4[TH] OXFORD SCOUT GROUP – TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2021/2022
We are a large scout group with 165 young people and many adults, all meeting up and doing interesting and exciting activities each night of the week, many weekends and some school holidays.
THANKS
As ever, the first and most important thing is for us to thank all the many people involved in the group for their continued support. Everyone involved with the group is a volunteer.
We would like to thank our amazing Leaders, Young Leaders, Helpers and parents for all the many things they do to keep us running.
Special thanks is due to the Rugby Club for continuing to support us by letting us use their hall 5 nights a week and for other events, the use of the playing fields and the space for a storage container. Without their support we would not have returned to face to face scouting last year as well as we did, and we would not be able to run as many sections as we do. The significance of the support of the rugby club for our survival cannot be underestimated, and we are very grateful.
We should also thank the people who store the majority of our kit, located across four parishes in barns, garages, and outbuildings. We hope it isn’t too inconvenient, we will move it elsewhere as soon as we can! James O’Leary Caravans also kindly gave us the back of a lorry for storing some of our kit at the rugby club, thanks!
SECTIONS, LEADERS, HELPERS
We have 2 Beaver sections each with 25 young people aged 6-8, 2 Cub sections each with 30 young people aged 8-10.5, and one Scout section with 55 young people aged 10.5 to 14 (with half of their activities outdoors each week to manage the numbers). We also support an Explorer section currently with about 12 young people that has recently restarted and meets in Kennington and at the rugby club.
Several adults have taken on more responsibility with
evening sessions this year, which is amazing. Kat is our new Scout Leader, Adam is focussing on Jamboree activities, and Nick S is stepping down as the Monday Cub Leader to just help out (after many years of phenomenal effort).
We have lots of help from parents too which is really appreciated, whether helping out at occasional evening meetings or on specific activities, running the badges, helping at camps, being on the exec, and lots of other tasks that make the group run smoothly.
We have several young people aged 14 to 17 as Young Leaders helping with Cubs and Beavers, some of this volunteering goes towards their Duke of Edinburgh awards.
ACTIVITIES
This year the Beavers’ activities have included: a teddy bear’s picnic, a water fight, wide games, gift making, a hike, winter Olympics games, pancake making, bees, Chinese New Year and Burn’s Night celebrations, Guy Fawkes, challenges, digital citizen, disability awareness, rugby games, Jamboree on the Air, District Sports Day, Space Camp, Undersea Camp, and Christmas Camp.
Some of the Cubs’ activities have included: fire safety and a fire station visit, a post box walk, Space evening, road safety, gardening, hiking and fire lighting, animal care, air activities, athletics,
the environment, circus skills, map and compass skills, litter picking, jubilee party, rugby games, water fight end of term party, District Boating Day, Summer Camp, Sixer and the Seconder Camp (in beautiful but freezing weather).
The Scout section have been busy learning new skills including cycle maintenance, first aid, fire lighting, electrical skills and ironing, and we have been keeping them fit and healthy getting outdoors to enjoy hiking, ice skating, healthy eating, rugby and playing wide games. Scouts also had several weeks learning how to kayak and row on the river Thames. The group has achieved a huge amount of badges over the course of these activities ranging from Chef, to Pioneer, to Local Knowledge and
many staged badges in hikes, nights away and time on the water have also been awarded. Our scouts have been working towards their Challenge badges as well as we try to support all to achieve their Chief Scouts Gold during their time with us. We have enjoyed some great events such as this years' Jamboree on the Air and contacting the International Space Station and our Summer Fun Day. We had a fantastic summer camp in Wales where scouts were able to take part in adventurous activities like hiking up mountains, learning scout skills and exploring the local area, including a freezing dip in the Welsh sea and watching a lifeboat launch. We have also had great fun on Day of the Dead camps, expedition camps led by the scouts, Christmas Camp, and a fantastic achievement at our County Patrol Camping Weekend competition where our teams did our group proud.
Fun Day and Oxford Green Belt 10k Run
We ran a fun day with over 300 visitors (in the pouring rain). This raised over £1,500 for us, and much more for other groups involved like the rugby club and the Oxfordshire Jamboree Unit. This helps us buy equipment like tents. The event also puts something back into the wider community. Next year (with the Jamboree Unit) we are running the Oxford Green Belt 10km Run from Brookes playing fields, and perhaps another Fun Day too.
World Scout Jamboree
Two members of our group have been selected to represent the UK at the World Scout Jamboree in Korea in Summer 2023, Ben a Scout and Adam a Scout Leader. It’s a great achievement. We wish them luck for their trip, and for all the training and fundraising beforehand (a big effort is required of them!).
Adventurous activities
Leaders and other helpers have been getting permits so we can run adventurous activities such as hill walking, kayaking, canoeing, and rafting. We have also gained qualifications for air rifle shooting too, and we are working towards rock climbing and archery permits.
FINANCES
There is a separate report from our Treasurer. Our finances are in a good position, we are able to invest in new equipment such as tents and stoves and for activities such as archery.
Gemma is stepping down as Treasurer after 6 years, but is remaining as a trustee. Please let us know if you might take up this role, we’re happy to discuss.
OUR VISION FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS
Squirrels
We intend to open a new Squirrels section soon, for 4- to 5-year-olds. Please speak to Amber if you think you could help.
Help from volunteers
We would like to build on the ongoing growth of our group and secure its future, by bringing in more parents and other volunteers to help us. New people will bring new ideas and help us to do new things. Thriving groups must continually evolve.
Our volunteers do as much or as little as they choose, and turn up as often as works for them, they stay involved for as long as they want. Many find it very rewarding.
We have tasks to suit anyone and any level of commitment – please come and speak to us about what you might be able to offer.
We would especially like help with the following tasks/roles please:
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Parental help at section meetings
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Parental help at camps and other additional events
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Parent help with various administrative tasks supporting leaders
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New parent members of the Exec (the charity’s board of trustees)
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Someone to lead on our fundraising, and someone to help us post to social media
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People with project management or building experience/connections
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Treasurer
Please contact Amber (amber@thefourth.org.uh), James (chair@thefourth.org.uk) or any leader if you may be interested to help us.
Adventurous activities
We would also like to bring more adults in who have experience or an interest in the more adventurous activities we try to offer. These include hiking, hillwalking, rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding, sailing, and the target sports of archery and air rifle shooting. If you would like to be involved with these activities, please let us know.
Scout Hut
We will continue to work with the rugby club to keep the relationship working well. At the same time, we will continue to try to get our scout hut back or build another one. The group needs that long term security and full facilities to support its current and future activities. The Appendix to this report sets out some more info on our options and the steps we are taking.
FROM:
The Trustees of the 4[th] Oxford Scout Group, registered charity number 267799
2 December 2022
– APPENDIX TO TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT SCOUT HUT
We need our own scout hut if we are to carry out all the activities we want to, in a way that works for young people and also for the leaders. We have had amazing good fortune operating from the rugby club, we are extremely grateful for their support, but it is a short-term arrangement and one that poses difficulties for both parties. We need facilities that are accessible for all our meetings 5 nights a week and other events, where young people can be separated from the general public, we need a kitchen, a hall to dry tents after camps, and we need large amounts of accessible indoor storage. There is no existing or proposed building in the area that can provide this for us, other than the existing scout hut, or a new scout hut.
There are two workable destinations for the group: being given our scout hut back or building another one elsewhere.
Return to the scout hut
We would like to be given our scout hut back, and either renovate it or build another one on the same footprint. Both are achievable, fundraising should not be too challenging. The hut provides us with the ability to store kit, dry tents, and run a broader range of activities. The Parish Council’s plan to build a new pavilion and at the same time to knock down the adjacent scout hut doesn’t work for us: the limited access and other arrangements in the new building cannot work, they intend the building to be used for other activities at many of the times we need it. We have objected to the most recent planning application on the basis that planning policy requires the scout hut and its function (our scout group) to be replicated if the scout hut is demolished. We continue to try to persuade North Hinksey Parish Council to see the sense in the arrangement that has worked well for 50 years, and that guarantees support for young people at the centre of our community: a scout hut and a pavilion next door, exactly where it is currently planned.
A new hut elsewhere
We have access to 8 acres of land next to the rugby club and are arranging a 99-year lease. We will try and build a replacement scout hut there if we need to, or just basic facilities for outdoor activities and camping if we get our scout hut back. The parish council have offered to ‘gift’ us our scout hut if we move it at our own expense, we are still considering if this is feasible.
Developing the land is an exciting idea: 8 acres of land next to a stream, with woodland, wilderness areas and open spaces used by young people for outdoor activities and camping, and indoor spaces for regular meetings every day of the week (and not just scouts but guides, woodcraft folk, forest schools, other visitors). However, the project has some significant challenges, each of which could ensure it doesn’t happen: the field has limited access rights down a long track; there is no water, electricity or sewage (and the field is 150m from the road); it is in the green belt and most of the site is in the flood plain so getting planning permission could be difficult; an individual currently stores machinery and building materials there, and he doesn’t want to leave; and building a new scout hut there would probably cost over £500k, perhaps much more. It would be amazing to try and make this happen. It may be the only route to ensure the scout group has the facilities we need to continue and to thrive, for the benefit of future generations…
4th Oxford Scout Group Financial Report 6[th] April 2021 – 5[th] April 2022
FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
2021/22 Income and Expenditure Summary
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Financial Year 2021-2022 £
Beaver Account opening balance 505.50
Income 5,298.47
Expenditure -996.67
Inter account transfers to group -4,807.30
Closing Balance 0.00
Cub Account opening balance 3,930.06
Income 4,574.31
Expenditure -720.19
Inter account transfers to group -7,784.18
Closing Balance 0.00
‘Old’ Scout Account opening balance 1,571.61
Income 0.00
Expenditure -1,357.61
Inter account transfers to new scout account -214
----- End of picture text -----
FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
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Closing Balance 0.00
‘New’ Scout Account opening balance 0.01
Income 10,619.85
Expenditure 0.00
Inter account transfers to group 10,474.30
Closing Balance 145.56
Financial Year 2021-2022 £
Group Account opening balance 7,558.11
Income 16,946.67
Expenditure -25,686.18
Inter account transfers into group 23,309.48
Closing Balance 22,128.08
Business Premium Account (interest accrued 19,920.05
£1.95)
Total 4 [th] Oxford Income 37,439.30
Total 4 [th] Oxford Expenditure 28,760.65
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FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
Appendix A Beaver Account
FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
Appendix B Cub Account
FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
Appendix C Old Scout Account
FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
Appendix D New Scout Account
FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
Appendix E Group Account
FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
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Previous Year 2020/21 Income and Expenditure
| Balance b/f | £ 3,577.76 | |
|---|---|---|
| Income | ||
| Census - money in from Beavers for 2020 census | £ 1,181.25 | |
| Cubs for 2020 census | £ 1,400.00 | |
| Scouts for 2020 census | £ 1,093.75 | |
| Census - (to be paid in next FY) | ||
| money in from Beavers for 2021 census | ||
| £ 1,296.00 | ||
| Cubs for 2021 census | £ 1,824.00 | |
| Scouts for 2021 census | £ 1,488.00 | |
| Camps - money in (midnight exercise from Scouts) | £ 140.00 | |
| Fundraising | ||
| Easy fundraising | £ 60.38 | |
| Winter challenge money in | £ 362.00 | |
| Ceilidh | £ 364.38 | |
| Amazon Smile | £ 46.85 | |
| Misc. in | £ 61.99 | |
| (VOWH District Council Grants | £ 19,907.00*) | |
| *shown in Business Account on Summary | ||
| Total income togroupaccount | £ 9,318.60 | |
| Expenditure | ||
| Census fees 2020 to County | £ 3,675.00 | |
| Ceilidh | £ 105.00 | |
| Midnight exercise | £ 140.00 | |
| Badges | £ 49.81 | |
| Uttes (Water, electric) | £ 826.77 | |
| Insurance and Fire inspecton | £ 541.67 | |
| Total expenditure fromgroupaccount | £ 5,338.25 | |
| Closingbalance 5th April 2021 | £ 7,558.11 |
- Previous Year FY2020/21 Balance Sheet
Financial Year 2020-2021
FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
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£
End of Year Group Account Balance 7558.11
Business Premium 19,910.46
COIF Charities Deposit Fund 6.30
Total Balance 27,474.87
Value of Scout Hut and Contents (valid
untl 31/07/2021)
Insurance Value £73,379.00
Contents £10,454.00
Total Balance £83,833.00
Associated Secton Accounts (end of
year balance)
Beavers £505.50
Cubs £3,930.06
Scouts £1,571.61
Total Balance £6,007.17
----- End of picture text -----
FINANCIAL REPORT 6[TH] APRIL 2021 -– 5[TH] APRIL 2022
LT700006 - Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees (February 2023)
England & Wales
Unqualified report for a non-company charity preparing receipts and payments accounts with a gross income of £250,000 or less in the relevant financial year
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of 4[th] Oxford Scout Group
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the 4[th] Oxford Scout Group for the financial year 2021/2022
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the 4[th] Oxford Scout Group you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the 4[th] Oxford Scout Group accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the 4[th] Oxford Scout Group as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and 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 proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Name: Alex Money DPhil (Oxon)
Relevant professional qualification or membership of professional bodies (if any): UK Chartered Financial Analyst
Address : 2 High Street, Cumnor, Oxford OX2 9PE
Date: 15 February 2023