## 1[st] Britwell Scout group scout Council Annual General Meeting ## Minutes of the meeting held on Friday 24[th] January 2025 at 1[st] Britwell Scout Group Headquarters Health & Safety and domestic announcements were made . ## 1. Introduction and welcome Chair Many thanks for joining us this evening. I would like to welcome members of the Group Scout Council and the representative from District –___Mark Ashworth Lead volunteer and _______________________. ## 2. Apologies for absence ## Chair: We’ve received apologies from ***persons (Dawn Jousiff and Kim W(cub Volunteer)) for their absence today, and their names will be included in the minutes of this meeting. ## 3. Governance topics Chair: We'll use this part of the meeting to make sure the charity's foundations are in good order ## 3a. Approve the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in 2023 ## Chair: The Group Trustee Board have reviewed the minutes of the previous AGM at their meeting held on 24[th] DJanuary 2025 . I put forward these minutes are taken as read and ask the Group Scout Council to agree they’re a true record of that meeting. Seconded by _Mark Ashworth/ Approved by a show of hands _._ ## 3b. Adopt the model constitution from Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR) ## Chair: In line with the recommendation from Scout Headquarters, the Group Trustee Board proposes we adopt the model constitution from Chapter 5 of Policy, Organisation and Rules. A copy of this was available for review and inspection if requested. Seconded by Victoria Little / Approved by a show of hands. ## 3c. Note the Groups financial year ## Chair : Can the Group Scout Council members please note our charity’s financial year is 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. ## 3d. Approve appointed and community members of the District Scout Council Chair notes the Group Scout Council can admit other people to membership. I have no one to Admit at this time These are to be admitted as members of the Group Scout Council as well as the ex officio list in POR Rule 5.5.4 Approved by a show of hands. Please note: These nominations are to the District Scout Council (the people attending this AGM). They aren’t members of the District Trustee Board. Please also note, these nominations can be by name or role. ## 3e. Agree the number of members that may be appointed to the Trustee Board ## Chair: Following good practice recommendations from the Charity Governance Code, POR states Trustee Boards should have a minimum of 5, and no more than 12, Trustees in total. This includes ex officio and co-opted Trustees. The Group Scout Council must agree the number of people to be appointed to the Trustee Board. The outgoing Trustee Board recommends that 5 people are appointed. I propose the Group Scout Council approves that recommendation. Page 2 of 11 pages Seconded by Victoria Little / Approved by a show of hands. 3f. Agree the quorum for future meetings of the Group Scout Council (excluding this AGM) ## Chair : The Group Scout Council must agree its quorum – the minimum number of Group Scout Council members that must be present at Group Scout Council meetings. The outgoing Trustee Board recommends the quorum should be set at 9 people. Does the Group Scout Council approve that recommendation? Seconded by please Stephanie Poole/ Approved by a show of hands. ## 4. Review of the previous year ## Chair: We’ll now use this part of the meeting to reflect on the activities of the past year. ## 4a. The Group Lead Volunteer’s review The Chair asked the Group Lead Volunteer to present their Annual Review. District Lead Volunteers presented their report which was shared in the AGM documentation pack and thanked all who have helped to take Scouting forward for the past year. The Chair thanked the Group Lead Volunteers for their review. ## 4b. Receive and consider the Annual Report of the District Trustee Board including the annual Statement of Accounts Chair notes the Group Trustee Board has approved the Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, and has received the report on the accounts from the Auditor (Mr Christopher Duke). The Chair asked the Group Treasurer to give their explanation of the Statement of Accounts. The Treasurer explained the Statement of Accounts. The Chair invited questions from the floor regarding the Trustee Annual Report, and the Annual Accounts. . Page 3 of 11 pages The Chair thanked Geraldine Manly for her financial report Please note: No vote is required, the District Scout Council only ‘receives and considers’ the report. ## 5. Making appointments Chair: We’ll use this part of the meeting to organise the set up of the charity until the next AGM. We'll appoint a Trustee Board to oversee good governance for the charity over the next year. 5a. [If required] Appoint the Group Chair, following recommendations from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board The Chair handed the chairmanship of this meeting over to the Group Lead Volunteer. The District Lead Volunteer explained the open selection process agreed by the Trustee Board. The recommendation to the Group Scout Council is that Bruce Clark will cover until a permanent one is found should be appointed as Group Chair. Please show your hands as approval. ## Approved by a show of hands The District Lead Volunteer handed the chairmanship of this meeting back to District Chair. Please note: If appointing a new Chair, you should agree prior to the AGM whether the outgoing Chair will continue to lead this meeting, or whether the new Chair should take over immediately during the meeting. It’s strongly encouraged the new District Chair takes over after the AGM’s finished – perhaps from midnight following the AGM. ## 5b. [If required] App Appoint the Group Treasurer, following recommendations from the open selection process initiated by the District Trustee Board The Chair explained the open selection process agreed by the Trustee Board. The recommendation to the Group Scout Council is that Geraldine Manley should be appointed as the Group Treasurer. ## Approved by a show of hands Page 4 of 11 pages 5c. [If required] Appoint members of the Group Trustee Board, following recommendations from the open selection process initiated by the Group Trustee Board The Chair explained the open selection process agreed by the Trustee Board. The recommendation to the Group Scout Council is that Mark Ashworth Nick Harmer Geraldine Manley -Treasurer Mathew Little WE DO NEED 1 more Minimum (Secretary would be good ) should be appointed as members of the Group Trustee Board. Approved by a show of hands ## Please note: - There can’t be more names appointed than were approved at agenda item 3d. There can be fewer than agreed at 3d, but not more. Remember, agenda item 3d is the total number of agreed ex officio, appointed and co-opted members. - It’s very important to arrange the open selection process and its recommendations before the AGM. Recruitment needs to be open, organised and in advance, so it’s a thoughtful process. It shouldn’t be taking place last minute during the AGM. The Chair advised that going forward the minute taker will be Victoria Little The Chair thanked the Trustees for their Hard Work during the year Please note: Co-opted members (if any) of the District Trustee Board are appointed by the District Trustee Board themselves at one of their meetings, and not at the AGM. ## - 5d. [If required] (Re )appoint Group President and/or Vice Presidents The Chair noted that the District Scout Council appoints the District President and/or Vice President. Page 5 of 11 pages The Chair advised that___Not Applicable____ is proposed as President. . ## 5e. Appoint the Auditor [ The Treasurer proposed Chris Duke as auditor The Chair confirmed that Chris Duke has been proposed, seconded and is qualified for the role, and asks for a show of hands to approve Chris Duke nomination. Approved by a show of hands Please note: - Please find the requirements for whether to appoint a Scrutineer, Independent Examiner or Auditor on: Accounting & Audit Requirements for Group Districts, Counties/Areas & Scottish Regions - • Please find the template for a Scrutineer or an Independent Examiner to use to report back to the Trustee Board on: Accounting and Reporting ## 6. Closing remarks District representative presentation Mark Ashworth The Chair closed the AGM, thanking everyone for attending and wished everyone a Good Night ## Reports ## **1[st] Britwell Scouts – Sectional Reports Group Lead Volunteer Summary** After a year of many changes for 1[st] Britwell Scout Group its great to see all sections are now settling in well and have great programmes in place for the year ahead. Its brilliant to see so many badges being awarded to the young people of the group and credit must go out to our volunteer leader teams for giving so much time and energy to make the Scouting experience so fun and rewarding. With the introduction of Squirrels to the Group it’s a privilege to be able to offer Scouting to a new group of young people form the community and we are really looking forward to creating memories, developing skills for life and having a great time with them. Page 6 of 11 pages The external hirers for the Scout Hut have brought in some well needed income to enable us to make improvements to the safety of the building and support the sections with subsidising programme. With added funds we are hoping to be able to offer even more activities for our young people and keep the badges and scouting awards coming through. We are always looking for additional parent support, not only for supporting evenings with the young people, but with help behind the scenes with the running of the group and upkeep of the building. If you have any skills that you think may be helpful or would like to give some time to support the group in any way you can please get in touch, it would be much appreciated. Thank you again to all our volunteer team for continuing to deliver an amazing programme for the young people and were hoping 2025 brings us from strength to strength in regards to growth and numbers to enable us to support an even wider community. ## **1[st] Britwell Scouts – Sectional Reports** ## **Squirrels** Friday 17[th] Jan saw the opening of our new squirrel drey, we have started with 3 new squirrels and the new leadership team put some great ideas down and have a great plan ahead. New leaflets are going out next week to showcase the opening of our new section. We have an activity day already pencilled in at PACCAR Activity Centre in March and we are planning a one-night sleep over in the hut during august to introduce them to camping and tents. We are looking forward to getting involved with the Squirrels and engaging with our youngest section to ensure that they can experience all that Scouting has to offer. _1[st] Britwell Squirrel Volunteers._ ## **Beavers Report** Since the last AGM we have had 3 new members so there are 5 children. 2 girls 3 boys regularly attending. We are hoping this number will begin to increase with the introduction of a younger section that should feed into our Beavers. We are being supported by 2 young leaders from the district explorer group who have aided with running their own navigation evening and money skills evening with the beavers. They have done quite a few badges over the course of the year including the gardening badge, creative badge and explorer badge, developing different skills and learning interesting things in these areas. We also had 2 beavers attend the remembrance parade in November showing their respect for the armed forces who have given their lives in support of this country. Part of our programme involves “Beaver Chews” which allows the Beavers to get their ideas across of what their interests are and what programme ideas they would be interested in. This has helped up develop a varied and engaging programme moving forwards and this term are starting our Astronomy Badge. We have struggled with engagement from parents with a lack of response to emails this year. However, we are looking forward to increasing our numbers and continuing to plan and run engaging and fun evening for the Beavers. _1[st] Britwell Beaver Volunteers._ ## **Cubs Report** Page 7 of 11 pages After a short-term closure of the Cubs section, Cubs reopened with 5 cubs enjoying many activities with a varied programme of cooking, pioneering, crafts and recycling covering many badges along the way. We have now increased to 13 cubs attending regularly, some of which have completed their first sleepover and are looking forward to the summer when they can camp outside. We have 4 Cubs nearly ready to move up to Scouts and 3 of them are nearly ready to achieve their chief scouts silver award (The highest award in Cub Scouts). We had a badge giving evening recently where we also invested a new leader and 4 new Cubs, everyone achieved at least 5 badges. We have a new enthusiastic leadership team in place that are busy planning the next terms fun activities. We are planning on seeing an ice hockey match and some climbing along with an action-packed county adventure day at PACCAR Activity Centre in April and hoping for a 2-3 night summer camp in August. We are hoping to continue growing this year getting outdoors as much as possible if weather permits. _1[st] Britwell Cub Volunteers._ ## **Scouts** The Scouts have had a productive year in 2024 with 81 badges being issued for our young people and a couple of big camps that were thoroughly enjoyed. A varied programme saw the Scouts engage in Painting, Geocaching, Dragon Boating, Pioneering, Astronomy and Cooking just to name a few evenings. A Survival Camp in early summer saw us try out hand at sleeping in shelters and backwoods cooking. We manged to get outdoors a lot this year with almost half of our programme planned for outdoor activities and events and we are looking forward to making the most of the outdoors again this year. A big thank you to Gilwell Park (The Home of UK Scouting) who hosted us for a brilliant Summer Camp which was full of adventurous activities and lots of fun for our Scouts, we managed to give back with some community work throughout the week and even visited London for a trip to the Aquarium and tour down the Thames. We have had to say goodbye to our Patrol Leaders who have now left us for the next step of their Scouting journey which has allowed us to promote some of our younger members to become the next Patrol Leaders of the group. This has led to our numbers slightly dropping, however we are hoping with the resurgence of the Cub pack that our numbers will increase this year. _1[st] Britwell Scout Volunteers._ Chairmans report Welcome to the 1[st] Britwell’s AGM , I am very Proud to be able to provide this report on behalf of Groups Trustees. I am the District Chairman for Slough District Scouts and have been asked to step into the Group Chairmans role to house keep until we find a new Chairman willing to take this group on which is one of my key goals is to provide the support until I’m no longer needed this may be my second year but the group is going from strength to strength not because of me but the team we have is excellent. Our second year within the new Lease providing 99 Years of Scouting and Guiding has had its ups and downs Weve spent a lot of money in the last two years which has been made possible by some key Hirers bringing in a suitable income that makes it possible and we hope they like our facilities and keep using us for years to come. Weve invested in some key expenditures to enhance the use of the Hut Page 8 of 11 pages - New Tables and chairs - New Lighting and fixed and tested all the electricals - Serviced the Heating system - Fixed the Hot water system in the Disabled Toilet - Fixed the Flooring the water leak caused - Solicitor costs enabling us to finalised the lease . - CCTV installation - New Ramps front and back - New fire Pit - Waste management We have though an underlying problem with the floor which we are currently working on we believe we have found the cause and once this is fixed we need to replace a good percentage of the floor yes this will cause a fair bit of disruption but having this completed will enable the Headquarters to last even longer, Ive secured a Grant to cover some of the costs for this work so hope in the next financial year to have it all completed. The team still works with the local community and is developing new opportunities we have successfully re-opened the cub section athank you to all that helped. In addition we are looking at a possible new Squirrel section with the assistance of Mark Ashworth DC / GSL which we wish them well in growing the sections in the coming months. The future of the group is really promising but we need your help on the exec some key roles Chairman , Note Taker (secretary), But If being a member of the exec is not your thing how would you fancy being apart of the Support Team this is the team that ensures the young people have a safe place to meet for example looking after the building and many other roles that allow you to choose when you are able to support (flexible Volunteering) Come and join us please email if you are interested. Bruce Clark 1[st] Britwell Scout Group Bruce.Clark@sloughscouts.org.uk Page 9 of 11 pages LT700005- Scrutineer's Reportto the Tnthe$ 2019 Template for the scrutineer's report to the trustees Scrutineer's Report to the Trustees of I. Britwell Scout Group I reFX>rt on the accounts of the GrouplDistrict forthe year ended 05AP£ zoL* As the Group'slDistrict's tru5tee5 you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts.. you consider that neitherthe audit nor independent examination requirements of the Charities Att 2011 apply. It is my responsibility without carryin9 Out an audit or independent examination to scrutinise the account5 and to reportto you. In accordance with the directions gwen in the Group'slDistrKVs constitution. I have scrutinised the records and the accounts. In my opinion the accounts are in accordance with the records produced to me and comply with the Constitution. .o- Name.. Chris Duke Address.. 29 Filey Spur. SIou9h. 8e￿s. SLI 9JX Date.. 07Aug2024 ## **1st Britwell Scout Group** **Registered Charity no. 300689** ## **Summary of Accounts from 6th April 2023 to 5th April 2024** ||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**1st Britwell Scout Group**
**Registered Charity no. 300689**|||||||| |**Summary of Accounts from 6th April 2023 to 5th April 2024**|||||||| ||||||||| |**Balance Sheet**|||6th April 2023||5th April 2024||| ||||Brought Forward||ClosingBalance||Movement YoY| ||||||||| |Main Bank Account|||£7,809.64||£13,992.97||£6,183.33| |Cash in Hand|||£0.00||£72.00||72| |Reserve Account|||£4,058.93||£4,113.47||£54.54| ||||||||| ||||||||| |**Total Liabilities**|||£11,868.57||£18,178.44||_£6,309.87_| ||||||||| ||||||||| |**Annual Income- Expenditure Statement**|||||||| ||||||||| |**Main Account Revenues / Receipts**||||**Expenses**|||| ||||||||| |SubsviaBANK/OS||M
£1,709.54||Sundries:Capitation fees2024, etc||£46,263.42|| |Sundries||£47,495.60|..|Badges/Scarves/Wreath|||| |Badges and Scarves||||Camps, sleepovers &Activities||£749.12|| |Camps and sleepov||e
£128.30||HutrentaltoHutAccountApril 23- March||
£1,692.00|| |Hut Rental||£8,827.00||Activities/Leaders Expences||£902.80|| |Gift Aid||||Maintentance||£894.49|| |Cash to the bank||£441.71||Internet||£204.02|| |Cash in Hand||£72.00||Cleaning||£1,125.11|| |||||Other||£587.86|| |**Subtotal revenues**||
**£58,674.15**||**Subtotal expenses**||**£52,418.82**|| ||||||||| ||||||||| ||||||||| |**Reserve Account**||**Revenues / Receipts**||**Expenses**|||| ||||||||| |Interest||£54.54|||||| ||||||||| ||||||||| ||||||||| |**Annual Surplus / Deficit**|||||||**£6,309.87**| |**Main Account Revenues / Receipts**|**Main Account Revenues / Receipts**|**Main Account Revenues / Receipts**|**Main Account Revenues / Receipts**||**Expenses**|||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||||| |Subsvia|BANK/OSM||£1,709.54||Sundries:Capitation|fees2024, etc|£46,263.42|| |Sundries|||£47,495.60|..|Badges/Scarves/Wreath|||| |Badges and Scarves|||||Camps, sleepovers &Activities||£749.12|| |Camps and sleepove|||£128.30||HutrentaltoHutAccountApril 23- March||
£1,692.00|| |Hut Rental|||£8,827.00||Activities/Leaders Expences||£902.80|| |Gift Aid|||||Maintentance||£894.49|| |Cash to the bank|||£441.71||Internet||£204.02|| |Cash in Hand|||£72.00||Cleaning||£1,125.11|| ||||||Other||£587.86|| |**Subtotal **|**revenues**||**£58,674.15**||**Subtotal expenses**||**£52,418.82**|| |||||||||| |||||||||| |||||||||| |**Reserve**|**Account Revenues / Receipts**||||**Expenses**|||| |||||||||| |Interest|||£54.54|||||| |||||||||| |||||||||| |||||||||| |**Annual Surplus / **|||**Deficit**|||||**£6,309.87**| Page 11 of 11 pages