Scouts 1st Arlesey Scout Group Annual General Meeting 2024 Reports - be prepared... **1st Arlesey Scout Group Executive Board of Trustees Chair Report** ## Dear Members, Volunteers, and Supporters, As Chair of the newly formed Board of Trustees, I am thrilled to reflect on the incredible achievements of the 1st Arlesey Scout Group over the past year. It has been a year of energy, progress, and growth, all made possible by the tireless efforts of our dedicated volunteers, leadership team, and the continued support of our local community. I want to extend my deepest thanks to all the leaders, assistant leaders, and volunteers who work so hard to ensure that our young people experience the joys and challenges of Scouting. This year saw the transition from our previous Executive Committee to a formal Board of Trustees, in line with the Scout Association’s strengthened governance arrangements. This change has provided a more robust structure to ensure our compliance with the Charity Commission’s guidance and safeguard the Group’s future. I’m grateful for the smooth transition and for the unwavering support of everyone involved in this process. A special mention goes to Chris, our Treasurer, for his ongoing commitment and diligence in managing our finances. His work ensures that we are financially sound, and I’m delighted that he will continue in this role as part of our Trustee Board. Additionally, I want to thank Matt for his behind-the-scenes efforts in maintaining the Scout Hut and grounds, as well as his crucial role in supporting fundraising events. Volunteers like Matt often go unnoticed, but their contributions are invaluable to the smooth running of the Group. Fundraising remains a cornerstone of our success, and I would like to thank all the leaders, volunteers, parents, and community members for their continued support. Your dedication to helping organize and participate in fundraising events has been instrumental in allowing the Group to grow and offer even more exciting opportunities for our young people. From bake sales to community events, the funds raised directly support the activities and experiences we provide, ensuring that Scouting remains accessible and enriching for everyone. We have also made significant strides in our operations with the establishment of a Volunteer Leadership Team, led by Stuart as Group Lead Volunteer. This team-based approach ensures that the Group’s day-to-day activities continue to run smoothly, with each section benefiting from strong leadership and collaboration. While there have been some changes in roles and titles, rest assured that the faces you know and trust remain committed to delivering the same high-quality programmes for your children. Despite our success, we are still in need of more adult volunteers to help keep our sections thriving. Whether it’s lending a hand with Beavers on Mondays and Tuesdays or supporting the Scout Troops on Tuesdays and Fridays, we welcome anyone who can offer their time. Volunteering is an incredibly rewarding way to give back to the community, and we have excellent training available to help new volunteers develop the skills they need. Even occasional help is appreciated, and every contribution makes a difference. Please do not hesitate to reach out to one of our leaders or contact Stuart or myself directly to learn more about how you can get involved. Lastly, I would like to extend a special thank you to the members of the Dambusters Explorer Scout unit. Many of these young people have volunteered as part of the Young Leader Scheme, working towards their Duke of Edinburgh or King’s Scout awards. Their enthusiasm and dedication have been a true asset to the Group, and we are grateful for their ongoing contributions across all sections. I am incredibly proud of everything the 1st Arlesey Scout Group has accomplished this year. From the strength of our programmes to the support of our community, it is clear that Scouting in Arlesey is thriving. None of this would be possible without the dedication of our leaders, Trustees, volunteers, and the unwavering support of the community. Together, we are building a brighter future for our young people. Thank you all for your continued support. Yours in Scouting, Sarah **Chair of the Board of Trustees** ## **1st Arlesey Scout Group Executive Group Lead Volunteer Report** All of the sections have had another very busy year, and I would like to thank all the leaders, assistant leaders and their volunteer teams for their hard work in planning and delivering programmes that enable our young people to experience new challenges and have fun. I can recommend reading each sections reports to find out more about the year’s activities. 2024 is a year of change within the Scout Association as the governance arrangements are being strengthened to meet the Charity Commission’s guidance. As such our Executive Committee is transitioning to a Trustee Board and we are seeking to appoint Trustees to help run the Group. A separate Volunteer Leadership Team led by myself as Group lead Volunteer is also being established, which will manage the operational activities of the Group including each section. There will be a change in the titles of each of our Leaders and a change to a team approach to tasks that are undertaken by our Leaders. I can reassure you that the people that you deal with in our section teams are still the same and will continue to deliver the day-to-day programmes for our young people. In real terms, you will see no change to your Sons/Daughter’s section as we have been implementing the Team approach for a while now. I would like to thank our management team, including the outgoing Executive Committee members. I would particularly like to thank Sarah and Chris our Chair and Treasurer for an outstanding job that they have both done. They are of course staying on within their roles but now as part of a trustee board and not an executive committee. I would like to personally thank Matt for all his work behind the scenes in maintaining our Scout hut and Grounds and his unwavering support to the group fundraising and section events. These people are a great examples of volunteers who are not necessarily noticed by parents, but who work hard behind the scenes to keep the Group in good order. We are still also actively looking for more adult volunteers to work with our sections. We need volunteers to support the Monday and Tuesday Beavers, and the Tuesday and Friday Scout Troops. These sections have experienced leaders who are able to support new adult volunteers and there is also a brilliant training programme in place, much of which can be done online in a volunteer’s own time to ensure that all leaders have the right skills in place to do the job. Volunteering can be an excellent way to boost your mental wellbeing. It’s a great feeling knowing you’re helping young people get skills for life, and you might even learn some things about yourself along the way. If you can only help occasionally, that’s OK. Whether you’d like to be an activity planner, tea-maker or craft creator, we appreciate any time you can spare. Talk to any of the leaders, or contact me directly if you want to find out more. We are fortunate enough to be linked to a very strong Explorer Scout unit, Dambusters. Some of these young people have, by taking part in the Young Leader Scheme and volunteering at each section across Arlesey scout Group worked towards their community service element of the Duke of Edinburgh award or King’s Scout award. I would like to thank each of them for their commitment to the Group. So my thanks go to all of the Lead volunteers, Trustees, Group supporters and young members that have volunteered throughout the last year with this Group to enable Scouting to continue in Arlesey. Yours In Scouting, Stuart McGuire **Group Lead Volunteer** ## **1st Arlesey Scout Group Board of Trustees Treasurer Report Income** ## **Income** ## Subscriptions Membership subscription fees remained unchanged in 2023/24. All subscriptions are collected online via OSM. A total of £18,810 in subscriptions was collected this financial year. This income to the Group was off-set by the payment of our membership fees of £10,357 to the Scout Association. ## Fundraising A total of 10,939 was raised through a variety of fundraising events. Despite not organising our flagship events Fireworks night this is a significant increase on last years fundraising and provides valuable funds to run the group and provide activities for our young people.. ## Donations We received £1,601 in donations, including a donation from Centrica as part of it’s scheme to support local charities and a donation from Arlesey Town Council towards the costs of organising the Summer Fete ## Rental Income The Scout Hut is available to hire for £10/hour. This year rental income of £2,605 was collected ## **Expenditure** ## Premises Maintenance costs for the Scout Hut and grounds totalled £1,941 this year. ## Activities This year £43,186 was spent on camps and youth activities. £20,447 of this outlay was for our camp to Norway, as noted in last years accounts the majority of these funds were collected last year with the final outlay only occurring this financial year ## Neckers/Badges £2,889 was spent on neckers, woggles, badges and handbooks. ## Admin Admin expenses came to £1,013 which includes accountancy fees for auditing our annual accounts. ## **Net receipts for the year** Excluding the Norway payments the accounts show an operating profit of £7,920 for this financial year. Yours in Scouting, Chris Livermore **Board of Trustees Treasurer** |**1st Arlesey Scout Group**|**1st Arlesey Scout Group**|**1st Arlesey Scout Group**|**1st Arlesey Scout Group**|**1st Arlesey Scout Group**|**1st Arlesey Scout Group**|**1st Arlesey Scout Group**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Receipts and Payments Account**||||||| |||Year start date|||Year end date|| |**For the year fro**||**01/04/2023**
**m**||**To**|**31/03/2024**|| |||||||| |**Receipts and payments**||||||| |||**31/03/2024**|||**31/03/2023**|| |||**Unrestricted**
**funds**|**Restricted**
**funds**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**||**Restricted**
**funds**| |||**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**| |**Receipts**||||||| |**Donations, legacies and similar income**||||||| |_Membership subscriptions_||**18,810**|||**14,860**|| |_Less:Membership subscriptions paid on (National/County/Are_||**-10,357**
|||**-8,299**|| |_Less: Membership Subscriptions Refunded_||**-**|||**-30**|| |**Net membership subscriptions retained**||**8,453**|||**6,532**|| |Donations||**1,601**|||**148**|| |Legacies|||||**-**|| |Youth Programme and Activities||**20,211**|**2,515**||**5,771**|**16,540**| |Group donation to Norway Expidition|||**1,392**|||| |Gift Aid||**1,896**|||**1,836**|| |Other similar income||||||| |**Sub total**||32,161|3,907||**14,286**|16,540| |**Grants**||||||| |Maintenenace grant||**-**|||**-**|| |Other grants||**3,800**||||| |**Sub total**||**3,800**||||| |**Fundraising (gross)**||10,939|||2,633|| |Other fundraising activities|||||**-**|| |**Sub total**||**10,939**|||**2,633**|| |**Investment income**||||||| |Bank interest||**-**|||**-**|| |Building Society interest||**-**|||**-**|| |The Scout Association Short Term Investment Service||**-**|||**-**|| |_Property Rent income_||**3,055**|||**715**|| |_Less: Deposit Refunds_||**-450**|||**-300**|| |**Net Property Rent Income**||**2,605**|||**415**|| |Other investment income||**-**|||**-**|| |**Sub total**||**2,605**|||**415**|| |||||||| |**_Total Gross Income_**||**49,505**|||**17,334**|**16,540**| |||||||| |**Asset and investment sales, etc.**||||||| |||||||| |**_Total receipts_**||**49,505**|**3,907**||**17,334**|**16,540**| |||||||| 1 |||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**| |**Payments**||||||| |**Charitable Payments**||||||| |Youth programme and activities||**22,739**|**20,447**||**13,498**|| |Group donation to Norway Expidition||**1,392**||||| |Activity Refunds|||||**232**|| |Adult support and training||**30**|||**47**|| |Rent||**-**|||**-**|| |Water and Sewerage||**589**|||**385**|| |Electricity and Gas||**2,760**|||**1,177**|| |Telephone and Internet||**-**|||**-**|| |Insurance||**1,231**|||**1,150**|| |Bank Charges (OSM)||**1,573**|||**1,404**|| |Repairs and Renewals||**1,941**|||**2,380**|| |Materials and equipment||**1,430**|||**3,034**|| |Printing and photocopying||**10**|||**-**|| |Web Hosting and Online Services||**181**|||**364**|| |Contribution to camp costs||**-**|||**-**|| |Badges, Woggles and Neckers||**2,889**|||**1,517**|| |AGM and trustee expenses||**1,013**|||**913**|| |Charitable Donations||**105**|||**815**|| |Subscriptions Refund||**-**|||**-**|| |Sundries||||||| |||||||| |**Sub total**||37,883|20,447||26,916|| |**Fundraising expenses**||||||| |Other fundraising costs||3,702|||**550**|| |||||||| |**Sub total**||**3,702**|||**550**|| |||||||| |**_Total Gross Expenditure_**||**41,585**|**20,447**||**27,466**|| |||||||| |**Asset and investment purchases, etc.**||**-**|||**-**|| |||||||| |**_Total payments_**||**41,585**|**20,447**||**27,466**|**16,540**| |||||||| |**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**||**7,920**|**-16,540**||**-10,132**|**16,540**| |**Cash funds last year end**||**11,840**|**16,540**|||| |**_Cash funds this year end_**||**19,760**|**0**||11,840|**16,540**| |||||||| 4 |**Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year**|**Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year**|**Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year**|**Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year**|**Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year**||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**31/03/2024**|||**31/03/2023**|| |||**Unrestricted**
**funds**|**Restricted**
**funds**||**Unrestricted**
**funds**|**Restricted**
**funds**| |||**£**|||**£**|| |**Cash funds**||||||| |Bank current account||**17,730**|||**9,609**|**16,540**| |Bank deposit account||**-**|||**129**|| |Pre-Paid Cash Cards (for camps)||**1,583**|||**1,610**|| |Building society account||**-**|||**-**|| |The Scout Association Short Term Investment Service||**-**|||**-**|| |Cash/Floats||**447**|||**492**|| |**Total cash funds**||**19,760**|**-**||**11,840**|**16,540**| |**Other monetary assets**||||||| |Tax claim||**-**|||**-**|| |Debts due from the County/Area/District/Group||**-**|||**-**|| |Insurance claim||**-**|||**-**|| |**Sub total**||**-**|||**-**|| |**Investment assets**||||||| |Investment property - detail||**-**|||**-**|| |Quoted investments||**-**|||**-**|| |Other investments - detail||**-**|||**-**|| |**Sub total**||**-**|||**-**|| |**Non monetary assets for charity's own use**||||||| |Badge stock||**-**|||**-**|| |Shop stock||**-**|||**-**|| |Other stock||**-**|||**-**|| |Land and buildings||**-**|||**-**|| |Motor vehicles||**1,422**||||1740| |Scouting equipment, furniture etc||**3,323**||||1044| |Other||**-**|||**-**|| |**Sub total**||**4,745**|||**-**|**2,784**| |**Liabilities**||||||| |Accounts not yet paid||**-**|||**-**|| |Expenses incurred but not invoiced||**-**|||**-**|| |Subscriptions not yet paid||**-**|||**-**|| |Loan - detail||**-**|||**-**|| |Other liabilities||**-**|||**-**|1096| |**Sub total**||**-**|||**-**|| |**Contingent liabilities and future obligations**||||||| |||||||| |**The above receipts and payments account and statement of assets and liabilities were**
**approved by the Trustees on 18th July 2023 and signed on their behalf by**||||||| |Signature||Print Name||||| |||Chair||||| |||Treasurer||||| 7 ## **1st Arlesey Falcon Beavers Annual Report** Falcon Beavers have had another fun packed year. We have remained at capacity with 24 Beavers. We do have a waiting list as our Beavers have been spreading the word about how much fun they have with us. If you wish to join the waiting list, please get in contact with us. We have a great leadership team who volunteer their time every week to provide Falcon’s with an engaging program whilst installing our core values to be kind and helpful consisting of 2 Leaders Hawkeye (Will) and myself Sunshine (Claire) and 3 amazing section assistants Kostas, James and Lou. Falcon Beavers are lucky enough to also have 3 young leaders Shea, Bethany and Alexandra who attend our weekly sessions, camps and days out. They also heavily support behind the scenes with setting up and packing away after every session, at camps and by providing their input and ideas in our program planning. Our parent helpers have been amazing again this year and have provided us with the support to be able to explore our community and hold sessions away from the Scout Hut. They have also helped us massively by attending and sleeping overnight at our camps. We are truly grateful, and I hope they enjoyed spending time with the Beavers. This year both beaver colonies have camped at Boyd staying on the holiday bus, despite the complete downpour of rain we encountered, the beavers had a great time on the climbing wall and cave bus and I gained my nights away permit. We held a space and a world of wizardry themed sleepover both at the hut, a summer camp at Danemead Scout Centre with a trip to the local zoo and a scouting skills camp that was planned and ran completely by our amazing young leaders. We exceeded our target of providing an overnight experience for our Beavers of once a term and this year our Beavers have had the opportunity to attend 7 nights away. Falcon’s have been very busy this year some of our activities have been: supporting at fundraising events, a visit to Shuttleworth, St Georges day at Boyd Field, a visit from the Police, a water activity day at Luton Hoo, teddy bears picnic at Boyd with other beaver colonies from our district, a bike ride, a Christmas Pantomime and remembrance parade, which as a Beaver Scout Leader fills me with pride. In total Falcon Beavers have been awarded 455 well-earned badges, this is more than double from our previous year. This is due to our colony maintaining full capacity but is also down to the hard work our leaders, section assistants, parents and most importantly our Beavers have put in. This year 12 of our beavers earned the highest award, The Chief Scout Bronze award. This year we have invested 12 new Beavers into our colony. Will’s highlight of the year was our visit to Shuttleworth and the Beavers gaining their air activities stage 1 badge. Will is looking forward to lots more camping this year. Lou’s highlight of the year was our Beaver summer camp. The Beavers had a fantastic time with great activities and woodland to explore, with lots of brilliant parent helpers, we even managed to have a delicious roast dinner cooked by two of our Scout Leaders Matt and Ryan. Lou is looking forward supporting at Cheyenne Cubs and watching the Beavers that she has supported continue to progress and develop at Cubs. Kostas’ highlight of the year has been socialising within the Scouting community and providing plenty of opportunities for the Beavers to be outdoors in a safe and welcoming environment. Kostas is looking forward to providing as much outside time as possible at Beavers. James’ highlight of the year was attending Luton Hoo’s water activity day and watching the Beavers try things for the first time such as paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, sailing and raft building. James is looking forward to future activities. My highlight of the year was our Scouting skills camp planned by the young leaders. Our Beavers had the courage to sleep in a shelter rather than an enclosed tent. The Beavers loved this and it was my favorite camp to date. I am looking forward to welcoming our new Beavers and providing them with the basic Scouting skills that they will then add to and improve in their Scouting journey. We are so proud of our Beaver Scouts and what they accomplish every week. We love watching them grow and develop their skills. I would like to end as always with a few messages of thanks. Firstly, a massive thank you to our Falcon Beaver Leadership team and young leaders Will, Kostas, James, Lou, Shea, Beth, Alexandra and our Raven Beaver Leaders Noemi and Sian. Thank you to everyone at 1[st] Arlesey Scout Group, I can honestly say my Scouting family are amazing, they have provided me with support and welcomed me into their lives. Everyone at 1[st] Arlesey Scout Group are unbelievably busy with their own section but every leader in our group has supported and attended at least one of our Beaver camps this year, giving up more of their free time to support the Beavers. Thank you to all Falcon Beavers past and present, you are the reason we do this. Thank you to all our Beaver parents for your support. Thank you to our Group Lead Volunteer Stuart McGuire, who goes above and beyond for our whole Scout Group. Lastly, thank you to Matt Graham (Yellow Devil’s Scout Leader) who works tirelessly for our Scout Group and somehow found the time to make 24 knot boards for the Beavers to practice their knots. Yours in Scouting, Claire Danson **Sunshine 1[st] Arlesey Falcon Beavers** ## **1st Arlesey Raven Beavers Annual Report** As we approach our Annual General Meeting, we reflect on the past year and the tremendous progress we have made at Beaver Ravens. In November, I will have been with the Beaver Ravens for a whole year, and it's incredible to see how fast the year has flown by. When I joined the group, we had 16 kids, and I am proud to announce that we have now reached our maximum capacity of 24 children. This growth, adding 8 kids in such a short time since becoming a leader in April, showcases the dedication and enthusiasm of our team. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Paulette for stepping up to help the section when we were in need of additional leadership. Her commitment saved this amazing group, and we are grateful for her contribution. The commitment of our parents in assisting on Monday evenings has been invaluable. Their support allows us to run programs efficiently, and we appreciate their involvement. Beavers have been awarded 3 Chief Scout’s Bronze Award, and we eagerly anticipate awarding 3 more Beavers in the near future. As we look ahead, we will have 3 children moving up to Cubs, with another waiting eagerly for a space to become available. Our waiting list remains long, highlighting the continued growth and popularity of our group. We are delighted to welcome Sian, our new assistant leader, who joined us in April. Sian's dedication and commitment to creating fun adventures for the kids have been truly commendable, and we are fortunate to have her on board. Throughout the year, we have had joint camps with Falcon Beavers and enjoyed memorable sleepovers. I am immensely proud of the children's courage and resilience, particularly during our outdoor shelter sleepover. Their bravery and team spirit were truly inspiring. Our Beavers have earned a total of 325 badges, each step bringing them closer to the coveted Bronze Scout Award. It's wonderful to witness their growing confidence and camaraderie as they progress together. Looking ahead to the coming year, we are excited to embark on more camping adventures and aim to secure tickets for the water activity day, a highlight from the past year. We are eager to impart more life skills and create lasting memories with the children. I extend a big thank you to all the leaders who have supported me on this journey, especially Claire, whose guidance and patience have been invaluable. Special thanks to Sian for her unwavering assistance and dedication in every meeting. Thank you for your continued support and dedication to Beaver Ravens. Here's to another year of growth, learning, and unforgettable experiences. Yours in Scouting, Sian & Noemi **1st Arlesey Raven Beavers** ## **1st Arlesey Sioux Cubs Annual Report** Following last year’s report we have continued along the same lines, membership has remained at full capacity (24) throughout the year. All but one of our leavers this year has achieved their silver award (9) and all but a couple of these cubs have moved on to Scouts. During the year we have taken part in a district camp, (6er/2nd) a camp at Tolmers, a beginner’s camp and a camp at the hut leading to one of our leaders acquiring their nights away permit. With regards to fundraising, Sioux cubs completed a 5 peaks hike challenge and raised approx £2000 when gift aid and the donation of 6x decent compasses are taken into account, for this event we received a district award. On top of this we completed another 3 hikes almost maintaining our run of choosing a different location for each new hike (turbine hike had been done before). We have also introduced a knot challenge where cubs can progress onto a different coloured rope once they have achieved certain knots with confidence and on request, we are now sure all cubs leaving Sioux can competently tie a reef knot, clove hitch and fig 8 as a minimum. When camping a large portion of our cubs are comfortable sleeping in a shelter, indeed one of our camps was as wet as I have seen on a cub camp and still over half our cubs slept in shelters, even after 'slug gate'. Bushcraft day was another success with map reading (bearings and compass work), one pot cooking and preparing and eating pigeon. Our leader team remains strong, however we did have to say goodbye to Tony who retired just before summer, as leader of the team and a strong believer in our leader team being our most precious resource I believe we gave Tony a good send off, the evening was well attended and from the feedback I have had it was much appreciated, on this front we have continued our strong working relationship with the team at Cheyenne participating in several joint events during the year along with our usual social archery night. Looking forward we are keen to have another leader or two on board and have a couple of parents who we will work our magic on and hopefully increase our leader team numbers, we do have some keen regular parent helpers when required. The district shooting competition was another success for Sioux with us winning the individual and team competition, our top shots have all moved on to scouts so defending our title may be difficult but watch this space. Jo and Richard are now both signed off for tomahawks. Finally with regards to archery we now have another leader instructor (Dibz) with Jo also planning to qualify privately. We were lucky to accompany Halifax on a national archery competition where we saw several ex Sioux cubs excel with one winning a gold in her event, no one can ever take away the fact it started at Sioux. Yours in Scouting, Jamie Sarll **Akela 1st Arlesey Sioux Cubs** ## **1st Arlesey Cheyenne Cubs Annual Report** 1st Arlesey Cheyenne have had another amazing 12 months, still going from strength to strength. We kick-started September 23 with our ever enthusiastic leadership team, with myself steering the Cheyenne Ship with Assistant Cub Leaders, Badger (Tasha Davis), Ziggy (Jo Eatock-Musk), King Louie (Andrew Hall) and Chil (Emily Pang) right along side me. We start off September 2023 with a fun packed District Camp at Boyd Field. We joined our fellow Sioux Cubs and other Cubs in our District building camp gadgets, rafting, fire lighting, fencing and more. Three weeks later we held an indoor camp at Tolmers Activity Centre again with our fellow Sioux pack. The majority of our cubs slept on comfy beds while a handful chose to still sleep outside under shelters. Cubs took part in Dash & Grab, rifle shooting, climbing wall, aeroball and cooking. A great experience for all of our Cubs and leaders. Leaders especially loving the central heating, walk-in pantry and hot water on tap. As the Autumn term gets underway, we have a local photographer visit us to talk us through his different cameras and let us use them to learn how to take an eye-catching photo to cover our photography badge. As we moved closer to Halloween, we wanted to do something a little different and really test our cub’s fear levels by sending them through the cavebus at Boyd Field in the dark. The cubs were split into 2 groups, while one group were in the cavebus the other group were playing wide games with glow sticks. This was a great spooky night, all of our cubs went through the bus very bravely. Over the following weeks we concentrated on some traditional scouting skills, paid our respects to our fallen soldiers and took part in the District Rifle Competition. December 2023 and things turn festive…We plan and prep for the St Peter’s Christmas Tree Festival. Our Tree ‘Corking in a winter wonderland’ came in 2nd place. As always, it’s great to run events in our village and get out and about. With Chips as our end goal, we set off on a hike around the village to look at the festive Christmas lights. Always a winner with our cubs and something we will aim to do as a yearly event. We joined Sioux Cubs to finish off the year in true Cub style, party games, food, lots of noise and secret santa. January 2024 and we are ready to Scout… Our first term of 2024 was jam packed with earning badges. Our cubs covered the gardening badge, the chef badge and added to our hike levels badge. We joined Cubs around the district in a ten pin bowling competition, held a murder mystery evening, made pancakes, baked mother’s day cookies and had a big Easter treasure hunt at Boyd Field. St Georges Day and we spent the day at Boyd taking part in various St George themed activities, culminating in a big campfire sing song with other Cubs from within our District. With a lot of new cubs moving up from Beavers, we decided to hold a 1 night Beginner’s camp at the hut in June. This was a very relaxed camp despite the deluge of rain we endured. It was a great little camp and a great opportunity to break our new cubs in gently. We invited Safari Stu to come along and visit us with his collection of well behaved reptiles. This was an amazing night watching our cubs and leaders overcome their fears. An evening we will definitely do again. Father’s Day was a great opportunity to get our dads down to the hut and involved. Our cubs and their adults worked together to solve problems, build catapults and more. A great evening where our cubs were allowed to be the one in charge for a change. Bushcraft Day came late this year but was as successful as ever. The cubs built shelters, cooked their own individual one pot stews on the campfire, learnt fire lighting, safety and different ways to lay a fire, enhanced their map reading and compass skills and de-breasted, cooked and ate pigeon. This was a really busy and fun day and we look forward to running it again next year. Archery, Tomahawks, Hiking, more camping, water games and a bbq brings us up to date and closes us for summer. Wow what another amazing 12 months it's been… We have kept Cub numbers at a great level this year(30), running at full capacity with a waiting list. We are very fortunate to have such an amazing leadership team who are all here with the same goal in mind, to give our cubs the best experiences and opportunities. Total number of badges awarded… 409 Total number of investitures… 15 Total number of Chief Scout Silver awards… 8 Thank you… I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with Cheyenne Cubs this year, especially our Cheyenne Assistant Cub Leaders, Tasha, Jo, Andrew and Emily and our very own Section Assistant, Siobhan. Our pack wouldn’t run half as efficiently and funny without you. Thank you to all our parents for your support, I know our Whatsapp chat can sometimes be a tad overwhelming but it's all a part of the running of a busy, enthusiastic, amazing group. The programme wouldn't run so smoothly without you there helping the Cubs with whatever we need them to bring in. Thank you to all of those that have supported our fundraising this year. The Summer fayre, Mulled wine, bbqs and Christmas raffle again were a huge success. Thank you to our parent helpers, whether you’ve helped at any of our sessions, camps or donated equipment, your help is invaluable and hugely appreciated. Yours in Scouting, Paulette Reid ## **Akela 1st Arlesey Cheyenne Cubs** ## **1st Arlesey Yellow Devils Scouts Annual Report** This has been another busy year for our Yellow Devils Troop and we have seen real growth in the independence and confidence of our Scouts in completing a variety of tasks both on their own and with other Scouts. In particular we have put a lot of work into building strong patrols to operate more autonomously. We still have some work to do in this area but strong patrols are a feature of a healthy troop and we have big plans. ## **Notable achievements:** - Grew our troop to six patrols for the first time (in many years); - Started a Patrol Leaders Council to get more direct input from our senior Scouts; - Facilitated our first Expedition Camp, with five Scouts hiking independently to Wymondley Wood for a two-night camp mostly without adults (we want to do more of these); - Had four Scouts complete the highest award possible in the Scout Section, The Chief Scout’s Gold Award; and - Completed a total of 487 nights away across the troop since our last AGM, including a particularly ambitious camp in Norway! This has all been supported by our great leadership team and by a great group of Young Leaders. ## **Programme** We have focused on two main things: (1) having the Scouts spend as much time as possible working together as Patrols, outside; and (2) rebuilding some traditional Scouting skills. Alongside this we’ve included some great new experiences. For example, over the last year: - We held our first overseas camp in at least a decade, taking 23 Scouts (and some of our Dambuster Explorers) for seven nights in Norway. During our time there we hiked, mountain biked, and rock-climbed on the side of the fjord, canoed, paddleboarded, and white-water rafted in the fjord, and learned about life in Norway from a Norwegian Scout; - 20 Scouts attended a water activities day in September 2023 including sailing, canoes, kayaks, rafting, and Stand-up Paddle Boards; - Entered three teams into the “Green Beret” competition last November, a really tough weekend in the rain and mud competing against about 100 other teams in a range of patrol challenges; - Sent 22 Scouts to a SCUBA experience in January; - Practiced archery (with many Scouts obtaining their “Master-at-Arms” badge) both indoors and out, air-rifle shooting, and tomahawk throwing; - Completed several short hikes exploring the local area both as Patrols (with Scoutled navigation) and as a whole Troop. In particular the independent hikes (with Patrols hiking without accompanying adults) have become a firm favourite in our programme; - Played golf at the Letchworth par-3 course; and - Really improved our cooking skills including completing two Ready-Steady-Cook style challenge evenings. ## **Leaders** Our troop couldn’t run without our leaders, every one a volunteer, and I am exceedingly grateful for all that they do. Every member of the team brings something new and we work together very well. It is a privilege to be able to work with our Scouts and if you have ever considered volunteering in any capacity, I’d encourage you to go for it! This year we have been particularly well supported by a brilliant set of Young Leaders and they are making a huge difference to our troop. Finally, I also want to thank our Scout parents, many of whom have given up one or more evenings (sometimes very late evenings!) to support our activities. We couldn’t carry out our programme without this. ## **Looking forward** This year we expect to stabilise our numbers (at a lower level than our previous peak) as a number of our older Scouts “age-out” but we re-start the feed of new joiners from our Arlesey cub packs. During this time we will continue to build our patrols and will look to run some more expedition camps to boost confidence and independence, while working on traditional Scouting skills like campfire cooking and navigation. On the latter point we are looking forward to an incident night hike in just a few weeks time and big ideas for adventurous activities.. Once again, my sincere thanks to our Leaders, our Scout parents, and to our Scouts for all doing their parts for a brilliant Scouting year. Yours in Scouting, Gareth Rowlands **1st Arlesey Yellow Devils Scout Leader** ## **1st Arlesey Halifax Scouts Annual Report** In September 2023, for the first time, Arlesey did not have one…but TWO Scout Troops! A culmination of 6 months planning, our Friday Troop met for the very first time and camped together at the Arlesey Scout Hut (with a quick visit to Boyd Field on Saturday Evening). A combination of current Scouts, new Cubs and brand-new additions led to a wonderful weekend filled with new Scouting Skills, Adventurous Activities and many new friendships being forged. Since that first camp, we have been on an incredibly special journey over our first year gaining new Scouts, Young Leaders, Leaders and even our official name! We are the Halifax Troop which we named after BB364, A Halifax Bomber and its crew who tragically lost their lives during the 2[nd] World War over the skies of Arlesey. Over the last year, We have completed 30 Nights Away, Hiked 52 Miles, Spent 24 Hours on the Water and have earned a sensational number of badges on the way. We have also had the opportunity to do some amazing things including: - Competing at Green Beret for the first time. - Braving the sub-zero temperatures for Fire & Ice in January - Trying out Scuba diving for the very first time! - Helping to raise over £1700 for Feed Up Warm Up alongside the Yellow Devils Troop and Dambusters ESU at our Sleep Out for the Homeless. - Taking part in a Survival Camp organised by one of our fantastic Young Leaders Martha. - Venturing to sunny Kinver for our Weeklong Summer Camp. - Celebrating our 1 Year Anniversary with a fantastic weekend at Arlesey Scout Hut and Boyd Field in early September. None of this comes without the support of our formidable Leader and Young Leader team, We are so lucky in Halifax to have such an impressive bunch who each bring something different to the table. Thank you to Ryan, Dan, Dibz, Martha, Elias, Harry, Louis, and Charlotte for your ever-present support. The troop would be a much bleaker place without you all and I sincerely appreciate all that you do for the Scouts (and me!). I would also like to put out a special mention to Will “Hawkeye” Whelpdale for his continued support over the last year! Will is one of our Falcon Beaver Leaders but has been an ever- present help providing his time, skills, and towbar all in support of our little Troop. Thank you Will! We are so proud of everything we have achieved over the last year, and we are so grateful to everyone who has supported us along the way. Here is hoping that the next year will be even bigger and better (we have LOTS planned!) Yours in Scouting, Jayden Constable **1st Arlesey Halifax Scout Leader** ## **Dambusters Explorer Unit – Biggleswade District Annual Report** The Dambusters Explorer Unit meet on Thursday Evenings 7pm to 9pm mostly at Arlesey Scout Hut. A few numbers to highlight what explorers get up to and how they are progressing. In the last year: - 12 are active young leaders earning their young leader belt - 3 have completed their young leader belt - 11 Platinum awards achieved with more in progress - 7 Diamond awards are very nearly completed For fun I have added up the nights away across the unit, not including leaders and not including young leaders night away with other sections. We have over 920 nights away. Some members are nearly on 90 and still have 2 years in explorers. I’m looking forward to giving out a 100 nights away later this year. Earlier in the year some of the more senior explorers ran an expedition camp on a passport. They planned organised and ran the weekend for themselves including camping without adults. It is great to be able to give them this level of independence. Another expedition camp is planned in the near future. More recently Dambusters have elected an explorer council to help organise and plan activities. This is run entirely by explorers for explorers. They have worked with the rest of the unit to gather ideas and set out a programme for the next few months. Other highlights include Green Beret, Monopoly Run, Summer camp, Arlesey Summer Fair where they provided food and entertainment. Our young leaders have progressed rapidly through the year and the feedback from the Beaver and Scout sections is superb. It really is an achievement to take on planning, organising and running a camp and succeed. They have achieved this level of leadership. If you would like to be involved with the unit and help run explorers please speak to us, we would love to hear from you. Special thanks to James, Claire, Jayden and all the parents for their help supporting the unit. this year. Yours in Scouting, ## Chris Dodds Explorer Lead Volunteer (ELV) for Biggleswade District. ELV **for Arlesey Dambusters, Email: chris.dodds@arleseyscouts.org.uk T: 07886558708** Biggleswade District Scout Council Registered Charity No 300458 Helping Young People Get the Most Out Of Life . 1st Arlesey Scout Group Receipts and Payments Account Forthe yoarfro 0110412023 To 3110312024 Receipts and payments 3110312024 3110312023 Unrnstrict Unr•strlct•d funds Re5trr¢ted funds nd$ Recelpts Donations, legocle¥ and •lmHar Incom Iyio -10,357 Le¥s.'MembetshJp Stsbscrfpti￿s￿0n (JV*1yH￿o￿ntyIA 4299 Net m•mb•r¥hlp ¥ub8crfptl¢>M rèlalnod Oonaiions 6.532 148 1,601 Legaaes Youth FY¢grarn￿ and Group dwalion lo Nl￿aY EXpId￿ GiftAld 20.211 2,615 1.392 4771 1,896 O￿tr$In￿lar in¢0 8yb tot•1 32 181 3,9J7 Grants Mairtenenats grant Oiher grarts 3,800 Subt￿1 FundrnSBlng Igrossl Othwfurnlra￿￿g acti￿￿•8 Sub totsl Investm8nl income Bank Int8r&5t 10,WJ9 2.633 10,939 2,133 Bulldhg Society Interest Scout Aswaiion Short Twm In￿tr￿n1 ser￿ ioss 716 Nèt Proptrrty Rfrnt Incom Other 1nve6trn8nllnc￿MÈ 416 Sub totsl Total Gross Income 49,001 17.J34 16.510 A8setand inve¥ln*Rtsal85, 9ts. Total reeelpts 3.907 17.JJ4 18.140 Paysnents Ch•rftsblg Payments Yr¥Jth ptvgramme and acllvities Group dtin8tionto MoN¥ay E￿th>) Athity RefuNJ$ Adult swport and troir¥NJ Rent 20.447 1&498 lJ92 212 47 Water arxl Sew 589 38S 1760 1.17T Telephw and Inten*t Insurance 8ank Charges IOSMI Repair5 arKI Renew8Ls M818rlaly and2qulptr￿l Prinllng and photoc#)pyiThJ Web Hosting atvj OTrUne SeNc•s Conlrltxtuonto camp cn518 8adg88. W￿gleS Necke AGM 8nd truste¥ exptsses Charitable Donstion5 1,ZJf 1,5T3 1.941 1,430 io 1.1YJ 1034 1889 1.013 1.$17 913 10 815 Subscrip￿0￿8 Refijnd SundriES Sub total F&ndralslng •xponses Other l￿dIa]s￿ costs 2Q447 3,702 Sub tot•1 3.7ts2 TotaJ Gross Expendlture 20.417 27A Asset and inv•gtmant purchas￿, et¢. Totalpaymgnts 41.010 20￿7 27Ae6 Net 0frecelpt￿fPaymQntsJ Cash funds last ygar ¢nd Cash funds this yearend 11.840 16,540 19. 16,$40 Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year 3110312024 Unrestrf¢tsd 3110312023 Vnr•9tricted fvnds Re8tsl¢t•d Restricted funds Cash fund8 17,730 9,609 129 16,$40 Bank depDstt aoaxmt Pr&Paid CÉ8h 1.610 BulkJHig ac4x)unt The So)utAssodatbn Smrt feTm In¥esttnent Ser¥ CasNHoats 447 412 Total ¢a8h tsnds other mon•tsry ag$0ts Tax t4aim 11 11,5 Debts from the Cwrtyl*8wDbtrkVGroup In5urarKe Sub total IDvegtm6nt assets Investm•* property- det&1 Quoied In¥e$trnents in￿SIr￿ts-detail Sub totsl Non monetsry asgets for chaiityS ovm usg Shop stora Othèr &toek LaThY and bthldlrwJ ot0rvthic￿s 1.422 4323 1740 ScwNty¢qupment, fvmfture etc Syb total 4748 Llabllltlo8 Ac4ounts rK>tyet pahl Exper)5es IncupTed bul Tr)t Invc4ced SubseriWcffi8 not yet Loan- d8t8I1 Othw liabi15tie5 1096 3ub total Contlng•nt Ilabllltlgs and future obligalio Th• abov• Mcelpl# and PY￿￿nts account and statemfjnt of a680ts and liabjlllles approv￿ by the Trustéè¥ on 18th Juty 20 nd #lgngd on thelr behalf by Print Name S&eAI4 Qo LL &Y 014£) g IOPkiÉf Ll Chair Treasurèr st Independant exajunar's raport to th• trust••8 0£ l Arlesey Scout Group. I report to the trustees on my exaxnination of -he accounts of the l?t Arlesey Scout GLOUP for the year endéd 3. March 2024. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees of the i%r Arlesey Scout Groupi yoa are Eesponsiblè for the preparation of tne accounts 'n accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 1 Ithe Act, I I report in respect OE my exam. nation of the Arlésey Scout Group accounts carried out undor sèction 14) of th& 2011 Act and in carrying out rny exarnination I have followed alL the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commisslon under section .45151 Ibl of tFLQ Act. Independent examiner, s statement I have cornpleted rny examination. I confirm that no rnaterial matters have corne to my attention _n connectiork with tELe examinatiorL giving rAe cause to believe that in any rnaterial respect: accounting Eecords were not kept ID. respect of th& l-- Ar'esey Scout Group as Lequi-ed by section 130 af the Act: the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no con=erns and have corne across no other matter5 itx connection with the exarnination to whinh attention should be drawn in this report in orde- &nable a proper understanding 0£ the accounts Lo be reached. Signed.. M_IM4r Narne.. MARK HJERTZVN FCA Relevant professiona" anyl: FCA I ICAEWI qualificat on or mernbership of professional bodie5 lif Addres $= HW Associate$ Limited PoitIlll L" trIoJse Portrnill Lane Hitchin HeEts SG5 IDJ Date: L8: July 2024