have been agreed, they are to be held on: the1[ st ] of March; the 18[ th ] of May; the 13[ th ] of September; and the 7[ th ] of December. The Green Tree badge scheme introduced in 2024 has been well supported. The Green Tree Badge aims to help children, schools, and families learn more about the amazing world of trees and forestry – the perfect way to understand the wider environment and especially the connection our coppice has with it. Since the last Everett’s AGM report for 2024, the Coppice has been used 77 times. Booking of Everett’s Coppice is still available using OSM. Both the Pedestrian Gate and the Front Gate are now fitted with combination locks using the same combination number for both locks, OSM will provide this combination number to sections 24hrs before the date booked. A meeting was held between a Hampshire County Counsellor, Everett’s coppice committee and representatives from both districts to discuss possible solutions to dropping off groups off safely. Members of the coppice committee have sent both District Chairmen a Map of proposed new exit / drop off area for discussion. The Denewulf District Chairperson and the Everetts committee have had a meeting with Grenergy, a company who are planning to install a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in the field north of Everetts Coppice. This dialogue is ongoing. Dave Kemp Everett’s Coppice Secretary 13[ th ] April 2025 ## **Fareham West District Scouts Account summary 31st March 2025** |**District**|| |---|---| |Main account*|£26,279.32| |No 2 account**|£2,300.00| |Savings account***|£13,061.41| |Plus interest|£132.08| |**Explorers**|| |Main account****|£2,164.91| |Savings account*****|£9.51| |**Old Scout Bushcraft**|| |Main Account|£482.53| |**Total in all accounts**|**£44,429.76**| |The District Main A/C* is the working account|| |No 2 account** is a special reserve account for|| |grants to Jamberee, other international|| |event participants and other special events.|| Savings A/C*** is a reserve account based on 25%-50% Of operating budget for use in emergency or to assist Groups within District The Explorer Main A/C**** is the working account The Savings account***** is for large (international) camps not needed at present hence low amount ## **Fareham West District Accounts 01.04.24 - 31.03.25** |**Income**
Capitation
59,903.00
Donations/Loans
600.00
Shooting
226.50
Crossbows
0.00
District Camp
2,215.17
Climbing
595.00
A.E.Roberts Campsite
41.00
Everetts Campsite
10.00
Scout Events
870.00
Badges
382.50
Training
0.00
Course fees/Expenses
92.50
Postage/Insurance/Licence
0.00
WSJ payments
0.00
YL Costs
0.00
Refunds
200.00
**£65,135.67**
**Opening balance**
**£33,920.60**
**Closing balance**
**£26,279.32**
**No 2a/c**
**£2,300.00**
**Savings a/c**
**£13,193.49**
**Membership fee to District**
**£4,576.00**|**Expenditure**| |---|---| ||
55,327.00
0.00
0.00
1,778.96
12,248.22
175.03
0.00
350.00
786.54
67.38
185.00
201.00
878.32
700.00
79.50
0.00
**£72,776.95**| ## **Old Scout Bushcraft Accounts 01.04.24 - 31.03.25** ||**Income**|**Expenditure**| |---|---|---| |Outreach|3,611.90|69.50| |Camps|380.00|1,193.65| |Donation|20.00|0.00| |Clothing|0.00|403.35| |Expenses|0.00|913.79| |Website|0.00|77.00| |Construction|0.00|1,540.94| |Equipment|774.00|473.77| ||**£4785.90**|**£4,672.00**| |**Opening Balance**|**£368.63**|| |**Closing Balance**|**£482.53**|| ## **Fareham West District Explorer Accounts 01/04/2024 - 31/03/25** ||Income|Expenditure|Balance| |---|---|---|---| |Opening Balance|||5060.04| |Subscriptions|6178.00||| |Camps|5599.07|6871.14|| |Activities
Consumables nights||742.86|| |Clothing Hoodies/
Kneckers|233.00|171.06|| |Rent Hall and Stores||3806.42|| |Activities/
District/Lyons|629.50|205.00|| |Capitation||2838.00|| |Equipment/Gas||461.87|| |Miscellaneous|63.54|181.65|| |Donations|375.00||| |Badges||17.99|| |Repairs||9.99|| |Insurance||667.26|| ||||| ||**13078.11**|**15973.24**|**2164.91**| ## **Consolidation March 2025** |||||||||**Totals**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**District A/C**|**Other**
**A/Cs**|**Explorer**
**A/Cs**|**Explorer**
**Savings**|**Old Scout**
**Bushcraft**||**2024/2025**|**2023/2024**| |Opening
Balance||£33,9260.60|£14,661.41|£5,060.04|£9.45|£368.63||**£54,020.13**|£46,989.01| ||||||||||| |+ Receipts||£65,135.67|£832.08|£13,078.11|£0.06|£4,785.90||**£83,831.82**|£87,614.52| |- Expenditure||£72,776.95|£0.00|£15,973.24|£0.00|£4,672.00||**£93,422.19**|£80,597.00| ||||||||||| |Closing
Balance||£26,279.32|£15,493.49|£2,164.91|£9.51|£482.53||**£44,429.76**|£54,006.53| ||||||||||| |Profit/Loss||-£7,641.28|£832.08|-£2,895.13|£0.06|£113.90||**-£9,590.37**|£7.017.52| ||||||||||| |||Main loss
being from
cancelled
District Camp|Inc.
interest
+£132.08
on Savings
Account,
and
£700.00
transferred
to No 2
WSJ fund||Interest
on
account
of £0.06||||| 50% of Fareham Scout Band account as shared with Denewulf District, but independently audited, therefore not included. ## FAREHAM WEST DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL ## ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ## HELD ON 26th JUNE 2025 Registered Charity Number: 1033062 ## **Trustees of the Fareham West District Scout Council 2024/25** District Lead Volunteers Mark Elbourn & Claire Ashley District Chairman Eric Williams Secretary Sheila Good Treasurer Malcolm Harvey-Ross ## **Ex-Officio** District Lead Volunteer Mark Elbourn Youth Commissioner Jamie Crowe ## **Trustees** Elected for 3 years Eric Williams Anna Greenfield Paul Dowman-Tucker Richard Cannadine Keith Jefferies Claire Ashley Malcolm Harvey-Ross Cllr Malcolm Daniells (until 4th March 25) Registered Charity Number 1033062 ## **Fareham West District Scout Council Annual General Meeting** ## **Thursday 26[ th ] June 2025 at 7:30pm** ## **1[ st ] Stubbington Scout HQ** ## **AGENDA** 1. **Introduction and welcome** 2. **Apologies for absence** 3. ## **Governance topics** - a. Approve the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 27th June 2024 - b. Adopted the model constitution from Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR) 5c https://www.scouts.org.uk/por/5c-constitutions-of-groups-districts-and-coun ties-except-scotland/#5c.2 - c. Note the District’s financial year - 1st April to 31st March - d. Approve appointed and community members of the District Scout Council - e. Agree the number of members that may be appointed to the Trustee Board - f. 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 in the Fareham West Scout District - b. Receive and consider the Annual Report of the District Trustee Board, including the annual Statement of the Accounts 5. ## **Making appointments** - a. District Chair Eric Williams 2nd year of the 3 year term. - b. Appoint the District Treasurer, following recommendation from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board - c. Appoint members of the District Trustee Board, all are in their 2nd year of the 3 year term. - d. Appoint the Independent Examiner 6. ## **Closing remarks** ## **Fareham West District Scout Council Minutes of Annual General Meeting Held on Thursday 27[ th ] June 2024 at 1[ st ] Stubbington Scout HQ** **Present:** There were 16 people present. [sheet attached] ## **1. Introduction and welcome:** Eric Williams, District Trustee chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting. He thanked 1st Stubbington for the use of their HQ and acknowledged the voiced disappointment from the floor that only 16 Adult Volunteers were attending from the 222 Adult Volunteers registered in the 2024 Census. However, as the District Constitution requires a minimum of 15 to be in attendance to be quorate, the meeting would continue and resolutions could be voted on and determined. ## **2. Apologies for absence:** Apologies have been received from Councillor Malcolm Daniells; Joe Mountain; Amanda Thompson; Brian Graham and Ashley Franklin. ## **3. Governance topics** - **a. Approve the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 22[ nd ] June 2023.** The minutes, as contained in the report book available tonight, were approved by the Trustees at their meeting on 14th September 2023 and are now brought to this AGM for the formal approval of the meeting. Proposed by: Eric Williams and Seconded by: Claire Ashley. The meeting voted unanimously to accept the minutes as a true and correct record. - **b. Adopt the model constitution from Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR).** Eric will e-mail copy of FW details - https://www.scouts.org.uk/por [March 2024 POR Chapter 5] - **c. Note the District’s financial year.** 1st April to 31st March. - **d. Approve appointed and community members of the District Scout Council.** None. - **e. Agree the number of members that may be appointed to the Trustee Board.** The Trustees recommend 12 be appointed. Seconded by Paul Dowman-Tucker. Unanimous vote of approval. - **f. Agree the quorum for future meetings of the District Scout Council (excluding this AGM).** After a short discussion the proposal of retaining the number at 15 was put by Eric Williams, seconded by Claire Ashley. A unanimous vote of approval is recorded. ## **4.** ## **Review of the previous year** - a. **The District Lead Volunteer’s review of Scouts in the Fareham West Scout** ## **District is contained in the AGM report book.** District Lead Volunteer, Mark Elbourn, brought the meetings’ attention to the drop in number for 2024 Census of Adult Volunteers and the drop in Nights Away and other activities. He was appreciative of the Adult Volunteers sustained efforts to keeping training up-to-date and commented on the excellent number of Awards achieved by both Adults and Young People. He thanked Maria Lennan and Claire Ashley for their outstanding support given by covering multiple vacant positions in the District, and also thanked **all** Adults in the District for their commitment and work in the past year. Jim Cook asked if any recruitment drive for Adult Volunteers had been done in the past year? Mark advised that both 1st and 2nd Stubington Groups had done some work with the County Development Team over the last year and this resulted in 3 possible Adult Volunteer recruitments, so not overly successful. However, more work will be done in the coming 12 months. Rachel Smithson – [ADC Squirrels] was pleased to report the recruitment of 15 leaders in the past 2 years – however, they appear to ‘move with their children’ when the children progress to the next group. They have also seen successful Family Day events, but more of this will be published when the National Pilot Scheme [of which they are a part] gives its report later in the year. ## **b. Receive and consider the Annual Report of the District Trustee Board, including the annual Statement of the Accounts.** Copies of all financial accounts have been circulated prior to this meeting and are also contained in the Report Book. The District Trustee Board has approved the Annual Reports and Statement of Accounts, and the report on the accounts has been received from the Independent Examiner. Eric briefly talked the meeting through them. The District is in a good state of affairs, however there is currently no District Treasurer. In accordance with POR, Eric has undertaken the role of Bookkeeper and Malcolm Harvey-Ross has undertaken the role of authorised Finance Payer. Mark thanked them both for their diligence and hard work. ## **5. Making appointments** ## **a. Appoint the District Chair, following recommendation from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board.** There were no nominees through the open selection process and the Trustee Boards therefore propose Eric Williams to serve as District Chair for a period of 3 years. This was accepted unanimously. Eric reminded the meeting that if anyone wishes to attend a Trustee meeting, they now need to pre-request to attend as no one is able to just ‘turn up on the night’. - **b. Appoint the District Treasurer, following recommendation from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board.** No - recommendations were received. The position remains vacant. ## **c. Appoint members of the District Trustee Board, following** ## **recommendations from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board.** Chair explains the open selection process agreed by the Trustee Board. The recommendation to the District Scout Council is that Paul Downam-Tucker, Richard Cannadine, Claire Ashley, Keith Jefferies, Malcolm Harvey-Ross, Anna Greenfield & Clr Malcolm Daniells should be appointed as members of the District Trustee Board for the next 3 years. Duly appointed also are: ex-officio: Mark Elbourn as team DC rep.; Jamie Crowe as DYC. The Treasurer position is vacant. District Secretary is not now a Trustee position – in accordance with Charity Commission rules. There remains room for the appointment of 2 or 3 more Trustees. Eric thanked both Nicola McCullum and Richard Thompson for their contributions to the Board over the past year. ## **d. Appoint the Independent Examiner.** David Kemp was proposed and unanimously approved to be the Independent Examiner. ## **6.** ## **Closing remarks.** Eric thanked everyone for supporting tonight’s AGM attendance. **7. Presentation of Award.** Richard Cannadine was presented with his 30 year service award by the District Lead Volunteer, Mark Elbourn. **8.** ## **Final item!** After a short discussion among those present at the meeting, Malcolm Harvey-Ross volunteered to become Treasurer for a period of no longer than 12 months. Claire Ashley proposed and Jim Cook seconded the motion to appoint Malcolm Harvey-Ross to the position of Treasurer. It was carried by a unanimous vote to accept. ## **There being no further items for discussion the meeting closed at 2000hrs.** ## **Date of the next Trustee Board meeting: 19th September 2024, 7.30pm at 1st Stubbington HQ.** ## **District Chair’s Report 2024/25** I would firstly like to thank the District Trustees for their time and commitment over the past year, we have met 6 times over that period and the meetings have been well supported. Decisions have been made to enhance the District with a new activity - Crossbows which will be launched in 2025. This one activity has cost nearly £2000 but I am sure will be popular by those who will be using them in the near future. We hope we can provide funding for some other activities around the District, possibly for our younger sections as we need to make sure there is a proper progression in what each section does as they go through Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers. There isn’t a bottomless pit of money so we cannot do everything you would like but if you have any suggestions please feel free to reach out to the District Trustees. Following on from the “All Leaders Meeting” in January 2025, the District Trustees took into account the recommendation from this meeting to keep funding the Everetts campsite from our funds. We are lucky in our District to have three camping sites - A.E. Roberts (Fareham West owned), Everetts (jointly owned with Denewulf) and Lyons Copse (jointly owned by us and 3 other Districts) but each of these sites need to be kept in good order by volunteers, which we are eternally grateful for the time given by the volunteers who go along to do this. Everyone has a responsibility to help out when asked even just an hour or two, it was disappointing when the Lyons Copse “Big Clean” weekend was so poorly supported by our District. A.E. Roberts and Everetts are funded by the District whereas Lyons Copse is funded by the fees it charges when you camp or have activities there. My sincere thanks goes out to all the District Team Volunteers and each and everyone of the volunteers which keep the Groups going whether it be in a leadership or a supporting role the Young People could not be a member of our great Scouting Movement without you. YIS Eric Williams Chairman, District Trustee Board of Fareham West Scouts ## **District Lead Volunteer Annual Report Annual General Meeting 2025** The last 12 months have been busy and provided quality Scouting both from within the Sections in the Groups, the Explorer Units and the District as a whole. Many thanks to the adult volunteers, whether you are there in an operational or governance role for enabling the young people to attend weekly meetings, the young people themselves and their parents. This year saw us change from the online membership system that was known as Compass (it sometimes pointed in the right direction) to the new system known as scouts.org.uk. Otherwise known as Compass Replacement Adult Portal due to it not living up to the hype we were given. At the end of December, Brian Graham stood down as a part of the DLV Team. We are looking at filling the following roles in the District Team, and if anyone would like to volunteer to be considered, please email us: Team Leader – Volunteer Development Team Leader – Support Group Lead – 1[ st ] Titchfield Sea Scout Group Team Members for various supporting and activity teams Various roles within many if not all of the groups plus Explorers. If anyone is interested in helping with any of the above roles, please reach out to us and we can point you in the right direction. The census for this year (January 2025) has seen an overall small drop in young people numbers again compared to January 2024. The census has once again shown that as a District, we have enough registered on waiting lists to open three more groups.579 in January 2024 compared to 450 in January 2025. The table below shows the numbers for this year, compared to last: |**Section**|**2024**|**2025**|**+/ - **| |---|---|---|---| |**Squirrels**|69|58|11| |**Beavers**|249|249|0| |**Cubs**|302|308|6| |**Scouts**|233|244|11| |**Explorers**|60|48|12| |**Network**|1|2|1| |**Youth Totals**|**914**|**909**|**5**| |**Adult Volunteers**|293|253|40| |**TOTAL**|**1207**|**1162**|**45**| We would like to thank all those that have supported the District and ourselves over the last year. Whether you are Leaders, Trustees, Parents or Young People. We would like to make a special mention to Malcolm Harvey-Ross for covering the role of Treasurer since the last AGM when he agreed to cover for 12 months to keep us in line with the rules of Scouting and Charity Commission. Over the last 12 months, the number of adults with outstanding Mandatory Ongoing Learning (MOGL), has dropped significantly. A big thank you must go to all the GLVs, Tas (old system), and those that have required to update their safety and safeguarding training to bring this number down. We receive monthly reports from HQ, and we try to anticipate this by pulling reports off the system (but this is not usually very helpful). Part of the report from HQ now is looking at first aid, New Safety module, and logging in to the system, as well as the continuation of including Safety and Safeguarding. Permits for activities have continued to be issued where it is required. These are for both land and water-based activities. Lyons Copse Duties have continued to be covered, but we could do with more support to cover our allocation of duties each year. Please remember that it doesn’t have to be a leader that covers these duties, it can be a Trustee or an Occasional Helper. The minimum training for this is Safety and Safeguarding. There are people within the District and Lyons Copse, who will support those who have not covered a warden duty before. This can be done either beforehand, or over the weekend. Congratulations to all those that have gained their top award for their section, whether this be Chief Scout’s Acorn Award, Chief Scout’s Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond or Platinum Awards, or the King’s Scout Award. Also, to those adult volunteers who have been awarded years service or meritorious awards or Wood Badges. Every one has been well earned and deserved for the dedication and effort it has taken to be recognised. This report has gone on long enough, so I would like to once again, thank everyone for what you are doing for Scouting within Fareham West, and look forward to continuing to work with you over the coming days, weeks, months and years. Stay safe and continue to provide the excellent Scouting experiences you have been providing for the young people of the district. YiS Mark Elbourn and Claire Ashley District Lead Volunteer Team - Fareham West EVERETT’S COPPICE REPORT TO THE DENEWULF AND FAREHAM WEST DISTRICTS AGMs FOR 2025 General maintenance e.g., ditch clearing, re-instating fences, cutting up falling trees, repairing bridges, strimming brambles, transplanting plants within the coppice etc. was carried out during the year. All logs and brush from these from fallen trees were moved to existing piles and Log Stores. Wood Chippings have been laid on some of the tracks. Both Denewulf and Fareham West Districts donated £500.00 each for maintenance of the Coppice. Joe Mitchell as Warden of the Coppice has attended Denewulf Executive Meetings and Group Leader meetings during the year. Everett’s Coppice reports were given to Fareham West for their meetings. The four working parties held during 2024 were well supported and our thanks go to all those groups that came along and for their great efforts that they made to make them successful. Four dates for the Working Parties during 2025 have been agreed, they are to be held on: the1[ st ] of March; the 18[ th ] of May; the 13[ th ] of September; and the 7[ th ] of December. The Green Tree badge scheme introduced in 2024 has been well supported. The Green Tree Badge aims to help children, schools, and families learn more about the amazing world of trees and forestry – the perfect way to understand the wider environment and especially the connection our coppice has with it. Since the last Everett’s AGM report for 2024, the Coppice has been used 77 times. Booking of Everett’s Coppice is still available using OSM. Both the Pedestrian Gate and the Front Gate are now fitted with combination locks using the same combination number for both locks, OSM will provide this combination number to sections 24hrs before the date booked. A meeting was held between a Hampshire County Counsellor, Everett’s coppice committee and representatives from both districts to discuss possible solutions to dropping off groups off safely. Members of the coppice committee have sent both District Chairmen a Map of proposed new exit / drop off area for discussion. The Denewulf District Chairperson and the Everetts committee have had a meeting with Grenergy, a company who are planning to install a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in the field north of Everetts Coppice. This dialogue is ongoing. Dave Kemp Everett’s Coppice Secretary 13[ th ] April 2025 ## **Fareham West District Scouts Account summary 31st March 2025** |**District**|| |---|---| |Main account*|£26,279.32| |No 2 account**|£2,300.00| |Savings account***|£13,061.41| |Plus interest|£132.08| |**Explorers**|| |Main account****|£2,164.91| |Savings account*****|£9.51| |**Old Scout Bushcraft**|| |Main Account|£482.53| |**Total in all accounts**|**£44,429.76**| |The District Main A/C* is the working account|| |No 2 account** is a special reserve account for|| |grants to Jamberee, other international|| |event participants and other special events.|| Savings A/C*** is a reserve account based on 25%-50% Of operating budget for use in emergency or to assist Groups within District The Explorer Main A/C**** is the working account The Savings account***** is for large (international) camps not needed at present hence low amount ## **Fareham West District Accounts 01.04.24 - 31.03.25** |**Income**
Capitation
59,903.00
Donations/Loans
600.00
Shooting
226.50
Crossbows
0.00
District Camp
2,215.17
Climbing
595.00
A.E.Roberts Campsite
41.00
Everetts Campsite
10.00
Scout Events
870.00
Badges
382.50
Training
0.00
Course fees/Expenses
92.50
Postage/Insurance/Licence
0.00
WSJ payments
0.00
YL Costs
0.00
Refunds
200.00
**£65,135.67**
**Opening balance**
**£33,920.60**
**Closing balance**
**£26,279.32**
**No 2a/c**
**£2,300.00**
**Savings a/c**
**£13,193.49**
**Membership fee to District**
**£4,576.00**|**Expenditure**| |---|---| ||
55,327.00
0.00
0.00
1,778.96
12,248.22
175.03
0.00
350.00
786.54
67.38
185.00
201.00
878.32
700.00
79.50
0.00
**£72,776.95**| ## **Old Scout Bushcraft Accounts 01.04.24 - 31.03.25** ||**Income**|**Expenditure**| |---|---|---| |Outreach|3,611.90|69.50| |Camps|380.00|1,193.65| |Donation|20.00|0.00| |Clothing|0.00|403.35| |Expenses|0.00|913.79| |Website|0.00|77.00| |Construction|0.00|1,540.94| |Equipment|774.00|473.77| ||**£4785.90**|**£4,672.00**| |**Opening Balance**|**£368.63**|| |**Closing Balance**|**£482.53**|| ## **Fareham West District Explorer Accounts 01/04/2024 - 31/03/25** ||Income|Expenditure|Balance| |---|---|---|---| |Opening Balance|||5060.04| |Subscriptions|6178.00||| |Camps|5599.07|6871.14|| |Activities
Consumables nights||742.86|| |Clothing Hoodies/
Kneckers|233.00|171.06|| |Rent Hall and Stores||3806.42|| |Activities/
District/Lyons|629.50|205.00|| |Capitation||2838.00|| |Equipment/Gas||461.87|| |Miscellaneous|63.54|181.65|| |Donations|375.00||| |Badges||17.99|| |Repairs||9.99|| |Insurance||667.26|| ||||| ||**13078.11**|**15973.24**|**2164.91**| ## **Consolidation March 2025** |||||||||**Totals**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**District A/C**|**Other**
**A/Cs**|**Explorer**
**A/Cs**|**Explorer**
**Savings**|**Old Scout**
**Bushcraft**||**2024/2025**|**2023/2024**| |Opening
Balance||£33,9260.60|£14,661.41|£5,060.04|£9.45|£368.63||**£54,020.13**|£46,989.01| ||||||||||| |+ Receipts||£65,135.67|£832.08|£13,078.11|£0.06|£4,785.90||**£83,831.82**|£87,614.52| |- Expenditure||£72,776.95|£0.00|£15,973.24|£0.00|£4,672.00||**£93,422.19**|£80,597.00| ||||||||||| |Closing
Balance||£26,279.32|£15,493.49|£2,164.91|£9.51|£482.53||**£44,429.76**|£54,006.53| ||||||||||| |Profit/Loss||-£7,641.28|£832.08|-£2,895.13|£0.06|£113.90||**-£9,590.37**|£7.017.52| ||||||||||| |||Main loss
being from
cancelled
District Camp|Inc.
interest
+£132.08
on Savings
Account,
and
£700.00
transferred
to No 2
WSJ fund||Interest
on
account
of £0.06||||| 50% of Fareham Scout Band account as shared with Denewulf District, but independently audited, therefore not included. ## Independent a | @ _ | the examiner's report on xm! CHARITY COMMISSION | accounts FOR ENGLAND AND WALES ee ae a ## section A Independent Examiner's Report **----- Start of picture text -----**
Report to the trustees’ members of | FAREHAM WEST DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL
On | : 25 i if
————————— NN eee _
accounts for the year ended a1y03/20 Cm poh | 1033062 |
Set out on pages |
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Respective responsibilities of The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The cha rity’s trustees trustees and examiner consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 af the Charities Act 2011 ("the Charities Act") and that an independent examination is needed. - It is my responsibility to: * examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, * — ta follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5}(b) of the Charities Act, and - * to state whether particular matters have come to my attention Basis of independent examiner's My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Statement Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. Italso includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees conc erning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required inan audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ VIEW and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. - Independent examiner's statement — in connection with my éxamination, no material matters have come to my disclased attention (other than that below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - e the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act: ar « =the accounts did not accord with the accounting records: or @ = the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities [Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. | have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a praper understanding of the accounts to be reached. * Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply **----- Start of picture text -----**
Signed: | > Kee {~ | Date: | 22/04/2025 |
Name: | D KEMP
Relevant professional |
qualification(s) or body (if any):
Address: eee a a
| 12? WYCH LONE
GOSPORT
HAMPSHIRE POLS OTE
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## IER **----- Start of picture text -----**
December 2017
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