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2022-08-31-accounts

Grove Scout Group

AGM 2022

https://www.kascouts.org.uk/our-groups/grove-scout-group

Chairman Report

My apologies for not being with you in person at this years AGM, another hat I wear is as a rugby coach is in an Oxfordshire County cup final, so I will be nervously pacing a touchline. But I leave you in good hands today with Andrew, Tracy and the rest of the team.

Please pass on my thanks to the Explorer Scouts who will have cooked our bacon and egg butties again. From memory these always seem to taste that much better on camp.

Where has this past year gone, another year has passed and we are here once again at our annual AGM and what a difference a year makes.

The big difference is that you will be reading this at the end of an amazing group camp here at Youlbury. I’m certain all who attended will have had the most amazing experience and made some great memories, if a now a little tired…

The committee and I are glad to have been able to subsidise this event so that as many young people as possible could take part. We see the need to subsidise activities, particularly for those families who are feeling the economic pinch the hardest as an increasing theme this coming year.

With this in mind we are very pleased to again report that we will continue to offer bursary support those most in need, so as not miss out on the Scout experience through cost.

To that end I have two requests for all group members;

So, on to the 2021/22 Chairmans report, a snapshot of the past 12 months and our ambitions for the next.

Looking forward

I would like to say thank you myself as this will be my last AGM as Chairman - after 4 years and with children at an age and commitments that are moving away from Scouting, it is time for me to start handing over the helm to someone else a little closer to the group. It has been a fantastic few years (albeit challenging with Covid thrown into the mix), but I am so pleased to see that the group and its future, looking healthier than ever and with so much to look forward to in the years ahead. This is due to all the section leaders, committee members, parent volunteers, parents and of course the children involved - thank you to you all for making this group what it is.

In closing my report, I would like to record our thanks for the support we received recently from a local resident who very generously left a substantial donation to the group in his will.

Mr Harry Robey, as a group we would like to say a huge thank you and let you know that your donation will make a huge difference to all in the area who will have access to our new building.

Andrew Hancock

The Chairman

Group Scout Leader Report

The leader team and I went into 2022 excited by the opportunity to get back to our pre-COVID ways of Scouting. Doing that safely and with new Beavers, Cubs and Scouts who had little or no memory of being in that section before COVID was more demanding and exhausting than we anticipated. That said, you will see from the section reports that follow, an amazing year of fun, friends and adventure was delivered.

This is my seventh AGM report as GSL and has been by far the hardest to write. I am delighted by the way the group bounced back during 2022, numbers of young people increased by 25% and will likely do so again this year. We have welcomed a steady stream of new adult volunteers working with our young people and long may that continue. I can’t however help feeling frustrated and impatient to get back on track the things that I am certain we would have achieved by now were it not for the distractions of COVID. Our new building is top of that list but there is also more to do to make sure that we are making best use of our assets, equipment and driving collaboration across our leader teams.

So, this GSL report focusses primarily not on what has gone before, but on what lies ahead of us.

As we look ahead, with Linda, Fiona, Tracey, John, Garry and I each supported in our roles as section leader by at least three able assistants we are in a great place to deliver increasingly wonderful experiences to our young people. Please continue to support those section leaders and their teams with your positivity (always) and your time when you can – many hands really do make light work!

From a group management perspective at a committee level, we are far less blessed with resource, we need to refresh and enlarge our group management committee if we are to successfully pursue all of the opportunities that lie ahead of us which include but are not limited to:

  1. Build a new HQ

  2. Successfully open at least one Squirrel Drey

  3. Add back a third Cub Pack

  4. Enhance the potential of the Scout Garden

Scouting is cyclical, it has been since 1907, and the great thing about it is that there are always new young people looking for wild experiences and skills for life . But to meet this cyclical need we need to stay focussed on refreshing and resetting what we do. At the AGM you will hear from Anne from the Scout Association about the types of help we are looking for to take Grove Scout Group forward into the next phase.

I appreciate all of our volunteers and member families greatly, thank you for celebrating our successes and tolerating our shortcomings. No team of volunteers will ever be perfect, but we are absolutely blessed with the team we have in Grove and I remain convinced that there are few stronger Scouting Communities anywhere in the UK.

Special final mention to Steve Fray who has willingly and seamlessly slotted into the role of Acting Section Leader for Buffalo Beavers allowing Linda to enjoy a well-earned trip to the other side of the world. You and the team have done an amazing job, thank you.

Yours in Scouting as always

Andrew

Grove Scout Group

Annual General Meeting Sunday 23[rd] April 2023 12.30pm Group Camp – Youlbury

AGENDA

  1. Welcome and introductions

  2. Apologies for absence

  3. Approval of Minutes of the 2021 AGM

  4. The Group Scout Council to receive and consider the annual report and Accounts

  5. Approval of the Group Scout Leader’s nomination of the Group Chair

  6. Election of the Group Secretary

  7. Election of the Group Treasurer

  8. Election of members of the Group Scout Council to the Group Executive Committee

  9. Appointment of Independent Examiner

  10. Presentation of trophies and awards

  11. a. Beaver of the year award

  12. b. Akelas’ cub challenge trophy

  13. c. The Simon James trophy

  14. d. Dave Beamont Adult contribution trophy

  15. AOB

  16. a. Next committee meeting Tuesday 23[rd] May 2023

  17. Close of meeting

Minutes of Grove Scout Group AGM

Saturday 21[st] May 2022 10.30am @ Grove Scout Garden, Grove C of E School

1. Welcome and Apologies:

Present: A list was collated of those present; this will be kept with the Secretary’s copy of the AGM minutes.

Apologies: Wendy Tatham (County Commissioner), Abbe Irving (Treasurer) and others listed on the attendees list kept with the Secretary’s copy.

Andrew S welcomed all to the first AGM in the new Scout Garden which is a secure outdoor space. It was a challenge to meet over lockdown and this outdoor area allowed us to get back to face to face sooner.

2. Approval of minutes of 2020 AGM

The minutes of the 2020 minutes were available for those present to read and sent out prior to the meeting. Approved by Andrew Shapland and seconded by Emma Nickerson.

3. Nomination of Chairman

Andrew was happy to announce that Andrew Hancock will continue in his role of Chairman this year.

4. Chair’s Introduction

This is an amazing space. Thanks to everyone for coming to the event which is much nicer than meeting over zoom. There are boards which show what sections have been doing over the last year. A special welcome to June Stock (Grove Parish Chair) and the Explorers who were preparing the food.

Whilst reading the AGM report, I can see many statements that showed adaptability, resilience and overcoming challenges. Scouting brings everyone together as a community. Thanks to all the volunteers and Leaders for all the work they put in.

5. GSL Report

Firstly, and sadly, we pause for a moment to remember Simon Good. Simon, one of our Assistant Cub Leaders sadly died last year in his early 50’s. Those of us who volunteered with Simon and those Cubs and Scouts who had Simon as a leader miss him and we continue to send our love and thoughts to his wife Kath.

Next, I would like to thank the numerous new volunteers who showed up to help us emerge successfully from Covid. There are too many to mention. My biggest single memory of those new volunteers was on a Tuesday evening when I invested three new Beaver leaders; an 18-year-old who had grown up through our group, the mother of a Beaver and a grandfather of a Beaver returning to Scouting after a 20-year break.

Our young people are so fortunate to have leaders with diverse and interesting perspectives and life experiences.

Our established and experienced leader team tackled the complexity and uncertainty of providing Covid safe experiences brilliantly. I am so proud of them and grateful to them.

Across the country almost 20% of Scout groups remain closed. The fact that all our sections were not only open, but thriving is testament to our team. Please join me in thanking our wonderful volunteers. Special thanks to Bev Ayling for her 10 years’ service as membership secretary and Emma Nickerson for taking over the role.

Our team are rewarded for our efforts through the attitudes and behaviours of the adaptable, wonderful positive children in front of us every week. I would like to thank them for everything they did to put Covid in its place.

Unexpectedly and mainly thanks to various Government grants, we accumulated a significant financial surplus over the last 2 years. None of us are taking that for granted. We are continuing to make conscious decisions about how and when the surplus is reinvested.

Looking ahead there are five things that I would like to achieve, and I am asking for your help. I’d like you to help me by sharing these priorities with people who are not here and letting them know how that their help would be welcome. I’d also like you to let me know if you would be willing to spend some time working on one of these projects.

1- We have planning permission for a new building. That brings a project management and fundraising challenge. Thank you to Katie Hoddinot who will be taking part in Endure24 to raise money for our cause. Details of how to sponsor will be sent out. If there is something you think you can do to support our new building project, let us know.

2- To build on what we have started with the Scout Garden, there is a hidden area which can be used for den building and fire lighting.

3- We have potential to open one of Oxfordshire’s first Squirrel Dreys.

4- We need to increase new members. We have not returned to pre covid levels yet and enquiries from girls are low.

6. Treasurer report and presentation of accounts

The AGM pack was circulated to all prior to the meeting and a hard copy available to read on the day. Abbe Irving (treasurer) was unable to attend the meeting.

Appointment of independent examiner

Thanks to Terry Demain for checking the accounts for 2020/21. Terry will not be available to continue to independent examine the accounts moving forward.

7. Election of Officers

Andrew confirmed that those who hold a particular role in scouting are ex-officio members on the committee which includes section leaders who expressed a wish to be on the committee.

Ex officio members were confirmed as:

Andrew Hancock – Chair Tracey Beamont – Assistant Group Scout Leader Tracy Thomas – Secretary Kirsten Christensen – Scout Leader Abbe Irving – Treasurer John Ireland – Cub Leader Andrew Shapland – Group Scout Leader Linda Audas – Beaver Leader Existing elected executive members are:

Sue Wilson, Simon Atkin, Emma Nickerson and Paul Thompson

These were proposed by John Ireland and seconded by Tracey Beamont.

Thank you to the existing committee members for agreeing to stay on another year.

There was a break in the meeting at this point to enjoy the food cooked by the Shackleton Explorers and a chance to view all the boards with activities produced by each section.

8. Presentation of trophies and awards

- Outstanding contributions by an Adult

Outstanding contribution by an adult was presented to Tracy Thomas by June Stock.

There were ten nominees.

Eva Breakspear – Buffalo Beaver

She always tries her best and always demonstrates the qualities of what a Beaver Scout should be.

Oscar Pryde – Buffalo Beaver

He has gone from watching the games from the side to being right in the middle of the mix! He is friendly and helpful and has so much energy and enthusiasm.

Caden Thomas – Buffalo Beaver

Just to be nominated and recognised (for his record attendance really!). Caden has matured and has become a thoughtful member of the colony.

Einar Christensen, Harris Beavan, Zander Dalgleish, Max Shapland, Samarth Patange, Isaac Clarke and Benjamin Cleaver – Silver Beavers

All of them achieved the quite unusual Activity Plus awards for going beyond their badge requirements.

The award was presented to Eva Breakspear

- Akela’s cub challenge trophy

There were four nominations for this award.

Savanah Eason

She had already been a confident Cub for some time! Her positive engagement inspired others to joinin, creating a foundation for this Cub to become a strong leader in our pack.

Jodie Miles

One of our quieter Cubs, who communicated more than most with their smile. Quiet, but confident too. Qualities that made this Cub an amazing Sixer.

Martim Pinto

A natural entertainer, he engages 100%, finding ways to make every session energetic and fun – even if it’s not their favourite thing.

Ethan Seale

He has really found his feet since as we’ve been able to get back to meeting in-person. He has grown in confidence and begun to tread the path for others to follow.

The trophies were awarded to three of the nominees: Savannah, Martim and Ethan

Simon James (known as ACE) died in an accident on the A338 at the age of 21. Simon went from a 1[st] Grove Beaver to becoming a Leader. He had a passion for scouting, for young people and putting back into the community. He became a Queen scout and was an inspiration for others to follow in his footsteps.

There were three nominees:

Oliver Purcell – Red Kite Scout

He transferred from Blackbird to Red Kite Scouts when the section was first formed. His attitude, behaviour and pragmatism set an example for his peers.

Sophie Mack – Red Kite Scout

Without ever being asked, and still only being 11 herself, she showed leadership and determination to set an example and make sure that the whole group participated in activities together as equals. This behaviour has continued since her promotion to patrol leader.

Lizzie Ireland – Blackbird Scout

She has gone the extra mile and completed the Stuart Ray challenge as the only scout from Blackbirds. Lizzie always contributes at each session even when she might struggle with a task - she always gives it a go and tries her best.

The award was presented to: Lizzie Ireland

9. Any other business

Andrew H thanked the Explorers, for cooking and serving the Brunch.

The date for the next executive committee meeting will be 20[th] June 2022 and will be communicated to all committee members later.

Meeting closed at 11.50am.

Silver Beavers Report

The beginning of the Autumn term saw us using the hut alternately with the Red Kites Scout Section. That has worked so far, but with the nights closing in and it being very dark about the hut the leader team have had to change some of the activities. Our welcome back reminded everyone of the rules of the hut and safety in the event of a fire. The Disability badge was completed in an evening, with having just had the Paralympic games, three of the Beavers did some home research on 3 different Paralympians and shared their findings with us.

The new Money Skills badge was explored at the meeting and Peter discussed compasses and we had some local maps out on the tables and located

buildings like schools and places of worship and bus stations and railway lines, for the next meeting. White Horse Dragons came to show us their lovely reptiles and we were allowed to hold them if we wanted to. Fun was had when we

tried to carry an albino python; it took 4-5 beavers, it was so heavy! Many Beavers now want a snake or a lizard as a pet! (Not sure their parents are too willing!!) Glow sticks were used for a wide game to find a beaver in the dark. We actually had to wait for darkness to play this properly!! The final meeting before half term we found out about compasses and how they work and used them out on a short walk. Which ended up outside the chip shop in Millbrook Square!!

After the half-term break, we returned to looking at Dia de los Muertos – not quite like the Disney film, but certainly learning a bit about Mexico and

tasting some Mexican food and trying out some crafts. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving Day by looking at where Beaver Scouts started, the Country of Canada and learnt to say the Beaver Scout Promise in French. At the weekend we headed to Youlbury for a sleepover to do lots of activities that were needed to gain the badges for the Chief Scout’s Bronze Award.

Back home, we were on parade in Denchworth with Buffalo Beavers for Remembrance Day. The leaders were all very proud of the Beavers for looking exceedingly smart and standing so still during the 2 minutes silence without fidgeting. The villagers do like to see us parade through the village! Our following meeting took us to St. John’s church to complete some of the elements to the Faith Activity Badge. We had a fantastic evening making Lego models at the Toy Planet in town, and I am sure that there were some very sad faces when it was time to head for home! The date for St. Andrew’s Day actually fell on our meeting night so we found out about St. Andrew and his relationship to Scotland, we took the opportunity to try some Scottish foods and drink and play some of the games from the Highland Games and ended with making a Loch Ness Monster in air drying clay.

Our last meeting of term had a special visit from a great man in Red and we made some Christmas decorations to take home for our trees. Other

Christmas events saw us attend the Christingle service at St. John the Baptist Church in Grove at the invitation of Grove Girlguiding District. Always a lovely prelude to the Christmas festivities season.

We also went to Hungerford to find Santa on the ‘Rose of Hungerford’ where we had a great time

and met the great man himself. The After Christmas Hike was a lovely walk in the semi snow from The White Horse to Wayland’s Smithy and back.

The first meeting in the New Year saw us back in the hut with the Beavers working out their own code of Conduct and the second meeting we spent outdoors following trails in the dark and ended up in a new play area sorting out some problems. Everyone enjoyed this meeting in the dark as there were no streetlights at all! We spent an evening showing and telling each other about our hobbies and our collections for the two Activity badges of the same name! The Chinese New Year of the Tiger was celebrated at the next meeting and we made some Chinese lanterns and listened to the story of the animals in and from the Chinese Horoscope.

Teeth and Oral Health was the next subject of the following meeting and we had fun using disclosing tablets to find plaque. Again, we were outside for the meeting before half term looking to see if we could find signs that Spring was on its way! Back in the hut once more, learning to cook pancakes on camping burners. That was followed by two meetings covering First Aid Staged Activity Badge, and a trip to the Funky Teapot in town to make our Mothering Sunday Gifts in between. The following meeting we were out learning how to cross roads safely and looking at pedestrian crossings and what is there for people with sight and hearing impairments. Back in the hut for the meeting before Easter with an Easter Egg Hunt with a difference – no chocolate!! But they all had an Easter Egg to go home with!!

So, onto the summer term and we had meetings back as normal, pre Covid, in the hut when we wanted to be! Wahoo! We started with writing letters to the Queen congratulating her on her Platinum Jubilee and thanking her for being our patron. We had a very exciting visit to Wantage Fire Station where we were shown over the Fire Engine and watched how they used their cutters to rescue people from a crashed car and at the end of the visit we were allowed to hold the hose and turn the water on and off! Huge fun!! Gardening skills were learnt at the next meeting and how to plant seeds, safety with gardening tools and took

home a pamphlet to complete as the various activities were completed at home for the Gardner’s Activity Badge. Junk modelling followed at the next meeting. This is always a fun evening and lots of imagination running riot! We went litter picking at the last meeting before half term so that the area was clean for the jubilee picnic. Thanks to Wantage Girl Guides and Abbe for the use of their litter pickers and gloves.

We had a visit from a Letcombe Brook Guide who showed us that the brook is not just water running through the village! Lots of little wiggly things in the water! We had a one-night sleepover in the hut again getting those elements sorted towards the Bronze Award. Peter ran an evening on things that a pirate needed to know, and all the Beavers and Leaders came down in pirate costumes and at the next meeting we showed our acting skills when we acted out a sport for the Colony to guess what sport they were acting out! We attended Ray’s Carnival, in the parade in town parading around the market square three times! We had a family campfire evening at Youlbury and used their woods for a sensory trail and the following week were back in our hut for an evening of experiments with Trudi. The last night of the summer term is always a water night with water games and the traditional water blasters at the end! No one is safe from getting wet!!

Thank you to our Leader Team, Fiona, Trudi, Peter, Ben and Ida, who have been fabulous and without all their hard work and dedication, the Colony would not be the fun it is. Thank you!

I would also like to thank Caleb Gill and Luke Seale for being our Young Leaders, and it has been great to see both become brilliant Young Leaders and it has been great to see them both blossom from being quite shy to being confident young men able to deal with anything put their way. Thank you, Caleb and Luke.

Lastly, I would like to thank all those parents who have helped the leader team out and for their support.

Fiona Stovold BSL

Silver Beaver Colony

Buffalo Beavers Report

This was the year when we returned to normality, with only a few activities taking place on-line compared to the previous 12 months. The first term alternated evenings in the hut with outdoor activities due to covid restrictions, but we managed to cover lots of exciting activities including a conker collecting walk at the Harwell Campus, a camp, a torchlit walk on the Ridgeway, and a chance to build models of star constellations out of skewers and marshmallows, which proved both educational and delicious…

The spring term gave us a chance to visit the leisure centre and the beavers were able to burn off some Christmas calories in the play area. We then put lots of calories back on at a Burns/Scottish night in the hut, with helpings of haggis, neeps and tatties and some tartan designing. In February we had a sleep-over in the

hut which everyone enjoyed. There wasn’t as much

sleeping as leaders had hoped for,

with beavers shining torches out their tents like mini lighthouses until after midnight and wakening before the adults as usual. We had a couple of crafting sessions too and squeezed in some hikes on the Ridgeway, and from Hanney to the chip shop.

During the summer term, the beavers had a great

evening in Steventon Woods, making dens and looking for all the little doors hidden around the area. They

learned about knots (with edible laces) so there was no evidence of their success at the end of the evening. We visited the Parkinson’s Garden at Ardington and, suitably inspired, we built a bug hotel in the grounds of Grove C of E school. The week before, the beavers learned about

emergency aid which, thankfully, was not needed during the hotel building.

We camped at Youlbury, and the beavers learned to make fire using a variety of techniques which

they hopefully didn’t practice at home afterwards. The summer term finished

with a trio of outdoor events including games in Wantage, a summer walk and the usual shorts and shades party with lots of water and fun.

Linda and I once again would like to say a massive thank you to the assistant leaders, Simon, Sarah, Jo, and Roisin without whom Buffalo Beavers would not take place.

As most parents know Linda headed south for 6 months, just before the start of the Autumn 2022 term, and we have been really lucky to have additional leader help from our newest recruit, Paul Everest and also Phil Miles who has managed to support two separate Scout group sections from September 2022 to March 2023. But that’s a story for next year’s report….

Jaguar Cubs Report

Jaguar Cubs have grown in numbers and have enjoyed activities ranging from: photography demonstrations ,local knowledge walk ,visit from Abingdon astronomy society ,visit from Bright Sparks for our scientist badge, cooking and eating food for Chinese New Year , visiting Funky Teapot , as well as the Jaguar and Falcon cubs annual tradition of a campfire and wide game in the Summer at Youlbury.

In the future we are looking forward to a visit to the fire station, as well as our long-awaited Joint cub camp in the Autumn with Falcon cubs.

A big thank you to all Jaguar Cubs and leaders for a fun packed year.

Thank you to the Jaguar leaders for your flexibility, loyalty and support.

The Leader team:

Bagheera -Jenny

Shere Khan- James

Akela -Tracey.

Falcons Cubs Report

Moving on

2021/22 saw many changes as we moved on from lockdowns and onto living with COVID. As restrictions were lifted, we resumed lots of our favourite activities, and were able get back to some of our favourite venues and facilities as they reopened. To keep things safe, we preserved measures such as meeting in smaller groups, activity plans that reduced infection risks, and intensified cleaning.

Climbing has always been a staple of Falcon Cubs, so it was a delight to see everyone back on the ropes at Rockstars in Swindon. As things continued to open up, we were able to get back to the bigger challenges of abseiling, Jacob’s ladder and crate stacking at Youlbury Scout Adventures.

Swimming is another firm favourite. The impact of the last 2 years really hit home here though. Many of our local swimming

centres have stopped or reduced their open-access swim sessions. This made it harder to arrange but made us very aware of the importance of Scouting in providing access to these activities for a wide range of young people. The other impact was that lockdown meant that most of our Cubs hadn’t done much, if any, previous swimming. It was great fun to get splashing around for all!

Activities such as cooking, camping and pioneering have all benefited too as we’ve been able to increase our use of shared equipment.

Trying new things

The challenges of previous years had forced us to try new things – and we were really keen to continue this.

In 2022 a new activity badge “Money Skills” was introduced for Cubs. We ran a completely new evening on this, learning about budgeting, international exchange rates, cultures and attitudes around money, and avoiding common scams.

We went to new places. Badbury Clumps was awesomely dark and broody when we did our night-time orienteering session. We enjoyed using the varied flora to help us navigate in the dark and learned to remain calm amongst the noises and spooky eyes of birds, deer and rabbits.

We were also able to establish new partnerships. An activity we’d had on hold since 2019 was to visit the Space Store in Didcot. And we finally made it there! SpaceStore have so much knowledge, and loads of educational technology, to truly bring the Astronomer activity badge to life for our Cubs. We experience virtual reality space walks, tried on spacesuits, and used augmented reality to learn about spacecraft, planets and constellations.

Making friends

Meeting in larger groups again has enabled us to make friends with new people.

In July 2022 we had a joint Cubs evening with Jaguar Cubs. Wide games in the undergrowth of Youlbury were followed with hotdogs and squash in the summer warmth.

By mid-July we were off to Summer Camp with Blackbird Scouts. This was the hottest camp ever for most of us, with some delightful shade from the trees we were camping in. It was superb to see Cubs and Scouts entertaining

each other around the campfire and sharing stories and skills throughout the event.

Looking to the future

Falcon Cubs has been operating as a larger Cub pack since 2020 when were joined by our friends from Bulldog Cubs for online meetings. This was a great way to keep Cubs running during lockdown but has raised several challenges since we’ve been meeting in person again. These range from simple things like the capacity of the hut for our meetings and the complexity of running split sessions, to subtle but essential things like the ability of our leaders and young people to get to know each other and work in partnership to support personal development.

During Spring term 2023, our leadership team considered options for the future of Falcon Cubs. These included continuing as a larger Cub pack, splitting back into two separate Cub packs, meeting as two “sub-sections” but with shared activities and leaders, and returning to 2019 membership levels.

We looked at many factors. Two of the most important are ensuring the quality of the Cubs experience that we offer and providing a safe and varied programme.

The leader team has agreed that, for now, Falcon Cubs will move back to a typical membership of around 24 Cubs. We will also provide support to help establish a new Cub pack and leader team as/when there is sufficient demand.

Alongside this, we also have a number of changes within our leader team. We are fortunate to have a good number of leaders to plan and organise sessions. However there are times when work and family commitments mean that we don’t have enough leaders available on a Wednesday to run our sessions safely. We are very grateful to parents who have joined us on a rota to cover this. If you’ve enjoyed helping out, and could make a more regular commitment on a Wednesday (or know someone else who could) then please do get in touch: johnireland@kascouts.org.uk. If you’d like to help but can’t make regular Wednesday evenings then please get in touch too - there are lots of other ways you can still help!

Thank you to everyone who made Falcon Cubs great fun in 2021/22!

Akela Kaa and the Falcon Cubs Leaders

Red Kite Scouts Report

We also had an unexpectedly wet Expedition Camp in early July where the Scouts demonstrated great determination and resilience to carry heavy

It is an absolute privilege to be involved with Red Kites Scouts. The growth and transformation that we have seen since 2019 despite the challenges of COVID is something for the Young People and the Leader Team to be really proud of.

packs up and down slippery hills and through seemingly neverending forests. We know

Unbelievably, 2022 was the first full year Red Kites has been able to meet without any COVID disruption since it was launched. So rather than getting “back to normal” we were instead working out what “normal” might be.

By the end of 2022 we had 25 Scouts and that will creep up a little further in the year ahead before our initial bunch of Red Kites start to turn 14.5 when hopefully they will want to move on to Explorers.

from the reports that they produced afterwards that the Scouts enjoyed themselves despite the challenges and learned a lot about themselves and each other!

We’ve been pleased to welcome a couple of new friends at the start of 2023 when they moved to us following the closure of Blackbird Troop and we’re really looking forward to working more closely with the Seagull leader team to deliver the best possible range of opportunities for all of our Scouts.

The highlight of our Red Kites year was our week long trip to Kent International Scout Jamboree where we shared an amazing experience with more than 3,500 other Scouts. The photos below tell a better story from that event than I could in words.

Thank you to all our parents and carers for the generous support and positivity that we get from you and for continuing to encourage the young people to stretch their horizons.

Andrew, Nicola, Phil, Rachel and Steve

Red Kites Leader Team 2022

Seagull Scouts Report

The highlight of the Seagull sessions over the past year or so have been varied to say the least! We’d started the year with 12 Scouts and will have 21 when we start back after the Easter break! Some of the numbers have come from Blackbird Scouts transferring to us, whilst we’ve also been joined by a lot of Cubs joining us as well.

We ended the spring / summer term last year with an Archery session over at Harwell Campus with the Harlequin Bowmen. It was a lovely sunny

evening where the scouts released their inner “Robin Hoods” and spent a couple of hours

losing arrows at various targets. Really good fun, and something we’ll have to organise again.

We followed this with a session of pioneering over at Youlbury, building Flintstones style carts and racing them around the field… along with a camp fire and toasted marshmallows (it’d be rude not to really!). We’d built several rope bridges behind the hut leading up to this as practice!

A final session of water rockets rounded off the year before we finished for the summer holidays.

Our first session back after the summer break was a joint meeting with the Blackbirds and Red Kites over at Youlbury, with a large wide game in the dark. Great fun and a good way of getting the three troops to mix together.

We had a second joint meeting where the Scouts learnt about Harambee for Kenya – a charity that originally helped Kenyan Scouts look after street children, but now has two residential projects looking after 70 children - and made soap stone woggles, carving and shaping them by hand.

We again took part in the UK Parliament week, but as we only had around a dozen Scouts, we didn’t do our usual debating session, but instead ran a games evening – like giant snakes and ladders – with questions about how Government and Parliament works.

Just before Christmas, the Scouts had a session in Wantage Library where they built small projects using BBC Microbits, which are small – about half the size of a credit card – computers.

The year was rounded off with several sessions of Santa’s Sleigh around Grove.

To continue our Science them which started with the Microbits, we had a science session where we used a variety of citrus fruits to make electricity and light tup LED’s. Multiple lemons, grapefruits and oranges were joined together with wires, zinc and copper washers to see if we could make light! The Lemons seemed to be the best, particularly when they are daisy chained together.

The Scouts then started their model maker badges with a couple of sessions making Warhammer characters. Lots of gluing and painting took place. We need to follow this up with a gaming session!

We rounded off the term with a cooking session, our third of the year where the scouts made Curry’s, Chilli’s, Risotto’s and Paellas. Previously we’ve had sessions cooking pancakes and Fajita’s as well!

Coming back after the half term break saw the Seagull numbers almost double when we had several Scouts from Blackbirds join us along with two new Scouts joining us from Cubs!

Our first session was spent as a get to know you

session with the Scouts making ropes from toilet paper. There was lots of disbelief at the start, but we ended up making a

rope that was almost strong enough for the entire troop to use for a tug of war, when that broke the two halves that were left were strong enough to support half the troop!

We followed this with a sandwich making session… with a twist! The Scouts had to write a set of instructions to make a jam sandwich. The leaders then followed the instructions explicitly to see if they worked. Let’s just say that there were some odd-looking sandwiches being made.

Leading up to half term we had a couple of sessions of problem solving, the first involved following clues to determine why being in the hut

was making people feel ill. The Scouts had clues to follow, along with witness’s (Leaders) who they could interview, to figure out that the cause was a (pretend!!) gas issue that was causing the hut to fill up with Carbon Monoxide. It was good seeing the Scouts work in small teams to work out what was going on.

Our second problem solving session involved making a tower to support a tennis ball, the team with the tallest tower won the competition. The building materials that

the scouts with made this more difficult though as they were only allowed to use uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows! Some of the teams realised early on that if they ate the marshmallows then they couldn’t build a tower. Oops.

Our last session of the term had the Scouts making models from tin foil. In pairs they were given a description of something they had to model and a roll of foil. At the end of the session a vote was made between the leaders and one of the Parents who we roped in (thanks Michelle) with a bag of sweets going to the winners (although everyone had some in the end!).

Blackbird Scouts Report

Looking back over the last year for Blackbird Air Scouts there are so many highlights and good memories. Our Scout are growing and developing their skills.

In the beginning of the year we did our own winter Challenge and walked 18 miles with beautiful views but also a lot more up and downs than the ‘normal’ Winter challenge. The leader team was really impressed with how all the Scouts that took part were resilient and supported each other to pull through.

Scouts also planned several of their own sessions and stepped up and led an evening of having fun with their friends. They undertook a big project over several session building a bird house from planks.

We spent a weekend in bivvies at a Beaver camp and for some it was their first night away. We also

joined Cubs. It was great to see our Scouts stepping up and engage with the younger sessions. We were really amazed with the

Scouts that conquered their fears of spiders and removed about 20 spiders from their tent.

We have tried to build over own marble run with recycled materials, meeting the police while on a scavenger hunt through Wantage, going on an incident hike and having to deal with different first aid scenarios and not least getting drench at the final session before the summer holidays.

During the autumn we were preparing to go to the County Patrol camp. It was a great camp where teamwork was key to success. The last session for Blackbirds were a fun evening on an indoor golf course.

A huge “Thank You!” goes to the rest of the leader team for their time and support to run our sessions. Your help and support are greatly valued. As a leader team we can only deliver a great programme by working together. I would also like to thank our parents who always step up each time we ask for help.

Kirsten Christensen.

Grove Air Scouts: Blackbird Troop.

“Roger and Out!”

Shackleton Explorers Report

We have settled down with numbers in the high teens which has been a good number for us to do Scouting with.

The Explorers continue to plan the programme themselves with the leaders support.

We have been on many night hikes; played wide games across the District; went fire lighting up at Youlbury; dusted off our old board games; Warhammered; sewed; pioneered (small and large); played online games – anything the young people want to do and we can support with!

Congratulations to Idun in getting her Chief Scout Platinum award this year – it’s our first one since the lockdown restrictions – so very well done Idun especially given the backdrop of Covid!

their continued support – and thanks to Kristen and Diana for both stepping in when needed and to the parents for lugging Explorers here, there and everywhere – it truly is appreciated.

Looking forward to another jam-packed year of Scouting!

Paul Steptoe – Explorer Scout Leader – February 2022

My thanks as ever to Jeppe Christensen – without his skill set we couldn’t function; also thanks to Grove Scout Group and the King Alfred District for

Membership Report

These are the membership numbers as of 16th April 2023.

Scouts 46 Cubs 46 Beavers 34 Squirrels 9

Total members = 135

We have been going through the list and moving young people on as soon as we have been able to.

There seems to have been lots of interest in our new Squirrel Dray and Beavers since the recruitment talk at the local school.

So we therefore now have a healthy joining list of young people waiting to join our group when spaces are available.

All new applications should be routed through the District Membership Secretary, Lynn Pembroke.

Emma Nickerson

Membership Secretary, Grove Scout Group

Treasurer Report

The Group’s financial performance was in line with expectations and with the previous year. We operated with a very small surplus by the end of the year which is explained by the fact that our fundraising performance was better than expected.

The changes between year ending August 2021 and year ending August 2022 that you will see in the accounts over the following pages are all broadly related to COVID as follows:

  1. We received less in COVID related grants.

  2. We improved fundraising performance because fundraising which was paused could be restarted.

  3. We incurred higher cleaning costs as we were cleaning our building more often and more thoroughly,

  4. Camping restarted, and as such income and expenditure related to camping increased significantly.

On a personal note, due to changes at work, I feel that the Treasurer role now deserves more time than I can give. I would like to start sharing this role with someone else (or more than one person) as soon as possible with a view to gradually handing it over. I believe we have good systems and methodologies in place and therefore the role is not one to be scared of, if anyone would like to talk it through with me then please do get in touch.

Abbe - Group Treasurer

Grove Scout Group Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31 August 2022 31/08/2022 31/08/2021 Cash Funds Property Development Account Bank Current Account Cash Float £70,416 £25,862 £20 £96.298 £70,186 £24,459 £0 £94,645 Other Monetary Assets Debtors Clothing Stock Equipment £0 £402 £559 £0 £585 £380 Total Assets £97,260 £95,610 Liabililities due within one year Creditors Total Liabilities £0 £0 £0 £0 Total Net Assets £97,260 £95,610 Nates o theaccounts Equipment The group owns vark)u$ iterns of camping equrpment, which 15 insured for £23,000. Equipment recognlsed as J a55et ot) the Statement Df Asset and Liabilities. if the cost Isgreater than £500. JI equipment at 31108122 ha5 nil NBVapèrtfromthe BBQpurchosed this year. Gronts £1500 restrlcted grant from Oxfordshire County Council (received in 20141 for Ground sUNe￿ remains un £2,997 Omlcorn Hospitality grantwas reteived from Vale ol Whr(e Hor￿ Distrlct Council in 20211221£9.90 In 20201211. There were no reStr￿tionS on howthis moneycould be spent. Other Census is collectsd annually in April and payments passed to District (Apr 2022-£6519 Apr 2021- £60851 In the financial year ending 315t August 2021 and Au8 2022, no Gift Aid claims were clalmed and wlll be cla Payrnents receivedvia OSMIGocardfes5 are re£orded net Df their transactional fees. These fees totalled E7 The above re￿Ipts and payments accounts and statement of a55ets and liabilit￿5 were approved bytheTri Chair Treasurer Andrew Hancock Abbe Irwing Date.. Date.. 23.05.2023 23- 2013

Grove Scout Group Receipts & Payments accounts for year ended 31st August Receipts Year Ended 3ty0812022 Year ended 3110812021 Donations, legacies and similar income Membership Subscriptions les5 refund5 Less.. Membership subscriptions pald on IDistrictl Net Membership subscriptions retained Donation5 Legacies GiftAid £15,238 1£6,5191 £8,719 £247 £0 £0 £8,966 £14,811 IE6,0851 £8.726 £65 £0 £0 £8,791 Grants OtherGrant5 £2,667 £2.667 £17.907 £17,907 Sertion Activltles Camp Fees Events Section Meetings Badges Necker ￿leS EIO,013 £537 £161 £6 £199 £10,916 £188 £52 £71 £0 £156 £467 Fundralsln8 Fundraising Santa's Sleigh Xrnas Post VOWH Lottery Clothl £653 £2,288 £18 £909 E224 £4,09Z E663 £i.oii £278 £0 £1,951 other Income Hall Hire Other Incorne £50 £0 É50 E450 £0 £450 In¥estrnent income I￿e[Ved Bank Interest £230 £230 £179 £179 Total Gross Income £26,921 £29,745 Asse¢ & investment Sales EO £0 Total Receipts £26,921 £29,745

Grove Scout Group Receipts & Payments accounts for year ended 31st August Payments Year ended 3110812022 Year ended 3110812021 Premises (Currenl Hut) Rent Services Insurance Other hut cost and Malntenance Cleaning £0 £229 £1,349 £408 £2,033 £4,019 £0 £829 £1.306 £96 £554 £2,785 Prernise5 INew Hut) PlannlngApplicatlon Fees Architect fees Other Prole55ional Fees £0 £0 £2,338 £382 EO £2,720 £270 270 Premises (Garden Area at Grove CofEI Other Professional Fees £2,974 £2,974 £0 £0 Scotstlng Attl￿tle$ EKpendlture ScoutTroop Expenses Qmp5 Events International Contributions B8dges and Uniforrn OSM (less tranSaCt￿n fees) £3,216 £10,470 £637 £0 £1.365 £0 £15,688 £1,865 £36 £0 £0 £827 £179 £2,907 Other Expenditure Fundraising eKpen5es Marketing Expenses LeaderTraining AGM Expenses Equipment Sundry Payrnents E70 £0 £0 £0 £1.350 £89 £1,509 £275 £0 £0 £144 E21K) £267 £886 Totsl Gross Expenditure £24,460 £9,297 A55et,stock & Investment Purchase$ £808 EO Total Payments £25,268 £9.297 NET OF RECEIPTS/ IPAYMENTS) £1,653 £20,448 Cash funds at Start of year £94.645 E74,197 Cash fund5 at the end of year £96,298 £94,645

Johll Hedderley I l Miiiris Road C17uI'lei'ed Cei'lifiedAc.'cuiinlciiil Wantag¢ OXI? 7NA T¢l'. 01235 7641_38 F,mail: ji'l l @l&lkialk.liel Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Grove Scout Council. I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Grove Scout Group for the year ended 31 August 2022. Responsibilities and basis of report. As the charity trustees of the Grove 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 Grove Scout Group accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all of the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515) Ib) of the Act. Independent examinerfs 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: l. accounting records were not kept In respect of the Grove Scout Group as required by section 130 of the Act or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records: or 3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities { Accounts and Reports l Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ' true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. 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. l ?JJl El Ap,;1 £013