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← Braintree District Scout Council

2024-12-31-accounts

BRAINTREE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL

Annual General Meeting

The Sports hall, Notley High School Sunday27[th] April 2025 1– 2pm

AGENDA

1. Introduction and welcome

2. Apologies for absence

3. Governance topics

4.

Review of the previous year

5.

Making appointments

Closing remarks

6.

DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT

AGM 2025

This report provides an overview of the work of District Trustees for the year 2024.

The Trustee board meets quarterly, and its’ role is strategic management of the districts activities in line with Charity Commission requirements and Scouting policy organisation and rules.

Membership

The district is made up of 10 groups, an Explorers section, Network section and adult support provision. Membership numbers and district structure at the January 2025 census is as follows.

Group Breakdown

Key Observations

During this year 6 Squirrel Dreys have opened.

Youth membership has increased by 7.9 % compared to the previous year with notable growth in some groups.

Adult membership has increased by 1.7% compared to the previous year.

Squirrels grew 186%. Beavers declined 3.8%. Cubs grew 9.2%. Scouts grew 1.6%. Explorers grew 4.7%.

At census there were 146 young on waiting lists to join groups, this is a 20% reduction from 2024.

There is still need for additional adult leaders to support the growing number of groups. And young person demand.

Governance

District Trustees meet quarterly to review and discuss strategic management of the district and to provide advice and support to the operational team as required. During this year there has been focus on premises safety and the district camp site. we have been reviewing policy and procedure and developing structures to support the wider district.

Property

The district holds some land and property including a campsite and these are all held within the Scout Trust Corporation. Condition and use are reviewed by the Trustee board. Sale of land held at Deanery Hill is almost complete, this land use is for the Sporting 77 football club building and has not been used for scouting for a number of years.

Insurance

The districts insurance needs have been reviewed and trustees are satisfied the insurance cover is appropriate.

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DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT

AGM 2025

Training

Trustees are responsible for ensuring training is completed and maintained in line with POR requirements, this is managed through our local training manager. Overall district compliance with this requirement is good. Transfer to the new membership platform has created some delay in access but the board is following up with those whose training has lapsed or is close to renewal.

Safety

Safety is a standing item on the Trustees agenda, there have been no safety issues raised this year.

Policy and procedure

A range of policies and procedures are in place and maintained.

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DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT

AGM 2025

Finance

The financial position is reviewed at each meeting and audited accounts for the last financial year are issued with the papers for this meeting. The district is financially sound.

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DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT

AGM 2025

The Restricted Funds in the accounts relate to the District Camp Site at Twinstead, which when transferred from Halstead And Colne Valley District these funds were restricted for the future running of Twinstead

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DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT AGM 2025 Braintree Distrlct Scouts Braintree D15tricl 5(out5+ Rocelpts and Payments Account Scouts Receipts and payments Y•r •nd•d 31 D•e•fft￿ 2024 Y•ar •nd•d 31 tl•c•mb•r 2023 UN••trl¢t•d fund• Il••lrfg￿ lunth Totsl fvnd• Tat•l fund• 19 10 151&Q1 •AO 11&00 2215 •17 •17.Q• Prfn&rsaTrJ pMKg•> A4 OA) 13DO.e6 Zd139 241.jl i.n735 1220.IS 15,1159.70 18,Q02.$1 e.035JS 33.147.82 7A0 Fundrnl•lno •xp•n D8ty12 D818d 3 OA) Subto 3•9J2 tA47AO W47.62 Tot4lpaym•nts

AO

.7$ 30.53176 31,436.SB unJJ

DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT AGM 2025 Biamtiee ts Account Scouts Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year Yeai end￿ JI D•¢ener 2024 Year ended 31 Dec•nr 2023 Toknl fund• ithrthirtcled IwMl• Il••lrfd•d lundi Totsl fimd• Cash fvnds 10 104 IT 10117 2077 4Jn42 otyj Totsl exh fwbth 11974 T• clm ofy) aq(* aty) 000 o•J otyj •rAb ril

DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT AGM 2025 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORTS TO THE TRUSTEES OF BRAINTREE DISTRICT SCOUTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2024 I report on the accounts of the District for the year ended 31 December 2024 which ¢omprls8 the Statement of Financial Acli¥ltt8s, th8 8aian( Sheet and related notes set out on page 1 to 3. This repcrt Is made solety to the trustees In accordance wlth S&Uon 145 of the Chadtles 2011. My work has been urKlertaken r•0 that I might state to th8 charity's trustées those matters l am required to stste to them In an Independent Examlne¢s report and for no other purpose. To the fijllest extent pemiitted by law, I do not accept or assuff responslbillty to anyone other than the charity and the charty's trustees ft)r my exarninat￿ vA)r Ro8POCtIv0 rn6pon8lbllltle8 of Truste￿ and Examlnor The Dlstrlcfs trustees are r88ponslble for the preparatlon of the accounts. Thvy conskjer that an audlt is not requlred for thls year (under Sectlon 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charitles Act)) and that an Independent examination is neeJJed. It Is nry respon8lbillty to: . Exarnlne the accounts (under s￿lI0n 145 of the Charltles Act)" . To follow the procedur85 lakl dtrwn In the General Directlons gr4wn by the Charfty Commissloner5 (under Sectlon 145(51(b) of the Charlt188 Act)., and . To state whether partthlar matter8 have CA)m8 to nry 8ttention. Bas18 of Indepondont Examln•fs roport My examlnalion was carrlaj ¢yJt in K(x)rdance with the general dirth8 gfven by the Chartty Commissloners. An examinalk?n ir￿ludeS a revivw of the accounting records k6Pt by the Dlstrld and comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also Indud8s conslderation of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and See￿ng explanations from you as trustee8 con¢arning any such matt8rs. The prcredures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that V￿uld be required in an audit, and consequenty no opinion Is gNen as to wh8th8r the accounts present a Irue 8nd falf and the reFK)rt Is Ilmited to th08e matters set out in the statement below. Ind•pondent Examlnarfs 8tatomont In COnnec￿n with my examInatK￿, no mattw has com8 to my attention.. 1.whlch gives me reasonabb8 cause to believe that In, any material respect. the requirements - to keep accounlng records In accordance wlth Secuon 130 of the Charltles Act ;and - to prepare accounts wh￿h accord with the a￿untIng records and compty w￿h the acwunllng requirements of the Charities Act have not b6en mrt or

DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT AGM 2025 2.to which. in ry opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understandlng of the accounts to be reached. Mrs A S Kaley Xeinadin South East Limited, The Old Grange, Warren Estat8, Lordship Road, Wrtttle, Chelmsford, Essex, CM13 Date: 23 April 2025

DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT

AGM 2025

DISTRICT LEAD VOLUNTEER REPORT

I am delighted with the progress of the district over the last year with growth in numbers of nearly 10% across Young People and Adult volunteers this compares with a national picture which has not seen growth in numbers over the last year. We have seen further expansion in our Squirrels section with further openings and we have seen 180% growth in the 12 months. We have also seen the reopening of a new Explorer unit based at Coggeshall and thanks go to the team at Coggeshall for stepping forward and making this happen. Thank you to all our new volunteers who have signed up in the last year. To all our new and existing members, we truly appreciate your time in giving the young people of Braintree District fun, friendship and skills for life

I have been amazed at the number of Nights Away which have happened across groups in the last 12 months, and I have loved getting out and about in visiting as many of these events as possible.

It has also been great to see the use of the District Camp Site at Twinstead being used and I encourage more sections to use it for evening activities and camps, for District groups it is free of charge to use.

During the year we have seen District badge days, and activity days in the different sections thank you to the programme team for making these possible. It was really good to come together with our adults for a new year afternoon tea at the start of 2025 and thanks again to Coggeshall in hosting this event.

I have been amazed by the number of overnight experiences that groups have been offering our young people and love getting along a visiting as many as possible.

It has been a year of progress as the Scout Association continues to transform the volunteer experience, this has been seen especially with the change of structures and the introduction of a new membership system. This hasn’t been as smooth as the Scout Association had hoped so thank you for bearing with us as we navigated through the changes, I am starting to see some real benefits of the new system in saving time and we will continue to support adults in the adoption of the new system as we go through the coming months

The Trustee Board governs the district and over the last year we have seen progress across our management of risk across the district and the management of some ongoing property changes, I want to thank the trustee board for their governance and support to the District.

I want to thank all our adult volunteers in whatever role you fulfil you are making a difference to young people.

I look forward to another year of progress in Braintree District

Gav District Lead Volunteer

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AGM 2025

DISTRICT REPORT 4-14 TEAM REPORT

We are still very much getting to grips with the transformation, but have had a good year, especially for our younger sections.

We have started to hold regular termly meetings to plan events with leaders. These have been open to all volunteers and have had mixed attendance. They have been held on Tuesdays, at the start of each term. Volunteers can come together to share ideas and plan for upcoming District events and suggest new ones. It has been great for newer members to network with more experienced people and share programme ideas and resources.

We have had two very successful Squirrel events. The first was a Teddy Bears Picnic at Cressing Temple Barns. Squirrels took part in parachute games, circle games, story time and a hunt for bears in the walled garden. We also went exploring the site to look for old things, things made of wood and metal and things that were growing. We finished the morning by having a picnic on the lawn. This was well attended by three Dreys and parents, and had good feedback.

Our second event was a Pirate Morning in Black Notley. We had five Dreys attend and the Squirrels had a great time with boat making, an obstacle course, scavenger hunt, floating and sinking and chocolate banana boats on the fire. We had around 60 young people in attendance.

Our Beavers had a Money Skills Badge Day at St Michael’s Church hall in October. This went fairly well but we could have had more bases as some of the older Beavers completed the tasks quickly. This would have worked better if more groups had supported the event. Nevertheless, the young people enjoyed playing shop, ordering coins, making a healthy meal, coin rubbing and other money related activities. Cubs enjoyed another International Day, where they could work towards their World Faith and International Badges. It was a good event with activities including different countries, cultural games, Rangoli patterns, food tasting to name but a few. The young people had fun mixing with each other and making new friends from other Packs.

Future events include; An activity session for each section, to be held at Prances over the weekend of 21-22/6, District Camp at Skreens 4-6/7 Cub Environment and Communicator Badge Day on 12[th] October Beaver Safety Badge Day on 19[th] October. These will both be held at Black Notley Village Hall. There is also an adult skills weekend on 10-12/10, run by the County that is open to all to attend either a few sessions or the whole weekend. I think there is also a Scout Backwoods event in the planning stages for the Autumn, dates TBC.

We hope to form a team to help organise these events but as always, will need the participation of Dreys, Colonies and Packs, to run successfully. Watch this space for meeting dates.

Leigh Calder and Clare Darch 4-14 Team Leaders

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DISTRICT TRUSTEES REPORT

AGM 2025

DISTRICT REPORT 14-24

Explorer Units

For the second year running, we have opened a new Explorer unit within the district. This now takes our total number of units up to 5 and a massive thanks to Ian and Adam who have stepped forward to open this unit in Coggeshall. The new unit will be known as Seax ESU and we look forward to joining up with them at events in the future. Our other units continue to provide a great programme to our Explorer Scouts on a weekly basis. Network

We still have a Scout network running in Braintree district, although network hasn’t been as active over the last year as we would like. However, Patrick is always looking to encourage more activities and for new members to join to give this a much needed boost!

Census

In 2025, our total explorer membership figure rose by 4.7% up to 89 explorer scouts across the district and network dropped by 5.9% to 16 scout network members. This is extremely positive and shows that we are building our numbers as we continue to look to offer more and more scouting opportunities to our community. Events

In June 2024 we held our usual chill out camp for the explorers, this time at Thriftwood giving the Explorers a chance to relax and have some fun with their friends. We attended Essex Jamboree last summer which we had a brilliant number of Explorers go to and all had an amazing time and made memories of a lifetime. We were also involved in the Remembrance Parade in Braintree town centre with the rest of the district. We ended the year with an ice skating session for all four of our Explorer units from the district represented. Braintree Explorers have also had members attend the county Voice camp in the last year.

Young Leaders

We have 26 active young leaders within the district all providing valuable support to the leadership teams across the

district in the younger sections. We continue to offer the Young Leader training modules to help our Explorers in their Young Leader roles and hope to offer more and more of these training opportunities going forward. Clare Darch has also stepped forward to help us manage our young leader processes and support our training offering. Thank you Clare.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

We have 24 members working towards their Duke of Edinburgh awards (14 bronze, 8 silver, 2 gold) and in the past year we have awarded 2 Bronze awards.

I would finally like to take the opportunity to say a massive thank you to all of the adults who volunteer their time, effort and commitment to providing Scouting opportunities to the 14-24 age range within the district. Without these leaders, we would be nothing and their continuous hard work, ideas and enthusiasm makes them a pleasure to work with.

Jason Barnes 14-24 TEAM LEADER

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