Trustees’ Annual Report
For the Period from start date 01-01-2022 to end date 31-12-2022
Section A Reference and Administration details
Charity name 1[st] Ampthill & Woburn Scout Group Other names the charity is known by Flitwick Scout Group Register charity number 300454 Charity’s principal address Station Road Flitwick Bedford MK45 1JR
Names of the charity trustees’ who manage the charity
| Trustee Names | Ofce (if any) | Date acted if not for whole year |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Smith | GroupChairman | |
| Susan Whittingham | GroupSecretary | |
| Kathryn Singleton | GroupTreasurer | |
| Darren Reeve | GroupScout Leader | |
| PhillipRutt | Quartermaster | |
| Paul Gilby | Executive Committee Member |
|
| Nicola Taylor | DeputyGroupScout Leader | |
| BarryHodgkinson | Cub Scout Leader | |
| PaulGoddard | Scout Leader | |
| Lisa Schofeld | Executive Committee Member |
|
| Peter Misson | Executive Committee Member |
|
| Simon Baldwin | Scout Leader |
Names & addresses of advisers
| Type of advisor | Name | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Independent examiner | David Hendry | 46 Swafeld Close, MK45 2HJ |
Section B Structure, Governance Management
Description of the Charity Trust Types of governing document. The Group’s governing documents are those of the Scout Association. They consist of a Royal Charter, which in turn, gives authority to the Bye Laws of the Association and the Policy, Organisation and Rules of the Scout Association. How the Charity is constituted The Group is a Trust established under rules which are common to all Scouts. Trustees’ selection method The Trustees’ are appointed in accordance with the Policy, Organising and Rules of the Scout Association. Additional governance issues The Group is managed by the Group’s Executive Committee, the members of which are the Charity Trustees of the Scout Group, which is an education charity. As charity trustees they are responsible for complying with the legislation applicable to charities. This includes the registration, keeping proper accounts and making returns to the Charity Commissions as appropriate.
The Committee consists of three independent representatives, Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. With the Group Scout Leader, individual Section Leaders and parent’s representation meets every two months.
The Group Executive Committee exists to support the Group Section Leaders in meeting their responsibility as Uniformed Leaders and is responsible for -:
Maintenance of Group Property; The raising of funds and the administration of Group finance; The insurance of persons, property and equipment; Assisting in the recruitment of leaders and other adult support; The raising of funds and the administration of the Group finance; Group public occasions; Appointing any sub-committee that may be required; and Appointing Group Administrators and Advisors other than those who are elected.
The Members of the Executive Committee have undertaken Safeguard training inline with the Scouts Association rules.
Risk and internal Control The Group Executive Committee has identified the major risks to which they believe the Group is exposed, these have been reviewed and systems have been established to mitigate against them. The main areas of concern that have been identified are:
Damage to the buildings, property and equipment.
The Group would request the temporary use of building, property and equipment from neighbouring organisations such as Church, community centre and other Scout Groups.
The Group has sufficient insurance policy to prevent permanent loss, this amount is disclosed in the accounts and is currently £310,403.
Injury to leaders, helpers, supporters, administrators’, and members are covered through membership fees which contribute to the Scout Associations national accident insurance policy. Risk assessments are carried out before all activities.
Reduced income from fund raising. The Group is primarily reliant upon income from subscriptions and fundraising. The group does hold a reserve to ensure the continuity of activities should there be a major reduction in income. The Committee could raise the value of subscriptions to increase the income to the group on an ongoing basis, either temporarily or permanently.
Reduction or loss of leaders. The group is totally reliant upon volunteers to run and administer the activities of the group. If there was a reduction in the number of leaders to an unacceptable level in a particular section or the group then there would have to be a contraction, consolidation or closure of a section. In the worst case scenario the complete closure of the Group.
Reduction or loss of members. The Group provides activities for all young people aged 4 to 18. If there was a reduction in membership in a particular section or the group as whole then there would have to be a contraction, consolidation, or closure of a section. In the worst case scenario the complete closure of the Group.
The group has in place systems of internal controls that are designed to provide reasonable assurance against material mismanagement or loss, these include 2 signatories for all payments and comprehensive insurance policies to ensure that insurable risks are covered. Cash payments for both purchases and receipt of subscriptions have been discouraged.
Section C Objective and Activities
Object of the Charity
The Purpose of Scouting
Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.
The Values of Scouting
As Scouts we are guided by these values: Integrity - We act with integrity; we are honest, trustworthy and loyal. Respect - We have self-respect and respect for others. Care - We support others and take care of the world in which we live. Belief - We explore our faiths, beliefs and attitudes. Co-operation - We make a positive difference; we cooperate with others and make friends.
The Scout Method
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Scouting takes place when young people, in partnership with adults, work together based on the values of Scouting and: - enjoy what they are doing and have fun - take part in activities indoors and outdoors
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learn by doing
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share in spiritual reflection - take responsibility and make choices - undertake new and challenging activities - make and live by their Promise.
Public benefit statement The Group meets the Charity Commissioner’s public benefit criteria under both the advancement of education and the advancement of citizenship or community development headings.
Section D Achievements and Performance Main achievements The Group has shown by diligently taking its young members through an enjoyable training programme helping them grow into responsible members of society.
2022 saw us return to ‘normal’ Scouting activities and what a great year it was! Activities and camps were plentiful and even the work to redevelop our building saw some small steps forward and 2023 could well see some visible progress to getting better and larger facilities. Our Group continues to go from strength to strength with wonderful programmes created by our Leaders. Our Young People have enjoyed a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities including a highly successful family camp. We had many new leaders join us throughout the sections from Squirrels to Scouts and this perhaps bodes well for our quest to open more sections in the future to get more people in the area into Scouting. We have moved our accounting over to the OSM tools which has proved to have made things easier on the admin
front and our bank balance continues to be very healthy. We have also setup a more formal hardship policy to ensure Scouting is available to all.
In preparation for improvements to the building we had both a structural survey and an Asbestos survey carried out on the building. No nasty surprises were forthcoming but a long list of jobs is the result!
After much coming and going the Town Council finally agreed to giving us a new 25 year lease on a larger piece of land. Hopefully this will finally be put in place during 2023 giving us the basis to move forward with improvement and expansion plans going into 2024.
Not only did our group bounce back after COVID , but we’ve grown and developed as a group, and have continued to provide an incredibly active and diverse programme (as detailed in the individual Section reports) for an evergrowing number of young people.
No less than 7 of our Leaders were awarded Chief Scout’s Length of Service awards in 2022, we’ve recruited new Leaders and new Executive members, and received a letter of ‘personal and sincere thanks’ from the Chief Commissioner of England because of the training we, as a group, have engaged with.
Not only have the young people had opportunities to have fun, learn new skills and push their own limits, but they’ve also done themselves proud representing our group at local events such as COP2 Ampthill Climate Change Event and the annual remembrance parade. It’s been a privilege to award an increased number of badges including Acorn (Squirrels), Bronze (Beavers), Silver (Cubs) and Gold (Scouts) awards to Young People.
Our waiting list is longer than ever, so in the background we’ve been planning for ways to support even more young people. The Town Council have agreed to give us a new 25 year lease on a larger piece of land, and we have set up a small fundraising group to try to help us achieve the funding that will be necessary for repairing and extending the hut. We are always on the lookout for new Volunteers, both to support Young people directly and to carry out the numerous background jobs that enable Young People to join the Scout Group.
Year Review The Scout group remains solvent and in a good financial position. Leaders and Executive committee manage spending well and there are good financial processes in place. Net income was £13,069.48.
Section E Financial Review
We have moved from a partial Covid year in FY21 into a near normal operation year in FY22.
Accordingly spending has increased through expenditure on meetings, events and maintenance.
Membership fees have risen after being halved during Covid.
Grants have reduced and fundraising opportunities have increased resulting in increased fundraising income. Income from hall hire has also risen again and the bookings secretary is working hard to get back to pre-pandemic levels of external hire (whilst making sure group activities are not inhibited).
Expenses have increased in line with normal scouting activities being resumed including camps and visits to external sites for meetings. Uniform spend is higher due to increased demand for uniforms with meetings in person resumed. Spending on badges is high in FY22 as it includes FY21 badge expenses due to late submission of invoices for paying in FY21. In addition there were additional event badges which were purchased in FY22 including Jubilee Badges and the death of Queen Elizabeth II badges.
Looking to the future we are actively fundraising for our hut re-development, having now secured the longer term lease on the land on which the Scout Hut resides. Continued good management of the Scout Groups funds are essential for this and I would seek buy-in from all members of FSG to facilitate this.
The Reserves policy The Groups policy on reserves is to hold sufficient resources to continue the charitable activities for one year, should income and fundraising activities fall short or if the hut becomes unavailable due to structural failure which has been estimated at £25,000.
The group holds a capital reserve of £100,000 for the fitting out of a new hut. This will be reviewed once we have further updates on any developments for a new Scout hut. The group held reserves of £145,557.56 (2021 - £132,488.08) at year end.
Section F Plans for future period
Future objectives We aim to increase the number of members attending the group in future years and to conduct essential maintenance and extension of the hut to accommodate scouting activities.
Section G Declarations
The Trustees’ declare that they have approval the trustee’s report above Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees Signatures
Full Name Kathryn Singleton Sue Whittingham Position Treasurer Secretary
Date: 09 October 2023
Accounts
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J4YS 501B.CO 13.495.CO o.i) 25.f £5.023(M) i.LW.tyJ FdI¥ F).tD4 39.652.ri) 19 241.62 £14.369. £ieo 1.123.f6 358.50 135.oj 20L E152 642.34 £439A4 953KIJ 822.92 I.OW.14 563.54 .£97J £25*38 E4.140.8 £39721 Bw&fee5 E4ulWPt 1.12J.13 1,578 92.97 13.584.51 725.12 139.50 l.JJ5.9l .331.48 El.612.41 -£L.GS9.71 £57.87 Hwd5h 57A7 3.4 I26.49 ll85 f311.64 £587.76 .c I,P74h7 1,312.35 £L92>46 £I&9s 12.458.45 om 27.oj 1.5Y.to 2,W7.JB £27W 1.584 £21411
knrtT 1.729.23 I5.1.75 .757J7 22,W2.19 7J) IA91.51 125.19 3M7122 164 25,t36A6 £IA6S.19 .593A5 663.2 .EkQ 1969 .£65548 AT 1375AI t1ts66 E&lO £91 55 331.69 132 56.481. iJ.cfjyA8 145 55Fi6 EIY IX21 23.51144 Independent Examiner's Report
CHARITY COMMISSION FC ENGIAND AND WAIES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examlnor's Roport Report to the trustees On account¥ for the year ended 3 15f DecÉMseB gQ92 Charlty no (If any) 3oows Set out on pagè$ I report to the trustees on my examlnation of the acxy)urrts of the above <arfty {Ihe Trusfi for thè year ended Responsibilities 8nd basis of report As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparatK)n ofthe acc(xJnts in accrydance with the fequlrewEnts ofthe Chaiibes Ad 2011 {'the Acri. I rewrt in resped of my examin8tv)n of the Trusf$ acccmjrrts carried under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying OLrt my examinalh)n. I have followed 811 the applicable Directions given by the Charrty CormibSSW)n under seOn 145(5){b) of the Act. Independent trhe charity's gross ino)me exrthdg(1 £250,000 and l am qualw to examiner's statement undertake the examination by being a qualffied member of linsert name of 8ppli¢able listed bodyll. Delete I l rf not applicable. I have completed my examination. I confiryn that no material matters have come to my attention in connectlon wrth the examination (other than that disclosed below ) %thich gives me cause to believe that in. any material respett. the accounting rettrds were not kepl in acrdanCe wrth sect)n 130 of the Charrties Act,. or the acUnts did not actord wlth the a¢counling recoTd$; QT the accounts did not ccmply with the applicable quireMeftts concerning the form and content of accourrts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 otherthan 8ny requlrement that the accounts give a 'lrii8 and fairf view which is not a matter consldefed as part of 8n independent examinalion. I have no concerns and have ccffie attoss no other matters in connedon wf(h the examination to which attenlton should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reathed. Ple e delete the words in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Slgned.. Date: ¥JNJ 23 Name.. u rtEb)DFg Oct 2018
Relevant professlonal quillfic8tionlsl or body CIMA Addie89'. 46 &JhFf IELD LLO 13EDS . MKL*5 1 (See CC32, IndepENSEm eMminutyDn otchoflty DDXXIIK6'. guld8nceftr examlnersl. Glve htrè brlef ¢Jet•lls of any nems that the exjminer wi8he$ to dlsclose. NJ I Oct2M•