2022-12-31-accounts

4[th] Frodsham (Overton) Scout Group 1 Hillside Road, Overton Frodsham WA6 6AW Website: https://4thfrodsham.mwscouts.org/ Email [e-mail]

4[th] Frodsham (Overton) Scouts

Trustees’ Annual Report for 2021/22 AGM

Reference and administrative information

Charity number: 1147166

Principal address: 1 Hillside Road, Frodsham, Cheshire, WA6 6AW

Trustees and members of the Executive Committee

Trustees and members of the Executive Committee
Name	Role
Geoff Tantum	Chair
Dave Sconce	Treasurer
KayPirali/Vishal Ragbirsingh	Secretary
Richard Smith	GroupScout Leader
Alex Atkinson	DeputyGroupScout Leader
Gail Molyneaux	Parent Representative
Geraldine Fleming	Parent Representative
Michelle Pickstock	Parent Representative
Ron Sayle	Buildings and Maintenance Manager

Tony Smart has agreed to continue as independent examiner

Governance, structure and management

The Group is an unincorporated association. It registered as a charity with the Charity Commission in May 2012.

Governing document

The governing document of the Group is the model constitution for Scout Groups contained within the Policy, Rules and Organisation (POR) of the Scout Association, in particular Rules 3.22 and 3.23.

Trustee appointment and recruitment

Members of the Group Executive Committee are appointed by several processes in accordance with POR.

Trustees are elected by the AGM, where any member can stand, nominate and vote for candidates.

The appointment of the Chair is approved by the AGM on the nomination of the Group Scout Leader.

The Treasurer and Secretary are elected by the AGM and serve as Trustees ex-officio.

The leaders of the Sections (Beavers, Cubs and Scouts) are all eligible to be members of the Group Executive ex-officio if they wish to be.

The Group Scout Leader is also an ex-officio Trustee, along with any Assistant Group Scout Leaders that may have been appointed.

Outside of the AGM, the Executive Committee may co-opt Trustees, but the number of such co-opted Trustees cannot exceed in number those elected by the AGM that are not ex-officio Trustees.

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Registered Charity No: 1147166 England and Wales

4[th] Frodsham (Overton) Scout Group 1 Hillside Road, Overton Frodsham WA6 6AW Website: https://4thfrodsham.mwscouts.org/ Email [e-mail]

Trustee induction and training

New Trustees are required to undergo Trustee training which is provided by the Scout Association. Training is facilitated locally by Cheshire County Scouts.

Decision making processes

The Trustees of the Group are the members of the Group Executive Committee. In this report the terms ‘the Trustees’, ‘Group Executive Committee’ or ‘the Executive’ are used interchangeably. The Executive Committee is accountable to the Group Scout Council for the management of the Group. The Trustees have ultimate legal responsibility for the running of the Group.

The Executive meets about once every two months. The Executive Committee considers reports from the Chair, Treasurer, Group Scout Leader and Section Leaders on a regular basis. It receives updates on the Group’s financial situation and any reports of recent safety incidents at every meeting.

The Group Scout Leader’s meeting serves as the primary Leaders Committee and is responsible for coordinating activity between the three sections. It is chaired by the Group Scout Leader and composed of all Leaders.

The Group Scout Council serves as the electoral body for the Group. A comprehensive description of its composition can be found in POR, but primarily it is composed of Scout Patrol Leaders, Leaders and volunteers, all parents of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts and any supporters or friends of the Group. It normally meets only once a year as the Group Annual General Meeting.

While the Group Executive Committee is responsible for the overall management of the Group, the day-to-day running of the Group is the responsibility of the Group Scout Leader, who is accountable in this regard to the District Commissioner. In turn, the running of the Beaver, Cub and Scout Sections is the responsibility of the individual Section Leaders.

Related parties, subsidiaries and custodian funds

Although an independent charity in its own right, the Group is integrally involved with the wider Scouting movement. In all matters, the Group is required to act in accordance with policies and decisions made by the Scout Association at a national level, and Cheshire County Scouts and Mersey Weaver Scout District at a regional level. There is a direct line management structure from the County Commissioner down to individual leaders in the Group. The Group in turn exerts an influence on all of these organisations through their representative structures.

All three Sections (Beavers, Cubs and Scouts) share a single bank account. This is in place to provide convenience to the sections and gives a clear separation between the income and expenditure of the Sections and the Group. This arrangement is regularly reviewed by the Executive Committee and all expenditure must be signed for in accordance with a policy set by the Executive Committee. Bank accounts require dual authorisation.

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Registered Charity No: 1147166 England and Wales

4[th] Frodsham (Overton) Scout Group 1 Hillside Road, Overton Frodsham WA6 6AW Website: https://4thfrodsham.mwscouts.org/ Email [e-mail]

Risk management statement

The Trustees are responsible for ensuring that the Group adequately manages the risks and uncertainties it faces.

The Trustees believe the primary risks facing the Group are as follows:

• Safeguarding of young people: the Group takes responsibility for groups of young people on a regular basis and consequently is responsible on these occasions for their health and wellbeing. To mitigate this risk, the Group complies fully with the policies of the Scout Association in this regard, including requiring volunteers to undergo DBS checks and requiring leaders to receive comprehensive training. All Leaders are required to be qualified first aiders and to thoroughly report all incidents and near misses. The Group takes out relevant insurance through the Scout Association. The Executive also review all incidents on a regular basis.

• Loss of income: the Group is a charitable, voluntary organisation and is vulnerable to the withdrawal of funding or other loss of income. To mitigate this risk, the Trustees review the Group’s financial situation at every meeting and look to ensure the Group draws on a varied and broad range of funding sources, so that the loss of any one source does not adversely affect the Group.

• Loss of leaders/volunteers: The Group has no employees and is entirely dependent upon volunteers for all aspects of its work, from the running of activities in the Sections through to the administration of its finances and the work of the Trustees. Turnover of volunteers also carries with it an associated risk of loss of knowledge or experience. However, the Executive remain confident that, thanks to its large base of friends and supporters, the Group will be able to maintain sufficient level of volunteers to continue its operations in the coming year.

• Financial misconduct or fraud: All organisations, but particularly those that are purely reliant on volunteers, are to some degree exposed to the risk of financial misconduct or fraud. The Executive has put in place new financial procedures to add extra checks and balances to mitigate this risk. Our accounts already require two signatures to spend money, and Sections have been required to present accounts to the Treasurer on a regular basis. In addition, the Executive have mandated that a responsible person (e.g. the Section Leader or Group Chairman) must authorise the expenditure in principle before funds can be signed for out of the Section or Group accounts. In practice, most significant payments are authorised the whole Executive through decisions in writing. Subscriptions cannot be paid in cash and the Group is increasingly using online banking and payments to add extra scrutiny and minimise cash handling.

The Trustees believe these major risks are being adequately mitigated but regularly review the situation.

Aims and objectives

The objective of the Group is to promote the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities.

The Group provides Sections for Beavers (age 6-8), Cubs (age 8 to 10 ½ ), and Scouts (age 10 ½ to 14).

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Registered Charity No: 1147166 England and Wales

4[th] Frodsham (Overton) Scout Group 1 Hillside Road, Overton Frodsham WA6 6AW Website: https://4thfrodsham.mwscouts.org/ Email [e-mail]

Review of the previous year – achievements and performance

The Group is in a strong position as regards numbers of children both attending the group and being on the waiting list. This is testimony to the dedication and commitment shown by our volunteer leaders. Words can never be found to convey the thanks to these individuals both in the past, presently and into the future. Without people giving up their time to help run the sections the overall group would not exist.

4[th] Frodsham has a strong reputation for providing a ‘best in class‘ Scouting experience and our aim is to preserve this for future generations.

Scouting was severely impacted by Covid-19. No face-to-face scouting took place from March 2020 until May 2021. We have had a full year of face-to-face scouting since last year’s AGM in July 2021. Albeit initially with social distancing, masks and outdoor activities only allowed until restrictions were dropped completely.

This year really has been a fantastic return to everything we love about Scouting. All sections have been on camps, gone climbing, done cooking, made campfires, participated in hikes, worked towards their badge programmes, helped in the community and not to mention celebrating Remembrance Day, St Georges Day and the Queens Platinum Jubilee. There are simply too many other activities to mention in this report. All of these exciting activities were arranged and supported by our fantastic team of leaders, helpers and young helpers and are designed to teach our young people skills for life.

The exec committee has also been very busy supporting the group. Using funds from the windfarm grants secured last year, the garage has been converted to a kit store, the old shed has been demolished and replaced with a large concrete base, which is to be turned into an activity shelter in the coming months. The carpark has been completely resurfaced and all of the old fence/railings have been replaced with new, rejuvenating the entire site and enhancing the already first-class facility for our groups and hirers to utilise.

Once again thanks to Ron and Joyce Sayle and to Cynthia George for maintaining the building to such a high level and for managing all of our hirers, of which we have had a number of new ones this year. Hiring the building is the number 1 source of funding for the group and it is so important to continue to have hirers use our facility. This was even more important as the Group finances have been impacted from 3 years cancelled plant sales.

So many thanks to all the Leaders, Young Leaders, Parent helpers, Exec committee members for making it all happen for our young people in 2021/22.

Our primary focus going forward will be recruiting more leaders and continuing to deliver the HQ improvement projects.

Summary of financial performance in year

A copy of our financial position will be made available in advance of the AGM. In summary the Group is on a relatively strong financial footing. The waiting list is now a district waiting list with 4[th] Frodsham being in high demand. Collection of subscriptions is efficient via ‘online scout manager‘. Special mention to Ron, Joyce and Cynthia as a serious contribution to Funds has come from the hire of HQ to local community groups when not required for Scouting purposes. We are eternally grateful for the

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Registered Charity No: 1147166 England and Wales

4[th] Frodsham (Overton) Scout Group 1 Hillside Road, Overton Frodsham WA6 6AW Website: https://4thfrodsham.mwscouts.org/ Email [e-mail]

excellent management of our facility and furthermore delighted that local groups can benefit from it at minimal cost.

Going concern

The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in existence for the foreseeable future.

Reserves policy

The Trustees have agreed to adopt of policy of holding 12 months operating costs as reserves, which currently is about £26,000. The Group has maintained throughout the year, and continues to maintain, sufficient funds to meet this criterion.

Public benefit statement

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to guidance published by the Charity Commission regarding Public Benefit.

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Registered Charity No: 1147166 England and Wales

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A ndependent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of 4" Frodsham (Overton> Scx)uts Gr￿P On accounts for the year ended 2022 Charity no Ilf any) 1147166 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the acc£)unts of the above charity (Ihe Trusf) for the year end&Y 3111212022 Responsibilities and basis of report As the charTty's trustees. you are respon￿ble for the preparatton of the ac￿untS in accordance *ryth the requ1￿MentS of the Charities Act 2011 (Ihe Acr) I report in respect of my examinats.on of the Trust's attounts carried out under seth'on 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination. I have followed all the appl&qble Directions given by the Chanty Commission under section 145(5)(bl of the Art. Independent I have ￿)rn￿ed my eX￿ina1￿)n. I confimi that no material matters have examiner's sLitemènt come to my attention in COnn￿b0￿ with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material resped: the a(£ounting records were not kept in aCco￿anCe with section 130 of the Charities Ad; or the ac£ounts not ac£ord wrth the accounting records., or the accounts dKI not comply with the applicable requirements conceming Ihe fonn and conterrt of &counts set out in the Charities (Accounts and RepK>rts) RegulatK)ns 2008 other than any requirement that the ac£ourrts gtve a 'true and fairf view which is not a marter considered as part of an independent examinalion. I have no ¢￿1￿mS and have come across no other matters in conneclion wrlh the examination to which attention shoukd be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper ur#JefStanding of the aCc￿unt$ to be reached. Signed: 0210212023 Name: Arrtony Raymond Smart Relevant professlonal qualfficatlon(s) or body Ill any): ClhlA (Retired) Address: 60 Bates Lane Helsby. Frodsham WAS 9LF IER Oct 2018

Section B DisclosLire Only com￿ete rf the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examinatth of d￿rity accounts.. direcaions and guidan￿ for exwniners). Give hern brtef dotalls of any items that th oxaminer wishes to disclose. IER Oct 2018