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1ST ST LEONARDS FOREST SCOUT GROUP AGM

1ST ST LEONARDS FOREST SCOUT GROUP

WELCOME

TRUSTEE REPORTS

GROUP STRUCTURE &	03
TRUSTEE BOARDS
CHAIRMANS REPORT	04
GSL REPORT	05
TREASURERS REPORT	06

SECTION REPORTS

BEAVERS	07
CUBS	10
SCOUTS	13
EXPLORERS	18
YOUNG LEADERS	20

ADDITIONAL INFO
CHARITY MANAGEMENT	21
OBJECTIVES & ACTIVITIES	23

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VOLUNTEERS
NEEDED
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OUR 1ST ST LEONARDS TEAM

This year the Scouts organisation will undergo a number of changes. There are major upgrades to the operating platforms, changes to internal structures and new systems for recruitment and training.

As we transition into these changes we wanted to make everyone aware of our Scouting family an who carries out which roles within our group.

On the right you will find our new organisation chart, complete with the updated roles each one of our volunteers performs.

To align ourselves with both the new Scouting structures and the Charities Commission, our old Executive Committee has been changed to a Trustee Board.

The aim of the Trustee Board is to act in the charity's best interests, set the strategy and plan for the group, make key decisions and oversee the running of a charity.

Our dedicated Leadership Team will carry out all day to day and Scouting activities as before, with the help of their section assistants, parent helpers and young leaders.

CHAIRMANS REPORT

It’s been an exciting year across all of our sections with an extensive programme and a huge amount of activities. I won’t steal the thunder from our dedicated leaders, so will leave you to explore the section and GSL reports to find out what’s been going on.

I would personally like to thank all of the Exec Committee, our leadership teams, parents and helpers for their support again this year. The Scouting calendar and events really don’t happen by magic and there is so much hard work and planning that makes it all happen. We have an amazing team at 1st St Leonards who work tirelessly to make the session fun, interesting and safe. I’ve noticed by the big increase in our badge bill that so much has been achieved over the past 12 months and I’m looking forward to hearing about many more of the successes over the next year.

Behind the scenes, we have been busy improving the Scout HQ. Some of you may even have noticed that we have sprung into the 21st century with a decent Wi-Fi connection, this has allowed us to access important events, like the World Jamboree and talk with groups from different countries. We’ve replaced the old doors to the front and side of the building allowing for better access and improving our security. The old curtains have been removed and we now have blackout blinds for those “camp in nights”. We have purchased new water sports equipment, cooking equipment and have updated camping equipment for those sections that needed it. All in all it’s been a busy 12 months in making sure that we offer the best experience to our young members that we can.

There will be a number of changes this year within the Scouting Association itself with Executive Committees moving to Trustee Boards. At 1st St Leonards Forest, we are adopting those changes at this year’s AGM to be ready and compliant for when the move eventually happens. From a day-to-day perspective, we hope you notice no difference in the running of the organisation and that the activities your children experience remain positive, enjoyable and rewarding on every level. It really is more of a structural administration change than reformatting what we do.

No doubt, if you have been with us for any longer than a few months you will have heard my repetitive cries for help. There is always a fine balance of having enough support across the group to run sessions successfully and safely. Although we have a committed team, we are looking for volunteers to join our sections. It is an incredibly fun and rewarding experience and one that really makes a difference, so if you do have a few hours each week where you can offer your support, we would be hugely grateful.

And finally… I’m delighted to announce that as a group we really want to focus on bringing everyone together more often, the last few years have made it incredibly difficult and some of the fun events that we used to hold have unfortunately been missing. We are all part of an incredible community and because of this we will start to organise more social events going forward. I wanted to say a huge thank you to both Nicola Rollingson & Helen Surely for offering to form our Social Team aided by Ellie Rollingson (after she finishes her GCSEs). They kick things off tonight with 1SLFS first “AGM BINGO” evening.

Rob Marshall Chair of Trustees

GSL REPORT

This is my first report as acting Group Scout Leader, I am lucky to have been part of this amazing group for about 10 years, having led Kipling Cub Pack and more lately Baden Scout Troop, for which I have handed over leadership to Karen and Jenni.

Before I look back at the last 3 terms, I want to say a massive thank you to Graham Clayton who led the group as GSL for the last 8 years. Having completed his term, he has now taken his scouting skills to help lead the Pegasus Explorer Unit. I also want to introduce Don Moyse, I am sure you all know Don, as he has led the Powell Scout troop for a number of years. He has handed over the reins to Martin Dold, but we are lucky that he has agreed to take on the role of Deputy Group Scout Leader.

So, what about the last year, we have seen the group continue to grow from strength to strength as we continue to return to scouting activities following the Covid pandemic and the restrictions that followed. This has naturally had an impact on our membership numbers, but these are continuing to increase back up again. Our annual census at the start of January recorded around 160 youth members and a number of adult volunteers.

I can’t write this report without further pleas for help. In order to run the fantastic programme that our sections provide we need more adults to join the scouting leadership team, without these, we may be forced to reduce the number of spaces in the group or even close sections, this is not something as a group we want to do or even consider. So if you have a couple of hours spare in the week both Don and I would love to speak with you about what you can offer. Having been a leader for 25 years, this is extremely rewarding to watch young people grow and develop. You don’t need to have any scouting experience, as training and support will be provided both by existing leaders and other learning opportunities. So please please please consider this as I would hate in this new role to have to make this difficult decision.

As you will see from the following reports we have had an amazing year in all the sections and hopefully seeing the photos will help bring this all to life. I thank you all, leaders, parents, carers, beavers, cubs scouts and explorers for everything that you all do in making this group the formidable force that it is within the Horsham Scout District. I am looking forward to what this next year will bring the camps, the activities, the experiences and mostly the fun and laughter.

Thank you

Chris Jones Group Scout Leader

TREASURERS REPORT

Receipts :

Due to face to face scouting re-starting, it was agreed that the membership fee would return to the pre-pandemic value of £144. This generated income of £8127 after the capitation has been paid. We received an anonymous donation of £10,000 towards a new minibus. We received the Gift Aid amount of £ 2,626.

The Hall Hire income from Amber Preschool was £ 8,579. Other income received included £200 from the Annual Riverside Walk who used our facilities as a rest stop, £450 from the sale of 2 boats and £187.15 as commission on clothing from Tailer Made Uniforms.

The sections generated an income of £21,104 to cover their own activities. Payments District Activities Driver training to the value of £2,431 was undertaken by Ben Moyse, Adrian Baines and Chris Iddles to allow them to drive the minibus. £90 was spent on Paddle sport instruction for Nathan Palsar. £24 was spent on a uniform. £405 was spent on badges to commemorate the Queen’s passing and the King’s coronation.

The Miscellaneous scouting payments include £700 for two boats, £67.25 as gifts for G Clayton and Sue Light who stood down at last year’s AGM, £267.45 on refreshments and fuel for the various activities held during the year and £26.99 for a new padlock for the kayak trailer.

£ 992 was paid in March for the 23-24 Marine Insurance premium. The services figure of £4,617 includes Electricity £1236, Gas £1308, IT Support £398, Telephones £292, Waste collection £398 and Water services £983.

Most have shown increases compared with last year’s expenses. The increase in telephone costs was due to replacing the router to enable better wi-fi in the hall.

Due to payments being taken by direct debit, we have the following credit balances: - £60 for Business Stream (water), £329 for E.On (Electricity) but owe £338 on our gas account with Scottish Power. The amount of £1969 was paid to Carolyn and Mark Rogers for cleaning the hall, this includes £975 in costs relating to 21-22. Hall maintenance includes the annual heating Inspection along with £167 for new blinds in the hall, £242 new keys for the doors, £99 for a new door lock and £ 402 for replacement kitchen utensils.

Cont:

The balance of £4938 was paid following the installation of 3 new doors for the hut.

The business rate charge of £ 466 was paid to Horsham District Council. There was a slight increase in the property and equipment insurance from £3138 last year to £ 3308 this year.

The renewal of the minibus insurance was £ 1143. The minibus expenses came to £ 1425 broken down as follows: the annual service and MOT of the minibus came to £1025 with additional servicing charges of £234 and the DVLA cost of £165.

The total payments for the District activities came to £ 25,716 compared to £ 22,401 last year.

The sections made payments totaling £ 20,937 to carry out their own events.

The Combined liability and medical insurances increased slightly to £ 273 this year. This has resulted in an overall net income of £ 4,369 for the year.!

Helen Walden Group Treasurer

1st St Leonards F(eSt sctGrOuP Accouxfs Yearto 5th 2023 RECEivfs AND PAYMENTS ACC(XJNTS FIINDS 2022 PECEIPTS Fu•a 2023 MemE•rshipfs Less to District 17.755 ,127 io,oTr) 2,626 4,220 io.ot¢J Grft Awj Aetail HospifalityaTrJ L£Te6ran 2.626 2,915 753 7,165 Hall hire (Ambw Presch1) Fund kni¥in• Oth•r 8579 8.579 8.713 859 9,438 571 9.284 Akorwocd Wilbw 250 250 9Tr) 22 93 956 1,810 S,503 914 53 9.351 425 2.443 7352 9?76 358 425 2,443 7.35Z 9,376 358 21.IL31 5L291 EWor•r¥. P•psus Arrh•ry 41291 YMENTS L•ad•rtraininiand unrfomis 250 85 405 405 Equlprnqrrt Mi%c•lLJn•oui. routin8 MiKelhneoJs.Oth•r H•ll- H•ll. dnjn4 1,062 992 4,617 1,969 6,284 466 3.3 1,143 1.425 2,394 1.995 3,371 I,W8 S.696 238 3.138 1.119 2,231 874 992 4,617 1.969 6.284 466 3.3 1.143 IA25 H•ll- Counciltsx H•ll- In5ur•nc• Minibus- irr4urnnt• Minibu$- repai aryj MOT Trailer R4yi J•mbor•• 1,5[ Camp th•nc• 25.716 22AOI 452 Wilbw 1,365 242 Rtyrd 799 799 IA79 1.576 S,463 8•d•n 3.181 7.643 6.643 533 3.188 7.643 6.643 533 EWornr¥. Pe48SUS Arch 20,937 9,302 Insu(8 2rs 2rs 263 44925 46,925 3L N•¢ rK•iOsHFoym•rf¥l B•nk trmlances as * 6th April 2022 kbalaKe5 a5 at 5th Awll Z023 4.369 80,3 84.705 4,369 80,336 -6,166 86,502

1st St Lecffwds Forest ScwtGrwp As at 5thApwil 223 sTATEME14T0FsETSAND LtABIUIIESAS ATThE END OF THE PERIOD TOTAL P4rxttd FUNDS 1023 &JikJin4 M•knten•rKe FiTraThcial Pport Current Account Members&Subs Mlni8w S•vin85 Acrowt Recews he in Advince d rrtp•r 20.C65 20,C65 7,2YJ 12.544 15,029 7,239 12,544 2&029 55,398 14,288 io 51 -249 55.937 61.039 C•sh hèld ty 5rf1$ Akepoc4 Will(w4 R¥1rd Kh)lifie 8•d•n Pgw•ll Expbr•rs. P•p% Ar¢h•ry ¢¢ynt C•th in h•nd 1,629 1,924 1,740 1.271 1.924 1.7 1,430 264 1,579 1.920 2.220 2.730 2,881 &917 2,555 %917 2.555 J8. 119 13.298 T¢•1 C•thlu 74. 56 Scoth bolklin¢ I¢X,619 103,619 85,819 .85294 104,144 103.619 85.119 44,496 104.242 85.819 45.2 515 Depreciibon on MiTribu¥•nd •qPint T¢t•l ILB,619 U•blbl10 No Iiiblrt l UnresirKt•d c•5h lunds •r• to b• r•t•ki•d •nd sp•rt •1 th• Grow Excutpi• d••m flt, th• ft4bwini èrmwts he been de$4nated forspecrfic P$t$'.. 2023 io,oo) 2 Depretiit&x-Assets are deprecthted thr4prs wfth r*0 res111 Tat41 ? B¢•AI OSID112a 1¢4.242

We are lucky to have two amazing beaver colonies that meet on a Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30pm to 6:45pm and are supported by the following teams. However, as you can see, we have spaces, especially in our Thursday colony where we only have three adults. Ideally, we would love a couple of extra adult leaders to support this team.

AKERWOOD

Akerwood currently has 21 beavers, 3 adult leaders and 4 young leaders. We are still very short on full adult leaders which makes holiday planning very hard. We regularly see most of our beavers on a Thursday. This term we have focused on World skills, personal skills, team building, crafts, modelling, indoor raft racing.

The beavers really enjoyed cardboard caving with all of them exploring the caves.

Last year we ran Nerf challenge evenings, as well as code breaking sessions. They also learned about the Queen and community impacts as well as cooking skills.

During the summer term in 2022, in preparation for Cub camps the beavers learned how to pitch a simple tent as well as assemble a campfire and basic map reading. 1st aid was also covered over a couple of evenings with the beavers learning how to make an arm sling as well as bandage their arms and heads. Archery and Nerf Gun alley Akerwood Section report April 2023 shooting is also a beaver favourite with us running 2 sessions in the year.

For March awards ceremony we had 1 beaver eligible for their Bronze award.

WILLOW

This year I started my second year as a leader, we started out with 21 Beavers in the Autumn term and we currently have 18 as we saw4 swim up last week to Cubs. We currently well supported by a fantastic leadership teams made up of 3 Leaders, and 3 section assistants and 2 Young Leaders.

Over the course of the year we have given out 6 Bronze Awards and we've had a few move up to cubs and a few have unfortunately left us.

This year we've had a lot of fun. We have had 2 sleepovers at Gummys. We've also made paper boats and planes, been cardboard caving, walks in the woods, archery and learned about Chinese New Year. This term we are looking forward to doing archery again, den building and taking some Beavers to Go Beavers 23.

The beavers had earned lots of badges and have learned lots of skills and had loads of fun. We love the enthusiasm they show each week.

We are extremely proud of our cub packs, however this year we are facing our biggest challenges for adult support. The sections rely on parent helpers to ensure we are able to comply with our safety and safeguarding policies but Kipling especially is in need of more fabulous adults to support the section on a regular basis. We would ideally like to see a couple of extra adults for each section. Our cub packs meet on a Monday and Wednesday 7:00pm to 8:30pm.

RUDYARD

We kicked off the Autumn 23 term with a games evening and a bit of a Pack forum to find out what the Cubs really wanted to do! We were not shocked by their responses and have been working to get these fulfilled over the year.

A hike early in the autumn term took us over the new footbridge serving Bohunt school, which all the cubs really enjoyed. My scavenger hunt has also been reused this year with added activities, which we managed to squeeze in between the showers in the spring term. Due to the leader situation, the first half of this year has been very HQ based, however, with the arrival of Ben we have a much more diverse programme this term.

We are currently still running reduced numbers in the section and unfortunately, we are still an all boys pack. Due to the challenges with adult volunteers and limited leadership capabilities this year, we have had to be creative with what we can achieve. Hopefully, with a bit of extra help, we can liaise with Mandy and take on some new cubs from the waiting list this term.

Back in February we welcomed Ben to the leadership team, he has a wealth of experience having grown up in Scouts and held different positions as a leader. We are very grateful he made the move to Horsham and chose our pack! Carol and I complete the Leadership team along with Gabriella, our young leader.

Moving forward we are in a much more comfortable position, but would never say no to an extra pair of hands!

Jo Wadley

The future for the section looks bleak unless we can find some extra pairs of hands. With all Scouting activities, we have to first and foremost make sure that the children are safe and that we as a group can be accountable for them. Currently, with a lack of adult help, we are having to seriously consider closing this section down. Furthermore, this changes the dynamic of the groups feeder system which means there will be further decisions to make down the line regarding both Beaver and Scouts sections.

Back to the exciting activities that Kipling have been doing over the year:

They have enjoyed cooking, games and craft activities over the summer term culminating in a Dragons Den evening with the cubs presenting their ideas for a night. They also celebrated the end of the term with a laser quest trip. Moving to the Spring term in January they had an archery night which was the result of their Dragon's Den experience, they learned about mental health, burns night, international women’s day, Internet safety and experienced a bird of prey evening.

KIPLING

This has been an exciting year for the cubs of Kipling however as per the recent letter, the section itself is under severe pressure regarding adult volunteers.

Stacey, who led the pack for 5 years stepped down at the start of the summer term due to work pressures, however, has continued to support the admin side and the management of OSM and the Facebook group. I would like to say a massive thank you to Ellen Holyroyd and Claire Saich for all their help this year and hope to see them back in our Scouting family very soon.

I would like to recognise Paul for the amazing job he has done coupled with Emily's help over the recent months, unfortunately, Emily has temporarily had to step back.

As we are progressing through the remainder of the current term, we have had some great activities including rifle shooting, a badge night and orienteering.

We will finish off the end of term with caving, firelighting, bbq and games.

We will focus on updating our badge records this term, so please bare with us whilst we look back through the programme, attendance and update all the records accordingly.

If you feel you can offer assistance in a volunteering capacity, we would love to hear from you. Our Kipling pack have enjoyed many great activities over the years and it would be such a shame to see it disappear.

Chris Jones Group Scout Leader

This year has seen our Scout leadership teams grow from strength to strength as you can see below. These amazing leaders provide exciting opportunities for our 10.5 to 14 year old young people on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7:15pm to 9pm for Baden and 7:15pm to 9:15 for Powell.

BADEN

Baden have had a really busy year. Although we’re a small troop, we are lucky to have a great group of scouts who are keen to get involved and try new things. Our Tuesday night activities have been full of varied activities, a number of which have been organised and run by the scouts themselves - giving them the opportunity to develop their leadership skills. It’s too much to list everything the scouts have done, but in addition to our Tuesday night meetings, some of the highlights of the year have been:

Sailing

In July we were offered the opportunity to join 1st Harwood Guides on a sailing trip with the 3rd and 5th Lancing Sea Scouts. Our scouts had a great day out sailing from Portslade to Littlehampton.

Summer camp

Our summer camp in August was a ‘back to basics’ scout camp at Colgate. The scouts worked together in patrols to create working patrol camp areas, doing their own fire lighting, food preparation, cooking etc for the week. They also took part in a number of activities, at the campsite they did pioneering, frisbee golf, caving and lasertag and off site they enjoyed kayaking and a trip to the Aqua park.

Jamboree on the Internet

We took part JOTI- the worlds largest digital Scout event, promoting friendship and global citizenship! The scouts joined together for 24hrs to camp at the hut enabling them to take part in the event together throughout the day and night! As a collective we made contact with 80+ scout groups, in over 25 different countries. It was a great opportunity to learn more about scouting across the globe.

Parents Christmas Dinner

In December the scouts organised an evening of Christmas fun and games for their families, including providing Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. The scouts formed an organising committee who sorted all the plans and logistics for the night, an entertainment committee who planned and ran a Christmas quiz and other other fun activities to keep everyone entertained throughout the evening, and a food committee who planned the menu and (with some help) were responsible for cooking a 3-course Christmas dinner for everyone. The evening was a great success, enjoyed by the scouts and their families.

Monopoly Run

We took part in the Scouts Monopoly Run ‘Live’ in March, a real-time version of board game, which involved the scouts visiting the actual sites that the board game is based on. The game is about tactics and speed in getting around the capital with the main objectives of the day to visit all the properties, buy properties, earn rent whilst also completing additional quizzes and challenges throughout the day. We walked miles but had a great day travelling around our capital!

Overland training and competition 2023

Baden took part in the Overland competition again this year, which is a 2 day back packing competition where the scouts cover 15 miles on the first day and 10 miles on the second across the south downs. They had to carry all their kit needed to camp, cook and look after themselves. Throughout the weekend they had to complete checkpoint challenges that test their scouting skills, problem solving, teamwork, general knowledge and life skills, all of which was scored. In preparation for the competition our scouts completed a number of weekend hikes and a practice weekend, which was a mock up of the actual event. This year 34 scout teams entered the Overland competition and Baden finished an amazing 4th!

Karen & Jenni

POWELL

Powell Troop currently have 19 Scouts and are looking to increase our numbers over the next year. With an amazing leader team and an exciting Programme, we look forward to new Scouts joining us to join in the fun. With such a varied programme of activities over the last year, Camping, cooking, archery, shooting, caving, kayaking to name just a few, we have just handed out over 100 challenge/ activity badges including 4 scouts achieving their Chief Scouts Gold awards. A great achievement to all the Powell Scouts.

For our 2022 summer camp we escaped to the wilds of Staverton in Dartmoor. This is a beautiful farmer’s field that Powell camp in, with the River Dart to one side of us and the South Devon Steam railway to the other. We hiked, kayaked on the Dart, descended the dart rapids on rubber inner tubes, had a day out on the steam trains and visited an otter sanctuary and a rare bread farm. The Scouts cooked on open fires and enjoyed shooting and archery activities on site. Some of the older Scouts we able to achieve their 2-day Chief Scouts Gold expedition on the camp.

The Summer term had us outside as much as possible. We used Beacon Hill campsite for Scouting Skills, Wide games, Caving and Tomahawk Throwing. We also had a two-night camp there to Prep us for our summer camp in Dartmoor. Most of June was dedicated to fun on the water, Kayaking and rafting at Southwater lake. There was even an SLF Group Paddling Day and raft race.

The Autumn and Winter terms found those brave and more competent paddlers in the troop attending kayaking weekends to the River Dart in Dartmoor and the River Wye in South Wales. The River Dart trip introduces the Scouts to the skills of kayaking on moving water. Then in the February sections of the river Wye was paddled over two days in lovely sunshine improving those kayaking skills further.

The Winter term had us carving pumpkins, making woggles fire lighting and cooking at the campsite. Then in December the slightly crazy amongst us were camping again in hammocks at the campsite. I say crazy as it was -6 that night! With plenty of blankets, hats, thermals and socks in bed, we all slept amazingly well.

This summer term sees Powell Troop taking on more challenges and activities, prepping them ready to tackle Summer Camp 2023 in Warnham. This camp will give the Scouts going many different experiences, memories and achieve many more badges.

For your Scout to be able to enjoy all of this, Powell troop has a highly skilled, enthusiastic, and amazing leader team, who give up a huge amount of time to make Powell happen. Thank you all!!

Martin Dold

SL Powell Troop 1st SLF.

This was our first full year with the new leadership team of Graham Clayton, Tim Kent, and Fran Foster & myself. It continues to remain a pleasure to lead at Pegasus; the Explorers themselves make every Wednesday great fun and the unit size remains encouraging at over 30 Explorers registered with any 20-25 present on most evenings. Although we have lost some Explorers during this year due to reaching 18 or clashes with other commitments, these spaces have been quickly filled & we are regularly contacted by others wanting to join the unit – from both inside & external to St Leonards Forest.

Our programme is made up of a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities which the Explorers choose at the start of each term. These have included street orienteering, caving, fire making, cooking, hiking, ice skating, axe throwing, sedan chair racing & a joint falconry evening with Kipling cubs.

In December we re-introduced the Pegasus Christmas dinner which the Explorers help prepare, cook & serve. This was a fundraiser for the unit along with being a thank you to parents & helpers and raised significant funds for the unit. Last summer we went to the Lake District on expedition and our activities were mountain walking including a wild camp, climbing, caving and extreme via ferrata. We also had an overnight hike training camp at Colgate, a caving weekend (organised by West Sussex caving) in the Mendips and a weekend in South Wales which included a trip to Zip World.

This year also saw a return to inter-unit competitions & we had a group take part in the Open section of the Downsman. Two teams entered the London Monopoly run – an event which had 1386 teams enter. One of our groups finished 113th overall and second in their group whilst our other team finished 7th in their group. Most recently, we had a team enter the Overland finishing 7th overall and we look forward to building on all these results in the coming year.

This summer we will be returning to a different part of South Wales and have a full week of activities planned on both land & sea. In addition, five of our Explorers will be representing the UK by attending the jamboree in South Korea.

I am also very grateful to the 1st SLF leaders and parents who have assisted us with various activities throughout the past year – many of which we would not have been able to do without their support.

If you like the sound of our activities and would like to join the team please let me know.

Rob Cranfield Pegasus AESL

IF YOU COULD SPARE A FEW HOURS EACH WEEK

All of our sections are supported by a group of young leaders, these are our 14-18 year old members often a member of the Pegasus Explorer Scout unit or other units in the Horsham District. These young leaders often become future leaders when then turn 18. We couldn’t run our sections without their support and I know that all of our section leaders are grateful for the weekly support running games and activities as part of the programmes we run each term.

ADDITIONAL INFO

Annex: Additional Information

Description of Charity’s Structure Governance and Management

The Group's governing documents are those of the The Scout Association. They consist of a Royal Charter, which in turn gives authority to the Bye Laws of the Association and The Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout (e.g. trust deed, constitution) Association.

The Group is a charity established under its rules which are common to all Scouts.

The Trustees are appointed in accordance with the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association in line with section 5.3.1.4.

The Group is managed by the Group Trustee Board, the members of which are the ‘Charity Trustees’ of the Scout Group which is an educational charity. As charity trustees we are responsible for complying with legislation applicable to charities. This includes the registration, keeping proper accounts and making returns to the Charity Commission as appropriate.

The Board consists of 3 independent representatives, Chair, Treasurer and Secretary together with the Group Scout Leaders and Deputy Group Scout Leader; To support the trustee board a Group Leadership team led by the Group Scout Leaders and Deputy Group Scout Leader are supported by the Section Leaders and their deputies to effectively manage the operational side of scouting activities.

This Trustee Board is a team of volunteers who work together, as charity Trustees, to make sure the Scouts is run safely and legally. At the heart of their role is a focus on strategy, performance and assurance.

The Trustee Board must act in the charity’s best interests, acting with reasonable care and skill and take steps to be confident that:

1.The charity is: well managed
carrying out its purposes for the public benefit complying with the charity’s governing document and the law managing the charity’s resources responsibly
2.the charity is operating compliant with POR, including effective management of the Key Policies listed in chapter 2 - The Equal Opportunities Policy, Privacy and Data Protection Policy, Religious Policy, Safeguarding Policy, Safety Policy, Vetting Policy, Youth Member Anti-bullying Policy.
3.young people are meaningfully involved in decision making at all levels
4.there are sufficient resources (funds, people, property and equipment) available to meet the planned work of the Group, District or County (as appropriate) including delivery of the high quality programme and resource requirements of the training programme
5.the Scouts has a positive image in the local community
6.provide any necessary support to the Group Scout Leader, when required, to assist the opening, change, merging or closing of sections in the Group

As we move forwards and update the governance the new Group Trustee Board will be made up as follows:

1.The ex officio members of a Group Trustee Board are: The Group Chair
The Group Secretary (if appointed as a Trustee)
The Group Treasurer
The Group Scout Leader
The Deputy Group Scout Leader
All persons with a Section Leader role in each section in the Group, The Explorer

b) The elected members of a Group Trustee Board are persons elected by the Group Scout Council at the Group Annual General Meeting. The actual number of persons elected must be the subject of a resolution by the Group Scout Council at their AGM. There must be a maximum of six elected members

c) The nominated members of a Group Trustee Board are persons nominated by the Group Scout Leader, in consultation with the Group Chair. The nominations must be approved at the Group Annual General Meeting. The number of nominated members must not exceed the actual number of elected members.

d) The co-opted members of a Group Trustee Board are persons coopted annually by the Group Trustee Board. The number of co-opted members must not exceed the actual number of elected members.

e) The District Commissioner, the District Chair and the County Commissioner each have the right of attendance at meetings of each of the Group Trustee Boards in the Districts in the County

OBJECTIVES & ACTIVITIES

The Purpose of Scouting

Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.

The Values of Scouting

As Scouts we are guided by these values:

Integrity - We act with integrity; we are honest, trustworthy and loyal.

Respect - We have self-respect and respect for others.
Care - We support others and take care of the world in which we live.
Belief - We explore our faiths, beliefs and attitudes.
Co-operation - We make a positive difference; we cooperate with others and make friends.

The Scout Method

Scouting takes place when young people, in partnership with adults, work together based on the values of Scouting and:

enjoy what they are doing and have fun
take part in activities indoors and outdoors
learn by doing
share in spiritual reflection
take responsibility and make choices
undertake new and challenging activities
make and live by their Promise.
1st St. Leonards Forest Group Constitution

As adopted from POR section 5.4, the group will always adopt this section as updated:

This constitution describes the role, membership and operation of the Scout Council, and the Trustee Board.

In the interest of openness, especially for new members of the Scout Council, the Scout Council should re-adopt their constitution at each Annual General Meeting.

The Scout Council - membership

The Scout Council is the body which has charity governance responsibility for Scouting in the Group, District or County. The Trustee Board is accountable to the Scout Council.

Membership of the Scout Council does not provide membership of the Scouts. There are four categories of membership of each Scout Council:

a) Ex officio

b) Nominated

c) Co-opted (only for the County Scout Council)

d) Right of attendance

A Secretary must ensure that nominated and co-opted Scout Council Members are recorded in the minutes of the Scout Council meeting which is normally the Annual General Meeting. Nominated and co-opted Scout Council members must not be recorded on The Scout Association’s

membership system.

Ex officio Scout Council members must not be recorded as Scout Council Members on The Scout Association’s membership system.

Group Scout Council membership The ex officio members of the Group Scout Council are:

a) all adult members of the Group

b) all Patrol Leaders of the Troop(s) in the Group

c) parents or carers of Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts

d) Explorers, if so stated in a Partnership Agreement between the Unit, the Group and the District

e) parents and carers of Explorers, if so stated in a Partnership Agreement

between the Unit, the Group and the District

f) the Sponsoring Authority, where there is one, or its nominee

g) the District Commissioner

h) the District Trustee Board Chair

The nominated members of the Group Scout Council are other supporters of the Group appointed by the Group Scout Council on the recommendation of the Group Scout Leader and the Group Trustee Board. The number of nominated members must not exceed the number of ex officio members.

A nominated member of the Group Scout Council must be appointed for a fixed period not exceeding three years. Subsequent reappointments are permitted.

The County Commissioner has a right of attendance at all Group Scout Council meetings in the County.