## Biggleswade & District Scout Council
Trustees Annual Report & Financial Statements for the Year ended 31[st] December 2025
Charity Registration Number 300458
## **About the Charity**
Charity Registration Number: 300458
## Scouting Association Membership
Biggleswade & District Scout Council is registered with The Scouting Association (Gilwell Park, Chingford, London, E4 7QW)
Registration Number: 10001376
Incorporated by Royal Charter
## Contact Information
Principal Address: Boyd Scout Campsite & Activity Centre, Church Road, Henlow, Bedfordshire, SG16 6AN
Email: hello@biggleswadedistrictscouts.org.uk
Website: www.biggleswadedistrictscouts.org.uk
## Banking Information
Principal Banker: Barclays Bank, Leicester, LE87 2BB & Lloyds Bank, 25 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7HN
Independent Examiner: Andrea Daniels, 16 Water Lane, Melbourn, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 6AY
## Charity Trustees
## Names of the Charity Trustees who managed the Charity:
|**Trustee Name**|**Primary Scouting Appointment**|**Dates acted if not**
**for whole year**|**Trustee Type**|
|---|---|---|---|
|David Bridges|District Trustee||Elected Trustee|
|Peter Cheney|Chair of the District Trustee Board||Elected Chair|
|Joe Febery-Watts|District Youth Lead|Until August 2025|Ex-Officio|
|Tracey Murrell|District Lead Volunteer||Ex-Officio|
|Christopher Dodds|14-24 Team Leader||Elected Trustee|
|Anne Porter|District Treasurer||Elected Treasurer|
|Robert Pullinger|District Trustee|Until February 2025|Elected Trustee|
|Graham Thorpe|District Safety Advisor|Until September 2025|Elected Trustee|
|Ben Whittle|District VDT Lead||Elected Trustee|
|Martha Graham|District Youth Lead (Joint)|From October 2025|Ex-Officio|
|Libby Cowan|District Youth Lead (Joint)|From October 2025|Co-Opted Trustee|
## **Objectives and Activities**
Purpose
Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.
## Values
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.
## Method
Scouting takes place when young people, in partnership with adults, work together based on the values of Scouting and:
- Enjoy what they are doing and have fun;
- Take part in activities indoors and outdoors;
- Learn by doing;
- Share in spiritual reflection;
- Take responsibility and make choices;
- Undertake new and challenging activities; and
- Make and live by their promise
The Charity Trustees have a duty to report on their public benefit in their Annual Report. We have assessed our aims, activities, and charitable objectives which are:
“Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.”
We believe we have met the Charity Commission’s public benefit criteria for both the advancement of education and the advancement of citizenship or community development.
## **District Membership (as at 31[st] January 2026)**
|**Membership**|**Number**|
|---|---|
|Squirrel Scouts|120|
|Beaver Scouts|434|
|Cub Scouts|554|
|Scouts|465|
|Explorers|166|
|Scout Network|11|
|**Total:**|**1750**|
|**Number of Adult Volunteers**||
|**including:**||
|Management Roles||
|Leadership Roles||
|Governance Roles||
||**671**|
|Young Leaders|**71**|
|**Units**||
|Groups|**16**|
|Squirrel Dreys|8|
|Beaver Colonies|24|
|Cub Packs|27|
|Scout Troops|22|
|Explorer Scout Units (including YL|11|
|Unit)||
|Scout Network Units|**1**|
## **Trustees Report**
The members of the Trustee Board of Biggleswade District Scout Council present their report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2025. The financial statements have been prepared on a payments and receipts basis and comply with the charity’s governing document and the Charities Act 2011.
## Governance
The Charity’s governing document is the Royal Charter granted by King George V to the “Boy Scouts Association” on 16 December 1911. Its name has since been changed to the “Scout Association”.
This Charter has been supplemented by further Charters granted by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. These Charters give authority to the Bye Laws of the Association, which are approved by His Majesty’s Privy Council. The Bye Laws, in turn, authorise the making of rules for the regulation of the Association’s affairs and thereby give authority for the Rules known as “Policy, Organisation and Rules” which are located at www.scouts.org.uk/por.
The Biggleswade District Scout Council was first registered as a Charity in 1966.
The Charity is aware of the Code of Governance for the Voluntary and Community Sector and its six key principles and will continue to critically review its approach to governance and assess how effective it is against these principles in 2025.
## Structure
This report and accounts cover the activities directly controlled by Biggleswade District Scout Council which is an autonomous organisation admitting people to membership subject to the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association. The activities of the Scout Groups in Biggleswade are not reflected in the report and accounts. These bodies are autonomous charities affiliated to Biggleswade District Scout Council that together form Scouting in the area of operation of the District.
Biggleswade District Scouts were led by Tracey Murrell, the District Lead Volunteer, and managed by a Trustee Board. They are accountable to the Biggleswade District Scout Council for the satisfactory running of Scouting in the District.
## Management
The management of the business of the District Scout Council is vested in the District Trustee Board. The Trustees Board was appointed in accordance with Policy, Organisation, and Rules of the Scout Association. The District Trustee Board met four times during the year to manage the affairs of the Charity. The Trustees will continue to meet regularly in 2026.
The District Trustee Board is responsible for policy making but delegates some operational decisions to its operational sub teams, such as the campsite management team. Teams may also recommend policies for the consideration of the District Trustee Board. The District Lead Volunteer is responsible for appointing Team Leaders to manage the operational teams within the District and ensure their effective & complaint operation.
The District Trustee board also delegates some of its responsibilities, within an agreed terms of reference to the finance sub-committee of the board comprising of members of the trustee board, the Treasurer and the District Chair. The District Chair also Chairs the finance sub-committee meetings.
Operational teams & sub committees of the trustee board within the District conduct their activities with a budget and, where applicable, agreed terms of reference set by the trustee board to allow for quick decisions where necessary without added bureaucracy.
## Organisation
The District is led by the District Lead Volunteer and supported by:
- The District Trustee Board
- The District Leadership Team
- Group Lead Volunteers
- Other Key Sub-Teams appointed in line with POR
## Appointment of Trustees
Trustees are appointed in accordance with the “Policy, Organisation & Rules” of The Scout Association.
Trustees and newly appointed Trustees are invited to attend HQ Trustee Training via the Adult Management System and completion is monitored by the District Lead Volunteer (or delegate) and/or District Chair.
## Risk Management
The Trustees have a risk management strategy which includes:
- a requirement to produce a risk assessment for all District events and activities;
- an annual review of the risks the Charity may face;
- the establishment of systems and procedures to mitigate those risks identified in the annual review and for all District events and activities; and
- the implementation of procedures designed to minimise any potential impact on the Charity should those risks materialise.
- A requirement for non-Scouting organisations using Boyd Scout Campsite & Activity Centre to produce appropriate Risk Assessments for their event.
Risk assessments have been completed for all activities and facilities at the Activity Centre and are available on the website. These are reviewed regularly. When unacceptable risks are identified actions are taken on an on-going basis to mitigate them.
A key element in the management of financial risk is the regular review of the adequacy of insurance coverage and investment and reserves policies by the trustees.
## Reserves Policy
The policy has been established to protect the Charity and its charitable programme by providing time to adjust to changing financial circumstances. It also provides parameters for future budgeting and strategic plans and contributes towards decision making.
The Charity’s reserves policy establishes an appropriate target range for the level of general reserves. The range is based on a risk assessment of the probability and likely impact on the Charity’s activities that might be caused by a decline in income, an inability to meet financial obligations, or an inability to reduce expenditure in the immediate short term. The policy ensures a balance between spending the maximum amount of income raised as soon as possible after receipt, while maintaining the appropriate level of reserves to ensure uninterrupted operation. The policy and target range will be reviewed annually to reassess the risks and reflect changes in the Charity’s income, financial obligations and expenditure. The charity’s reserves policy is to hold reserves approximately equivalent to 6 months’ expenditure.
In addition, the Charity manages a hardship fund to support Groups and individuals in need throughout the District. The Trustees have plans to invest the surplus reserves into improvements at the District Campsite.
## Investment Policy
Due to the relatively low level of funds, the District’s policy is to hold funds in standard bank accounts with FSCS protection at balances less than £85,000 per account.
The surplus income of the District is not sufficiently high for the trustees to consider long term investment however, a standard saver account has been opened to begin setting funds aside for the ‘Bigg Build’ project.
## **Achievements and Performance**
- As a District we have continued to grow expanding our numbers of young people, with large waiting lists that is dependent on us recruiting more adult volunteers
-
-
- We have continued to implement the new teams way of working to meet the new structure set by the Scout Association and ease volunteer workload
- The District campsite goes from strength to strength and had the highest income last year
- We invested in the campsite by creating new permanent activities and facilities improvements.
- Work has begun on ensuring more thorough oversight of the governance of groups within the District to ensure compliance and effective operation
- A District youth team has been recruited and is beginning work to support groups
- A massively successful District camp (‘The Bigg Weekender’) involving over 1000 people!
## **Financial Review**
## Statement of Financial Activities
The overall result for the year was a surplus of £18,117.
This was primarily driven by a significant increase in income from Boyd Scout Campsite & Activity Centre and the District shops. As we saw last financial year, much of the income offset by expenditure on ongoing improvement works, in particular developing activity provision and maintenance at the campsite.
## Renumeration of Trustees
All Trustees act in a voluntary capacity and receive no remuneration or other material benefits from their services to the Charity. Out-of-pocket expenses necessarily and reasonably incurred by Trustees in promoting the purposes of the Charity are reimbursed at cost.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
## Accounting reporting type
A recent change to POR means that combined accounts for a Scout charity with a gross income (ie including fees collected on behalf of County, Region & HQ which were previously excluded from calculation) over £250k should use accruals accounting however, a transition exemption (detailed in POR footnote) applies to the District accounts for this financial year.
Commission guidance has changed to increase this threshold for financial years starting on or after 1[st] January 2026 (ie the Districts year financial year starting on 1[st] Jan 2026) to £500k therefore the reporting type of receipts and payments will continue to be used.
## Note on the independent examiner
Following changes to the way membership subscription income must be reported starting from the 2026 financial year, reported gross income of the Council being expected to exceed £250k in 2026. The District Trustees note that under POR, the independent examiner of accounts with a gross income exceeding £250k must be a member of a professional body which Ms Andrea Daniels (independent examiner of the 2025 accounts) is not to our knowledge. As the reported gross income for 2025 was below £250k, the trustees are satisfied that these accounts have been properly independently examined.
The trustees expect the threshold in POR to be increased to £500k gross income in the Autumn 2026 update, which may remove the requirement for the independent examiner to hold a professional qualification. Therefore, we are asking the Council at the 2026 to appoint Ms Andrea Daniels again as the independent examiner for the current financial year, subject to either confirmation of her qualifications or the anticipated update to POR.
Should there be no change to POR and Ms Daniel’s is confirmed to not hold an appropriate qualification, the District trustees will make suitable enquires to agree and appoint at a meeting of the trustees a new independent examiner with the relevant qualifications/accreditations
Approved by the Trustees on 13/05/2026 and signed on their behalf by:
P.Cheney
Peter Cheney District Chairperson
## Biggleswade & District Scout Council
Statement of Accounts for the Year ended 31[st] December 2025
Charity Registration Number 300458
**Biggleswade District Scout Council Accouts for the Year Ended 31st December 2025**
## **Monetary Assets**
|**Monetary Assets**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||2025||2024|
||£||£|
|Bank Current Accounts|100699||81,983|
|Cash in Hand|457||-|
|Cash in Hand(badge&scout uniforms)|147||260|
||**101,303**||**82,243**|
|**Non Monetary Assets**||||
|Badge Secretary's Stock|14,805.00||8454|
|District Shop Stock|11,111.50||8635|
|Tuck Shop Stock|3,908.40||0|
Deeds for the land and buildings at Boyd Memorial Campsite are held in trust by the Scout Association based upon their insurance valuation.
**Liabilities**
0 0
**Biggleswade District Scout Council Accouts for the Year Ended 31st December 2025**
## **Bank Balances**
|Barclays Bank
Scout Council
Barclays Bank
The Bigg Build
Barclays Bank
Campsite
Barclays Bank
Bigg Weekender
Barclays Bank
Campsite Events
Barclays Bank
Cub Events
Barclays Bank
Arlesey Dam
Barclays Bank
Network Account
Barclays Bank
Potton Forresters
Lloyds Bank
1st Sandy Exployers
Lloyds
badges
Lloyds
uniform
Total banks
**Floats**
Badge Shop
Scouts Uniform Shop
Campsite
Arlesey Dambusters
1st Sandy
Tuck Shop
**Total**
Total|32,658.39 (includes hardship)
3,476.92
36904.04
2,188.22
0.00
4,328.69
2,482.15
435.29
555.00
1,531.39
**84,560.09**
7403.29
8735.45
**16,138.74**
**100,698.83**
20.00
126.50
0.00
393.21
19.00
44.46
**603.17**
**101,302.00**|
|---|---|
## **Biggleswade District Scout Council Accouts for the Year Ended 31st December 2025**
## **Receipts and Payments Account Summary**
|Total Receipts for the year
Total Payments for the Year
Net Receipts/(Payments) for the year
Cash, Bank and Similar Funds brought forward
1st potton b/f bank
1st potton b/f p/cash
Cash, Bank and Similar Funds carried forwards|2025
£
206,516.00
188,399.00
18,117.00
82,243.00
923.00
19.00
**101,302.00**|2024
£
185,397.00
149,880.00
35,517.00|
|---|---|---|
|||46,726.00
**82,243.00**|
The above account and accompanying statement of assets and liabilities were approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf.
## P.Cheney
District Chairman
13/05/2026 Date:
A.Porter Treasurer
13/05/2026 Date:
## **Biggleswade District Scout Council Accouts for the Year Ended 31st December 2025**
## **Monies In**
|Membership Subscriptions
Less Paid
Bank Interest Received
**Activities**
Boyd Memorial Campsite
District Events
transfers
**Donations**
Bequest/Grants/Fundraing
from scout/badge shop
refunds
Other
**Fund Raising**
Scout Shop
Sale of Badges
Donation Lloyds
Total Receipts for the year||2025
£
108,612
-93953
14,659
16
16
115,596
36,365
5,802
157,763
2,740
0
862
580
4,182
15,871
14,025
0
29,896
206,516||2024
£
93,537
-81474|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||12,063
-|
|||||-
97,618
33,041|
|||||130,659
0
13,755
1,072|
|||||14,827
14,598
13,190
60|
|||||27,848|
|||||185,397|
## **Biggleswade District Scout Council Accouts for the Year Ended 31st December 2025**
## **Monies Out**
|**t**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||2025||2024|
||£||£|
|Capitation|93,953||81,474|
||already taken out||already taken out|
|Premises||||
|Boyd Memorial Campsite|102,378||65,136|
|Equipment|15,750||12,602|
||118,128||77,738|
|Activities||||
|District Events|37,812||33,767|
||37,812||33,767|
|Admin/Establishment Expenses||||
|New Group Start up Grants|300||-|
|Leaders Training|1,641||6,093|
|Leaders Expenses|-||-|
|Transfers|5,502||1,910|
||7,443||8,003|
|Purchase of uniforms|11177||11,912|
|Purchase of badges|12339||12,319|
|Campsite lawnmower|1,500||5,940|
|Last years in this years bank|||185|
|Added to p/cash|||21|
|adjustment last year|||5
-|
||25,016||30,372|
|||||
|Total payments for the year|188,399||149,880|
## **District & Boyd Memorial Campsite Accouts for the Year Ended 31st December 2025**
|**Income**
Membership Fees
Fees Refund
Boyd Campsite Invoices
District Events
Savings int
Transfers from Bigg Weekender
Transfers from Scout Shop
Transfers
Donations/grants/refunds
**Expenditure**
Membership Fees
Boyd Campsite Costs
District Events
Equipment
Transfers
Leaders Expenses
Leaders Training
New Group Start Up Grants
Legal fees
Surplus for the Year
Represented by
Opening Balances at 1 January 2024
Current Account
Reserve Account
Building Fund
surplus/loss
Closing Balances at 31 December 2025
Current Account
b/f 1st Potton Forresters
1st Potton Forresters
Petty Cash
Equals
Building Fund|2025
2025
108,612.00
862.00
115,596.00
36,365.00
16.00
2,818.00
0.00
2,985.00
3,320.00
270,574.00
93,953.00
102,378.00
37,812.00
15,750.00
5,502.00
0.00
1,641.00
300.00
0.00
257,336.00
13,238.00
70,487.19
0.00
0.00
70,487.19
13,238.00
83,725.19
78,561.49
922.79
19.00
510.56
234.43
3,476.92
83,725.19|2025
2025
108,612.00
862.00
115,596.00
36,365.00
16.00
2,818.00
0.00
2,985.00
3,320.00
270,574.00
93,953.00
102,378.00
37,812.00
15,750.00
5,502.00
0.00
1,641.00
300.00
0.00
257,336.00
13,238.00
70,487.19
0.00
0.00
70,487.19
13,238.00
83,725.19
78,561.49
922.79
19.00
510.56
234.43
3,476.92
83,725.19|2024
2024
93,537.00
822.00
97,618.00
33,041.00
250.00
1,660.00
5,940.00
6,155.00
239,023.00
81,474.00
65,136.00
33,767.00
12,602.00
1,910.00
0.00
6,093.00
0.00
0.00
200,982.00
38,041.00
32,446.19
0.00
0.00
32,446.19
38,041.00
70,487.19
70,148.95
88.20
250.04
70,487.19|
|---|---|---|---|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
## **Biggleswade District Exployers Accouts for the Year Ended 31st December 2025**
|2025
**Potton Forresters**
**Income**
Membership Fees
1,185.00
1,185.00
**Expenditure**
Capitation
630.00
630.00
Surplus for year
**555.00**
**Arlesey Dambusters**
**Income**
Membership Fees
2436.00
Fundraising
151.00
Events
4738.00
Donation
777.00
8102.00
**Expenditure**
Capitation
1197.00
admin
193.00
events
4835.00
rent/cash/equals
992.00
fundraising
204.00
7421.00
Surplus for year
**681.00**
**Network**
**Income**
Events
529.00
Transfers
337.00
866.00
**Expenditure**
expenses
430.94
430.94
Surplus for year
**435.06**
**1st Potton Forresters**
**Income**
Subs
1420.00
sessions (external)
180.00
Events
1368.96
**2968.96**
**Expenditure**
membership
624.00
badges
34.08
events
1412.28
session fees
40.00
sessions external
230.00
**2340.36**
Surplus for year
**628.60**|2025
**monies in**
**13,121.96**
**monies out**
**10,822.30**|
|---|---|
## **Biggleswade District Scout Council Accouts for the Year Ended 31st December 2025**
## **Scout Uniform Shop**
|**Scout Uniform Shop**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||2025|2025|2024|2024|
|||£|£|£|£|
|Sale of Uniform etc|15870.53|||14,598.24||
|transfer to badge shop|0|||537.45||
|Donation Lloyds|0||15,870.53|60.00||
|Purchase of Stock|10953.67|||11,738.74||
|Sum Up Charges|223.58|||173.42||
|Stationery And Expenses||||||
||||11,177.25||11,912.16|
|Surplus/(deficit) for the year|||4,693.28||3,283.53|
|Lawnmower for Campsite|||1,499.99||537.45 trans b/s|
||||||5,940.00 trans c/s|
|Closing Balance|||3,193.29||-3,193.92|
|Closing Balances at 1st January 2024||||||
|Petty Cash||151.60||131.05||
|Current Account||5,867.06||9,081.53||
|Stock||8,635.12||8,508.97||
||||14,653.78||17,721.55|
|Surplus/(Movement) for the year|||3,193.29||-3,193.92|
|Increase/(decrease) in closing stock|||2,476.38||126.15|
||||20,323.45||14,653.78|
|Closing Balances at 31 December 2025||||||
|Petty Cash||126.50||151.60||
|cash for sales pd in in 2026||350.00||0.00||
|Current Account||8,735.45||5,867.06||
|Stock||11,111.50||8,635.12||
||||20,323.45||14,653.78|
|||||an adjustment|has been made|
|||||for 2024 as the|money to the|
|||||c/site should have been posted||
|||||as a deductuction, only affects||
|||||closing balance||
## **Biggleswade District Scout Council**
## **Accouts for the Year Ended 31st December 2025**
## **Badge Shop**
|**Badge Shop**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Sale of Badges
taken for p/cash
Purchase of Stock
Sum Up
Stationery And Expenses
Surplus/(Movement) for the year
Transfer to District
Closing Balance
Represented by:
Opening Balances at 1st January 2024
Petty Cash
Current Account
Stock
Surplus/(deficit) for the year
Increase/(decrease) in closing stock
Closing Balances at 31st December 2025
Petty Cash
Current Account
Stock|2025
2025
£
£
14,024.80
0.00
14,024.80
12,121.45
203.19
13.99
12,338.63
1,686.17
10,652.46
20.00
5,717.12
8,454.28
14,191.40
1,686.17
6,350.72
22,228.29
20.00
7,403.29
14,805.00
22,228.29|2024
2024
£
£
13,189.50
15.00
13,204.50
12,142.62
161.59
15.00
12,319.21
855.29
11,463.92
20.00
4,861.83
7,711.77
12,593.60
855.29
742.51
14,191.40
20.00
5,717.12
8,454.28
14,191.40||
||||14,191.40|
Independent Examiners Report on the Accounts
Scouts
Biggleswade Distrfct
i•wi