2024-03-31-accounts

Trustee’s Annual Report For the period from 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024

A. Reference and administration details

Charity name: 2[nd] Thatcham Scout Group Charity number: 279878 (England & Wales) Charity’s principal address: Memorial Playing Fields Brownsfield Thatcham RG18 3AG

Names of the Charity Trustees who managed the charity during the year (the “2[nd] Thatcham Executive Committee”):

Elected	Dan Danskin	Chairperson
	Jyoti Parmar	Treasurer
	Allison Pritchard	Secretary
	Caroline Coopey	GSL
Nominated members
	Nigel Doe	Quartermaster
Co-opted	Ben Tichband	Parent Rep (Forest Beavers)/Fundraising Team
Members	Vacant	Parent Rep (Great Oak Beavers)/Fundraising Team
	Vacant	Parent Rep (Rogers Cubs)/Fundraising Team
	Vacant	Parent Rep (Bostock Cubs)/Fundraising Team
	Rob Rugman	Parent Rep (Thor Scouts)/Fundraising Team
	Vacant	Youth Rep
Bankers: Lloyds Bank Thatcham Independent Examiner: Marc Alderman

The Scout Association Gilwell Park Chingford London E4 7QW

0345 300 1818 (UK) [phone] [e-mail].u scouts.org.uk

/scoutassociation @UKScouting

Patron: HM The Queen. President: HRH The Duke of Kent. Founder: Robert Baden-Powell OM. Chief Scout: Lt Cdr (Hon) Bear Grylls RN Registered Charity Numbers 306101 (England and Wales) and SC038437 (Scotland) Incorporated by Royal Charter.

B. Structure, governance and management

The Group’s governing documents are those of The Scout Association (Registered Charity number 306101).

They consist of a Royal Charter, which in turn gives authority to the Bye Laws of the Scout Association and the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association. The Group is established under The Scout Association’s rules, which are common to all Scout undertakings in the United Kingdom.

B.1 The 2[nd] Thatcham Executive Committee

The 2[nd] Thatcham Scouts started the year managed by the Group Executive Committee, the members of which are the Charity Trustees of the Scout Group and are appointed in accordance with the rules of The Scout Association.

During this year we have transitioned to a Trustee Board, details of this and how the trustees will operate going forward can be found in section F below

The Committee for this period consisted of three independent representatives - Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary - together with any Group Scout Leader(s), and parent representatives.

The Executive Committee meets at least 4 times each year and exists to support the Scout Group.

Members of the Group Executive Committee must act collectively as the Charity Trustees of the Group, and in the best interests of its members to:

• Ensure compliance with all relevant legislation;

• Comply with the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association;

• Protect and maintain any property and equipment owned or used by the Group;

• Manage the Group finances;

• Provide insurance for people, property and equipment;

• Provide sufficient resources for Scouting to operate. This includes, but is not limited to, supporting recruitment, other adult support, and fundraising activities;

• Promote and support the development of Scouting in the local area;

• Manage and implement the Safety Policy locally;

• Ensure that a positive image of Scouting exists in the local community;

• Appoint and manage the operation of any other sub-Committees, including appointing Chairmen to lead those sub-Committees;

• Ensure that Young People are meaningfully involved in decision making at all levels within the Group;

The Group Executive Committee must also:

• Appoint Administrators, Advisers, and Co-opted members of the Committee;

• Approve the Annual Report and Annual Accounts after their examination by an appropriate auditor, independent examiner or scrutineer;

• Present the Annual Report and Annual Accounts to the Group Scout Council at the Annual General Meeting and file a copy with the District Executive Committee;

• Maintain confidentiality with regard to appropriate Executive Committee business.

B.2 Internal controls

The Group Executive Committee has in place systems of internal controls that are designed to provide reasonable assurance against material mismanagement or loss of the Group’s property and money; these include two signatories for all bank payments.

C. Objectives and activities

The objectives of the Group are achieved by operating in accordance with the Purpose, Values and Method of Scouting and The Scout Association.

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

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 co-operate with others and make friends.

Scouting uses a Method, which is young people, in partnership with adults:

• enjoying what they are doing;

• learning by doing;

• participating in varied and progressive activities;

• making choices for themselves;

• taking responsibility for their own actions;

• working in groups;

• taking increasing responsibility for others;

• taking part in activities outdoors;

• sharing in prayer and worship;

• making and living out their Promise.

This Method is delivered mainly at Group level, through a weekly training programme and regular camps and activities for each age group (or “Section”). The Group supports this delivery mainly by providing programme advice and guidance for Section leaders; together with management advice and guidance for Group Scout Leaders and Group administrators.

The Group also provides camps, activities and fundraising opportunities for all members of the 2[nd] Thatcham Scout’s and contributes to the district activities.

D. Achievements and performance

D.1 Activities

2[nd] Thatcham Scout Group seems to go from strength to strength, this year we had the great pleasure in starting a Squirrel Drew, which means we have grown in both young members and adult Leaders and we also have six Young Leaders who support the sections on a weekly basis. We are taking part in full and active programmes and all our

young members have the opportunity in gaining lots of badges and the top in awards in their sections.

Due to an incident the Scout Association is changing some of the safety and safeguarding rules, this means that all activities and programmes need to be risk assessed, this adds extra pressure for our Leaders when running weekly meetings and outdoor activities.

The Group is very proud of all our Leaders, who work tirelessly to give our members a varied programme and lots of extra activities, and we would like to say a very big thank you to you all. I think it is also important to remind everyone that our adult members are all volunteers.

D.2 Membership numbers

Numbers in the group have increased over the past year,

Numbers in	the group have increased over the past year,	the group have increased over the past year,
	Young People
Section		Time	2022-2023	2023-2024
Squirrels	Wildbird	Thursday 17:00		16
Beavers	Forest	Wednesday 17:30	30	34
	Great Oak	Monday 17:15	25	23
Cubs	Bostock	Friday 18:30	25	32
	Rogers	Monday 18:45	34	33
Scouts	Thor	Thursday 19:00	45	37
Total			159	175
	Leaders
Total			31	34

D.3 Group fund raising

Fundraising is critical to our ability to provide activities for our members. Last year we raised £2407.26 at the Thatcham Fun Day BBQ - June 2023 Including the End of Term BBQ

Thatcham Funday was really our only source or fundraising along side grant applications for major undertakings

E. Financial Review

The annual accounts for 2nd Thatcham Scouts Group are attached. They have been prepared by Jyoti Parmar - Group Treasurer and approved by the Executive Committee. An audit has been carried out by our Independent Examiner, Marc Alderman. We will need a new independent Examiner for FY2024-2025 as Marc is stepping down.

The group’s principle source of funds is from member’s subscriptions, fundraising activities and gift aid with some additional income from rent and other minor sources.

The Subscriptions remains as per previous financial year for amount of £37.50 per term. We have been able to collect the majority of our termly subscriptions via the GoCardless online system and we are grateful for your full co-operation. Kind reminder

for all parents to sign up to the gift aid scheme as it will enable us to collect the data and upload them on HMRC.

The fundraising total of £2,407.26 helps us to maintain the hut and provide new equipment when required. We appreciate for your spare time given to the 2[nd] Thatcham Scouts during the Fundraising Events and various activities when needed by the Leaders.

The Group account shows a balance of (£6,443.99) at the end of this financial year. This year’s Group running costs is at £10,180 which decreased from previous year. The running costs of the Hut such as Heat & Power, Insurance, HQ Maintenance, Fire risk assessment and various yearly Hut maintenance incl. hut cleaning) SEE have given us Business Support Funds with our electric bill and it has impacted on our costs for this year. The electric charges will resume in FY2024/2025. We bought various small item for our Scout usage (New sets of Knives, Event shelter for camping) and new sets of blinds for the Hut.

We have been keeping separate funds accounts for capitation costs (money we pay for each child to the District every year), a hardship fund and a HQ maintenance fund for a few years. The separation of those accounts ensures better management of group accounts.

We now run a budget system on the individual troop accounts where each section receives an amount per child at the end of a term determined on the number of subscriptions paid. This also enables us to keep a third towards group costs and a third towards capitation costs.

This new system ensures that all group costs are covered and that we are not spending more than our income, ensuring the financial stability of 2nd Thatcham Scouts Group.

It is extremely hard for us to manage event budgets when people cancel at the last minute. For this reason, we need to re-iterate that by paying a deposit you have confirmed your child to attend. As such, 2nd Scouts will commit funds progressively as the trip is organised. Please note that if you decide to cancel your child’s attendance, there may be additional costs to pay, over and above the deposit. The closer to the date of the event the higher the additional costs are likely to be.

E.1 Reserves policy

The Group’s policy is to hold sufficient financial reserves to continue the charitable activities of the Group should income and fundraising activities fall short and also to deal with any exceptional expenses.

Operating expenses at 2[nd] Thatcham Scout group were approximately £10,000 in the last financial year not including the District fees. The Scouts Association Account is now closed and the money (£10,261.63) has been transferred to our BIA account which the executive committee believes to be a suitable sum to hold as a reserve.

F. Plans for future period and other information

As mentioned above we have transitioned from an Executive Committee to a Trustee board this year, in line with Scouting guidance. For the most part, the Trustee Board will continue to operate as before, guidance suggested that these new Trustee Boards should be smaller than many Groups were operating and not include all section leaders, 2[nd] Thatcham were already operating like this. Over the coming year we will change the way the Chair, Treasurer and Board Members are elected and following guidance we will no longer have our Group Secretary as a board member.

This is a good time to thank our Group Secretary Alli Pritchard who is stepping down after 5 years on our executive committee, the support Alli has given us over these years has been invaluable. Due to life commitments Alli had to choose between Trustee board or working with our young people and made the decision to focus on being a lead volunteer for one of our Beaver sections, for which we are very grateful.

Next AGM (2025) we will implement open elections for Treasurer and Chair, but have decided this year not to do so to minimize disruption, at the 2024 AGM we will reappoint our existing Chair and Treasurer for a further 1 year provided there are no objections from the members during the 2024 AGM. We have advised all our members on the AGM invite that we will be holding elections for 4 Trustees during the 2024 AGM and we welcome anyone who is willing to support us in providing a safe space for young people to grow.

We would welcome new trustees if anyone would like to volunteer to support us in our governance tasks, these volunteers can be elected at the AGM or co-opted by the existing trustees at any time during the year.

Going forward the Trustee Board will consist of. The elected Chair and Treasurer, the Group Lead Volunteer as an Ex-Officio member, up to additional 4 elected members and up to 4 co-opted members.

The lease for the scout hut is still not signed, but very close, the delay in signing is purely down to all the people involved being volunteers and real world commitments making negotiations a little slow on both sides. The relationship with our landlord is still very good and we hope to conclude the signing of the lease this summer.

Once the lease is signed, we will have tenure for a further 20 years at least and still plan to swing into action with our further refurbishment plans:

• Sound proofing is the first task, this could cost up to £5000, but should have little to no impact on scouting other than giving us a much more pleasant environment to work in, especially in the younger (mor high pitched sections.

• The toilets are in desperate need of overhaul and we have budgeted over £20,000 worth of work on all 3 toilets, thanks in a major part of the fund raising efforts of one of our trustees – more to follow below.

• The lease itself will require up to £5,000 of legal fees, this is however a small price to pay for 20 years of security.

• The remaining cash will be left aside for contingency if for instance a new boiler is needed as part of the toilet rebuild.

As discussed in last years report, the new lease will increase our rent from £1,200 to £3,000 (a £500 reduction from expectations last year.) We have also been given a gradual increase to this new amount to ease any growing pains.

While this threefold increase in rent seems significant, rent is by no means our biggest expense, in fact it ranks 4 or 5 on the list, as such we are not alarmed or concerned by the increase. However, over the coming years we will undoubtedly have to increase Subscriptions to account for this.

We still have not increased our subscription price, holding it the same now as it was 5 years ago !

Current county average subscriptions are around £50, it is our intention to implement small increases year on year over the next 5 years.

The resulting subscription fee will depend heavily on the involvement of parents in fundraising activities over the coming years.

We do still need help.

Volunteer leaders would be always welcome and scouting is an exceptionally rewarding way to get into volunteering

The one area we are lacking is roles to support of the Trustees, these roles would not be formal trustee members with the legal governance responsibilities, but more informal support such as:

• Fundraising activities

• This does not need to be public “tin rattling” like bag packing and the Henwick Fun Day, but should be online work searching and applying for local and national sources of funding such as Greenham Common Trust etc.

It is important at this point to mention one of our Trustees - Ben Tichband who has applied for several grants this year for hut improvements and has been successful in securing over £8,000 in funding so far. This is an exceptional effort and we hope Ben can continue this task going forward but we would welcome the support.

• Day to day Scout hut operations

The hut is a fantastic resource, but maintaining it is time consuming. We pay for most of our maintenance services such as cleaning, plumbing, garden maintenance and monthly health checks etc, this is not an issue and we have budgeted accordingly

• We are in need of someone to manage the hut for us, this is not a fixing role, as mentioned above we have budget for this. What we need is someone to keep track of services, oil, electric, plumbing, boiler servicing, fire extinguisher checks etc. This could be done almost entirely remotely with an occasional visit to the hut.

• We also need to routinely let services and trades on to site for repairs, pest control, oil tank refill etc..It would be very helpful to have a few extra key holders to take some pressure off the trustees – this could be existing key holder (leaders) who may be free during the day?

G. Declaration

Agreed by the charity’s trustees at the 2[nd] Thatcham Group Executive Committee meeting held on 20[th] July 2024 and signed on their behalf

Dan Danskin, Chairperson 20/07/2024

Jyoti Parmar, Treasurer 20/07/2024

2nd THATCHAM SCOUT GROUP Registered Charity No 279878

BALANCE SHEET 2023/2024

Balance in hand 1st Apr 2023 Group Account Scouts Account Cub Account Beavers Account Scout Jersey Camp Long Term Investment Hardship Fund HQ Maintenance Fund Capitation Fund TOTAL Cash Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank - Savings Prepayment Card Scout Assn Account	19930.64 4924.64 2186.51 3144.97 10584.19 10124.24 864.00 2358.33 8888.30 63005.82 131.00 17021.62 33521.19 2207.77 10124.24 63005.82	Balance in hand Group Account 13486.65 Scouts Account 5383.14 Cub Account 4658.45 Beavers Account 528.67 Squirrels Account 0.00 Scout Jersey Camp 1114.57 Long Term Investment 10261.63 Hardship Fund 864.00 HQ Maintenance Fund 1138.94 Capitation Fund 9406.30 TOTAL 46842.35 Cash 471.78 Lloyds Bank 13962.12 Lloyds Bank - Savings 30000.00 Prepayment Card 2408.45 Scout Assn Account 0.00 46842.35

I certify that these accounts represent a true indication of the financial position according to the documents supplied to me, and that the Rules of The Scout Association and the requirements of The Charity Acts concerning finance have been followed.

Signed ……………….. …………………….. (INDEPENDENT EXAMINER) Date

Signed ……………….. …………………….. (CHAIRMAN) Date

Signed ……………….. (TREASURER)

……………………..

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GROUP ACCOUNT

INCOME			EXPENDITURE
**FUNDRAISING		£4,515.76	**FUNDRAISING	£2,108.50
SUBS TO GROUP	£16,950.50		Subs - Transfers to sections	£12,754.50
JOINING FEES		£172.66	EQUIPMENT & STORES	£776.23
Group		£84.50
IST THATCHAM GUIDES		£450.00	UNIFORM / HIGH VIS	£149.00
3RD THATCHAM BROWNIES		£450.00	***GROUP EXPENSES	£3,810.95
CIRCUS		£881.00	GRUNDON	£602.45
MOORS VALLEY BEAVERS & CUBS		£1,700.00	DISTRICT FEES	£9,060.00
ARCHERY		£503.00	HQ MAINTENANCE	£2,490.92
HIRINGS		£0.00	Group Spring Camp	£1,894.85
GIFT AID		£0.00	WING 2020	£0.00
Group Spring Camp		£1,600.00	4 Kingdoms	£570.00
WINGS 2020		£0.00	RATES	£70.94
4 Kingdoms		£570.00	RENT	£284.44
DONATIONS		£184.50	INSURANCE	£493.61
Grants		£0.00	WATER	£0.00
Interest		£383.14	OIL	£996.07
			LEGAL FEE	£0.00
			ELECTRIC	£111.37
			TRAINING	£0.00
			CLEANING	£1,188.38
			PHOTOCOPIER	£497.51
			OSM CHARGES	£1,378.31
			CIRCUS	£1,183.00
			MOORS VALLEY BEAVERS & CUBS	£2,060.00
			ARCHERY	£233.52
			*MISC	£0.00
*MISC		£0.00	Transfer to Petty Cash	£69,521.56
			Transfer to HQ Maintenance	£0.00
Transfer to Petty Cash	£69,521.56
Transfer from HQ Maintenance
Transfer from Capitation		£7,825.50
TOTAL	£105,792.12		TOTAL	£112,236.11
TOTAL INCOME			£105,792.12
TOTAL EXPENDITURE			£112,236.11
EXCESS OF INCOME OVER EXPENDITURE			-£6,443.99
ACCOUNT STATUS on		31.03.2024	-£6,443.99
Balance bought forward from 2022-2023			£19,930.64 £13,486.65

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SCOUT ACCOUNTS

SCOUT ACCOUNT
INCOME
Carried forward from 2022/2023		£4,924.64
Subscriptions		£1,026.00
ACTIVITIES		£0.00
Uniform		£0.00
DRAGON BOAT REGGATTA		£207.00
PACCAR FREEZER CAMP		£2,340.00
Scouts-District Rifles 2023		£44.00
	Total Income	£3,617.00
EXPENDITURE
ACTIVITIES		£207.23
BADGES		£249.24
DRAGON BOAT REGGATTA		£269.00
PACCAR FREEZER CAMP		£2,433.03
Scouts-District Rifles 2023		£0.00
	Total Expenditure	£3,158.50
ACCOUNT STATUS on 31.03.2024		£5,383.14

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CUB ACCOUNTS

CUB ACCOUNT

INCOME

INCOME
Carried forward from 2022/2023		£2,186.51
SUBS		£1,656.00
ACTIVITIES		£0.00
uniform		£0.00
DRAGON BOAT REGGATTA		£130.00
Climbing Cub Rogers Pack		£432.00
DISTRICT XMAS @ 4 KINGDOM		£830.16
YOULBURY CAMP		£2,200.00
Bostock - JOTI/JOTA Camp 2023		£600.00
Cub camp at Thirtiver pl. MAY23		£1,260.00
XMAS DINNER BOSOTCK		£77.14
	Total Income	£7,185.30
EXPENDITURE
ACTIVITIES		£617.33
BADGES		£849.82
DRAGON BOAT REGGATTA		£222.93
Climbing Cub Rogers Pack		£432.00
DISTRICT XMAS @ 4 KINGDOM		£830.16
YOULBURY CAMP		£866.10
Bostock - JOTI/JOTA Camp 2023		£290.78
Cub camp at Thirtiver pl. MAY23		£527.10
XMAS DINNER BOSOTCK		£77.14
	Total Expenditure	£4,713.36
ACCOUNT STATUS on 31.03.2024		£4,658.45

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BEAVERS ACCOUNTS

BEAVER ACCOUNT

INCOME
Carried forward from 2022/2023	£3,144.97
SUBS	£1,377.00
ACTIVITIES	£0.00
Uniform	£0.00
Fur & Feathers (Birds of Prey	£120.00
Teddy Bear Picnic	£288.00
CHRISTMAS SLEEPOVER	£460.00
BEAVERS XMAS PARTY	£301.00
CAMP FEST - BEAVERS GO	£210.00
District Beaver Sleepover – Winchester Science Centre	£0.00
Climbing Beavers Forest	£0.00
Misc
Total Income	£2,756.00
EXPENDITURE
ACTIVITIES	£1,413.78
BADGES	£739.77
Fur & Feathers (Birds of Prey	£143.67
Teddy Bear Picnic	£304.00
CHRISTMAS SLEEPOVER	£381.69
BEAVERS XMAS PARTY	£315.00
CAMP FEST - BEAVERS GO	£136.39
District Beaver Sleepover – Winchester Science Centre	£1,938.00
Climbing Beavers Forest	£0.00
Total Expenditure	£5,372.30
ACCOUNT STATUS on 31.03.2024	£528.67

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HQ MAINTENANCE ACCOUNT Total Income Less expenditure Deficit/Excess of income over expenditure Balance in hand 1/4/2023 ACCOUNT STATUS on 31.03.2024 JERSEY CAMP ACCOUNT INCOME Balance in hand 1/4/2023 Income Fundraising Total income Expenditure ACCOUNT STATUS on 31.03.2024 HARDSHIP FUND ACCOUNT Total Income Less expenditure Deficit/Excess of income over expenditure Balance in hand 1/4/2023 ACCOUNT STATUS on 31.03.2024

£2,521.06 £3,740.45 -£1,219.39 £2,358.33 £1,138.94 £10,584.19 £6,399.25 £366.28 £17,349.72 £16,235.15 £1,114.57 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £864.00 £864.00

CAPITATION ACCOUNT
Total Income	£8,343.50
Less expenditure	£7,825.50
Deficit/Excess of income over expenditure	£518.00
Balance in hand 1/4/2023	£8,888.30
ACCOUNT STATUS on 31.03.2024	£9,406.30

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