# **Bucks Uniformed Youth** (Charity Number 1183685) # **Annual Report and Annual General Meeting 2022/23** ## **Bucks Uniformed Youth** (Charity Number 1183685) ## **Annual General Meeting** Wednesday 17[th] July 2023 at 7.30pm _Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Headquarters, Aylesbury HP20 1BD_ ## **Agenda** **1.** Welcome **2.** Apologies for Absence **3.** Election of Chair **4.** Election of Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Communications Officer, Event Officer and Transport Officer **5.** Minutes of the Last Annual General Meeting on 6[th] July 2022 **6.** Reports & Accounts (1[st] April 2022 - 31[st] March 2023) **7.** Approval of Minutes & Acceptance of Audited Accounts **8.** Appointment of Auditor & Setting Level of Fees **9.** Re-appointment of Trustees **10.** Re-approval of Safeguarding Policy **11.** Members’ Resolutions (if any) **12.** Any Other Business ## **Bucks Uniformed Youth** (Charity Number 1183685) ## **Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 6th July 2022** ## **Present** Chair - Jerry Davies; Vice-Chair - Alan Holder; Secretary - Rex Stevens; Trustees; Representatives of Member Organisations; and Guests. ## **1. Welcome** Jerry Davies opened the Meeting, welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending. ## **2. Apologies for Absence** Rex Stevens informed the Meeting of those who had sent their apologies. ## **3. Election of Chair** Alan Holder proposed Jerry Davies, who was seconded by James Palin, and elected unanimously. ## **4. Election of Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Event Officer, Communications Officer and Transport Officer** Jerry Davies proposed that the current post holders in their current respective roles be re-appointed and these were seconded and approved en-bloc by the Meeting. ## **5. Minutes of the Last Annual General Meeting on 15[th] July, 2021** The Meeting approved the Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on 15[th] July 2021. ## **6. Reports & Accounts (1[st] April 2021 - 31[st] March 2022)** Reports by the President, Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Auditor & Communications Officer together with the Accounts for this period that had been circulated were briefly commented on. ## **7. Approval of Minutes & Acceptance of Audited Accounts** These were unanimously Approved and Accepted. ## **8. Appointment of Auditor & Setting Level of Fees** Rex Stevens proposed and Jerry Davies seconded the re-appointment of Jonathan Stansfield as Auditor and authorisation of the Trustees to set his fees which the Meeting unanimously approved. ## **9. Re-appointment of Trustees** The Meeting re-appointed Rex Stevens, Joe Bradshaw, Sheila Beales, Steve Elcock, Dave Foster, Karen Johnson, Phill Mould, James Palin, and Hilary Walker as Trustees of Bucks Uniformed Youth. ## **10. Members’ Resolutions** There were none ## **11. Any Other Business** Jerry Davies invited all those present to share achievements that had occurred during the Report year which many did. With its conclusion coinciding with the end of Covid-19 restrictions the Meeting was encouraged to hear about initiatives planned & now underway by BUY’s Member Organisations. ## **Reference and Administrative Information** ## **Bucks Uniformed Youth** **Charity Number:** 1183685 **Address:** Bucks Uniformed Youth, Town Hall, 5 Church Street, Aylesbury, HP20 2QP Tel: 01296 655386 **Email:** secretary.buy@gmail.com **Website:** www.bucksuniformedyouth.com **Bankers:** NatWest plc, 22 Market Square, Aylesbury HP20 1SJ **Auditor:** Jonathan Stansfield **President:** Peter Kara **Vice-Presidents:** Amanda Nicholson & James Palin **Trustees:** Rex Stevens, Joe Bradshaw, Sheila Beales, Steve Elcock, Phill Mould, James Palin, Hilary Walker, Charlotte Jones **Objects:** The promotion of the efficiency and effectiveness and the effective use of charitable resources of youth organisations whose members wear uniforms in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes for the benefit of the public but not exclusively by: **1.** Providing and co-ordinating the effective use of equipment, assets and training activities; **2.** The provision of such grants and other items of assistance, including assistance with fundraising as shall be thought fit; **3.** Co-ordinating attendance at local events and raising the profile of the Member Organisations as appropriate; **4.** Maximising opportunities offered to young people who are members of the Member Organisations, especially from those who are disadvantaged and crime vulnerable, resulting from its Member Organisations working closely together for best mutual benefit ## **BUY Numbers of its 17 Member Organisations - January 2023** |Young People|Adults| |---|---| |1. British Red Cross Youth 20 Not yet provided|| |2. Bucks Army Cadet Force 456|113| |3. Bucks Fire & Rescue Cadets 0|1| |4. Bucks Scouts 8062|2193| |5. Chesham Girls’ Band Not yet provided|Not yet provided| |6. First Burnham GLB 24|4| |7. Girlguiding Bucks 4389|926| |8. Herts & Bucks Air Cadets 507|95| |9. Oxon & Bucks Sea Cadets 26|3| |10. RBL Youth 5|2| |11. RGS High Wycombe CCF (Army) 89|11| |(RAF) 50|4| |12. Sir Thomas Freemantle School CCF 35|3| |15. St John Ambulance Cadets Not yet provided|Not yet provided| |16. Stowe School CCF (Army) 147|10| |(RAF) 37|2| |(RN) 25|3| |17. TVPA Cadets (Aylesbury) 8|7| |(High Wycombe) 9|7| |(Milton Keynes) Not yet provided|Not yet provided| |**Total**[As at 31st March 2023]**13,975**
|**3,391**| ## **– President Peter Kara** I mentioned last year the difficulties we faced post COVID and am therefore pleased to say that the current year has seen consolidation in our support, not only to our member organisations, but also to local communities through engagement in events, and initiatives of our Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff throughout the year. This has been made possible by adapting our operations to remain effective. It is also encouraging that new member organisations have come onboard during the year. The BUY Youth Village at the last Bucks County Show, utilising its new branded marquee and promotional material on a larger scale than before, enabled more member organisations to participate, raising their public awareness as well as that of BUY. The opportunities offered by our member organisations were apparent to all who attended the show and was reflected in their comments made on the day. Through our two largest member organisations, we also signed up to “Championing the Change”, a joint initiative of Bucks Mind and Buckinghamshire Council, aimed at dealing with the post COVID mental health situation faced by many young people and helping to change public perception and attitude on the subject. This work will be carried over into next year. Member organisations have also continued to work together in shared activities such as the “BUY Challenge”, and it is pleasing to note that the use of our 2 minibuses have started to pick up again. The successful operation and promotion of the above would not have been possible without the continued hard work and commitment of all our officers, each of whom has shown imagination and improvement in their respective areas of responsibility. To each of them, and our fellow member organisations, I am truly grateful for the contribution they make to the wellbeing of young people in our community. ## **Peter Kara** **June 2023** **– Chair Jerry Davies** Welcome all to our BUY AGM and what a year we have all faced. With the changing world post COVID pandemic we began to enjoy the freedoms we once had. The sudden and tragic passing of Queen Elizabeth II on 08 September, is a day that we will all recall due to the gravity of the loss to not only our nation but also the wider commonwealth. There followed a deep and profound period of mourning, the lies we will probably not see again in our lifetimes. The succession to the throne and the Coronation of King Charles III on 06 May was a time of joyous celebrations. For BUY it has been a busy reporting period with cadets attending many public and civic events including the Bucks County Show and The High Sheriffs Bletchley Park annual reception and dinner to name just a few. (do you know of others to add). The multi-agency emergency service first aid competition held at Viney House on 11 March was a great success and my personal thanks go to Colonel Holder and his staff for arranging the event. I welcome ideas for a similar inter cadet / youth competition for 2024. We have seen more uniformed youth organisations join us (can you add their names) and the greater use of the motor transport fleet to help our MO's with training and educational visits. With the summer now fast approaching and the warmer weather, we will continue to support our MO's wherever possible and both the military and civic at engagements. By our cadets being seen in the public domain helps to strengthen the bonds we have within our community and with our military partners. ## **– Secretary Rex Stevens** The current Report year has been an unusual one as all of our Member Organisations have been emerging from Covid 19 restrictions. It was amazing to see so many of them represented in the Bucks Youth Village at last September’s Bucks County Show. Whilst individual membership numbers aren’t yet back to pre pandemic numbers for all Member Organisations - please see these elsewhere in this Report - there’s every indication they are very much moving in that direction. BUY has been honoured to continuing supporting the Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriffs in their different events throughout the Report year. One such memorable occasion for some BUY Officers was being invited to attend the Lord Lieutenant’s late Queen’s Thanksgiving in May 2022 in High Wycombe. Another was the High Sheriff’s Justice Service in September in Olney. Having a visible presence in the public eye with different BUY Member Organisations represented raises awareness but also exemplifies the purpose of BUY in a direct & practical way. Ongoing local community BUY engagement in activities frequently organised by local authorities often reflecting national events such as St George’s Day in April, Remembrance Day celebrations in November and Council Carol Services in December are just 3 of examples. The sad death of the late Queen in September 2022 saw young people and adults drawn from organisations all over the United Kingdom (and in Bucks & Milton Keynes part of BUY) undertaking key roles in her lying-in state in London. The 2023 ‘BUY Challenge’ took place at the Viney House in March 2023 when all BUY Member Organisation had the opportunity to compete in a well planned first aid competition which was very exciting for all who took part. Over the course of the Report Year Covid’s effect on so many young people has been that of mental health. Bucks Mind and Bucks Council have an initiative “Championing the Change” that aims to change attitudes to it and provide means of achieving this. Bucks Mind invited BUY Member Organisations to be part of this and it was good to see that its 2 largest ones did so. We are indebted to our Trustees, Supporters and Partner Organisations for their stalwart commitment to BUY. Rex Stevens ## **Treasurer - Joe Bradshaw MVO** It is that time of year again and I am happy to report that the finances of Bucks Uniformed Youth are in a healthy financial state. Like all small charities income generation following the COVID pandemic and during the Cost of Living Crisis has been particularly difficult and will continue to challenge the Trustees and Officers as we try to keep our costs down and offer whatever financial support we can to our umbrella organisations whilst maintaining and keeping our 2 vehicles operational. During the last financial year we took the decision to SORN our second minibus to make some savings on the insurance and road tax costs given that the vehicle was sitting idle for prolonged periods. This decision was made in October 2022 because the vehicle had cost the charity £2641.80 in Road Tax, Insurance and vehicle maintenance costs over the previous 12 months and there were no bookings for it for the upcoming winter period. By way of background the vehicle (which is 13 years old) was purchased from the Air Training Corps on 17 June 2020 for £2,000. We have been able to approve grants totalling £5420 during the financial year. The small savings we have made in the vehicle budget have helped us to generate a significant surplus given that we have continued to receive a large number of donations throughout the year from His Honour Judge Sheridan (via Thames Valley Police). Once again I would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Judge Sheridan for his support to the charity. However due to changes made by the Senior Judge at Aylesbury Crown Court there will be no future donations through this source and we will have to seek alternative methods of income generation and at the same time keep a watchful eye on our accounts to ensure that we can keep both vehicles serviceable for the foreseeable future. Following discussions with the Grants Officer at Community Impact Bucks we will be moving £10,000 to a reserve account which will be used to cover any major vehicle repair costs for Minibus 1. This will allow us to apply for grants from them in the future; given that we will have significantly less funds in our business account but we will need demonstrate that this money is held in reserve for that eventuality. In 2023 we will be looking to distribute grants of up to £100 to groups within our umbrella organisations. A total sum of £1500 remains “ringfenced” within the accounts for this purpose given that these are donations received from Just Giving in memory of our late Chairman. Grants will be available through the “Lt Col John Williams Small Grants Scheme”. BUY will be inviting members of his family to help sift the requests prior to their approval. Jonathan Stansfield was appointed Auditor at the 2020 Annual General Meeting and has expressed his willingness to continue in that capacity. Jonathan has asked me to include a statement to be included within my report “In my opinion the accounts. give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31[st] March 2023; and of its incoming resources and application of resources for the year then ended; have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; they have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011. **Mr Joe Bradshaw MVO Treasurer** **Attachment follows?** Bucks Uniformed Youth Income and Ex enditure Account for the ear ended 31 March 2023 2021 lo￿13 INCOME £19.6X 64 f17 19642 £000 heT Incorne TOTAL INCOME £19,619.64 £17,196.41 ExPEN￿TuRE 412 16 £gD4 64 U3F OQ E 1 07874 Refuelling officplPiirtin￿￿cT 65 gB E ￿62 £2.125 00 TOTAL EXPENDITURE Q0.1￿￿8 .790.70 5utplu*D&ficilon the yelll $15 14 £7.405 72 Debtorg IPaymentS inAthance Bank Balances.. CuThpnlAccou £OllQ £000 £17.263 20 £24 668 92 £17,263.20 Q4,668.92 Vhluè of FlxÈd As*ts TOTAL ASSETS U3.663.20 £40.468.92 ¥￿￿8 Otvehiclès 14.500.00 Attachment follows? ## **Communications Officer - Charlie Jones** From the communication side of Bucks Uniformed Youth, we have been seeing amazing views and interactions from the BUY website and Facebook page. We keep updating it regularly with new events that have happened. **From Jan 2022 – June 2023, these are the statistics of the website traffic.** Occasionally updating the website page and adding recent pictures to the gallery. Recently updated the contact us page to give it a more professional look. _**Figure 2: After Figure 1: Before**_ ## **Our BUY Website insights show that:** The most popular page visitors navigate to is **Homepage** People spend more time on: **Meet the Team.** Most popular traffic source: **Google** Visitors stay longer if they came from: **Google** Visitors spend less time on our site if they arrive from: **Facebook** ## **EVENT OFFICERS REPORT** April 2022 – March 2023 2022/23 has been a busy year for the support at official events for many member organisations. **St George’s Day Parade,** 23rd April 2022 in Aylesbury’s market square saw many local youth organisations taking part in the parade to celebrate St George. This is an annual event for Scouting, and it was good to see this opened up to all uniformed youth this year. It was good to see representation from the Army, Air and Sea cadets along side scouting **Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant’s Service of Thanks** held at All Saints Church, High Wycombe on the 29th May 2022. Participation and support for the event came from may member organisations, including Girlguiding and Brownies, Air Cadets, Army Cadets, Combined Cadet Force and Explorer Scouts. We thank them for giving up their time. On the 16[th] July, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant held a Garden party for members of the public and again had the support from BUY, we would like to thank PSCO Angela O’Connell of South Bucks Police Cadets and those police cadets who attended and supported this event. **Bucks County Show** held on the 1[st] September was back after 2 years away due to the pandemic. BUY were again pleased to be in attendance at the show, alongside the Explorer Scouts and I Company Army Cadets, who were a fantastic support to the show organisers over 2 days, which included the setting up on the day before the show and on the day, arriving in the early hours to set up the main show ring and presidents tent and also assisting during the day with trophy and results running for the different classes of events taking place. I Company cadets also brought along with them the climbing wall and laser tag which was a huge it with the public. We were also pleased to have other organisations in attendance, include Trefoil Guild, Girl Guiding and RBL Youth Officer. **Heart of Bucks Annual Reception** was held on October and we were again pleased to support this through South Bucks Police Cadets who supported the organisers on the day. In November, many organisations turned out for their own Remembrance services including Aylesbury which has great support. In the first quarter of 2023, BUY was pleased again to support the outgoing High Sheriff’s Justice Dinner at Bletchley Park, which 2532 Squadron, Milton Keynes and TS Whaddon Milton Keynes Sea and Royal Marines. Thank you to those attending. We are looking forward to many events in the coming months. ## **Transport Report March 2022 – April 2023:** From November 2022 to March 2023 the executive minibus has been on loan to member organisations. The Exec bus was loaned to the following organisations: Bucks ACF Chesham All Girls Band RAF OS Gondolier Scouts 1[st] Halton Scouts Minibus 2 (older of the buses) will be put on hire from May 2023 to November 2023. Interest is gradually getting out amongst organisations that we have 2 vehicles available, and demand is increasing over the school holiday period for many trips being arranged. We give thanks to Bucks Rifles at the Army Reserve Unit, Viney House for letting us use the car park for these to be kept safely whilst not in use.