1st Chandlers Ford Scouts Group Annual General Meeting 2022
Group Scout Leader’s report
GSL’s Summary
We have had a very busy year filled with lots of fantastic Scouting. We have expanded in numbers, both in terms of Young People and Adult Volunteers. In April we opened our Squirrels unit and have 23 4- and 5-year-olds attending regularly. Our Squirrels team have embraced the new challenge fantastically and are a very welcome addition to our Scouting family.
In Beavers we have had 15 Bronze CSAs awarded, and each Beavers Section has held a camp for our older Beavers who are/ were due to move to Cubs imminently. Cubs have seen 6 Silver CSAs awarded with several more due to be awarded in the next few weeks. They had a fantastic camp at Pinsent in June, with many of them sleeping under canvas for the first time. Our Scouts have been very active. In addition to our normal evening events, they have had a patrol leaders camp learning teamwork and leadership skills, and had a survival camp in June where most braved a night in their bivvys.
Our Leadership and Adult Volunteer team has seen several changes and has shown amazingly resilience adapting to these changes to ensure quality Scouting has continued. I am immensely proud of the whole team and the endless peer support they show each other. Our Adult Leaders are very lucky to be supported by a great team of Young Leaders, some of whom have been with us for several years.
In December we said goodbye to Colin Franks, who has been a fantastic asset to the 1st for the last 40 years. Although Colin is no longer attending Monday Scouts on a regular basis, he continues to come along to sessions every so often and it was lovely to see him on our recent survival camp. We also said goodbye to David Green who did an utterly fantastic job as our treasurer for over 2 years. The Group has also had a few mini additions with our Chair and 2 of our Leaders having babies!
We have also been very busy fundraising to replace our hut with an amazing new community hub, activity centre and Scout HQ. We formally started fundraising in November and have run or participated in many events since. We held a Christmas fair, assisted at the Southampton marathon, ran in and assisted at the Romsey Relay marathon, have been at 4 school fairs, took part in the Eastleigh Jubilee Celebration event and Funtansia, have held a Mother’s Day afternoon tea, held a BBQ and ‘Scoutmaster’ for Father’s Day, and our Beavers have filled Smartie tubes with coins. We have several rolling fundraisers including a badge sewing service, sweet cone sales and foreign coin collections (current and old currency’s) that continue to trickle in further revenue. We have around £75,000 in our #BrickfieldsBig Build pot to date which is a truly fantastic start. There are many fun and exciting fundraisers planned for the near future. Any assistance or support with our fundraising mission would be gratefully received!
Section updates
Squirrels Section
A new Squirrels Drey for the youngest scouts, four and five year olds, was launched at 1st Chandlers Ford after Easter this year.
We started with 2 leaders myself, Elaine, known as Dove and Phil, known as Duck, 20 very lively children, 18 of which are boys and 2 girls plus 10 parents who volunteered to train as leaders. To date
1[st] Chandlers Ford Scouts. Brickfield Lane. Chandlers Ford. SO53 4DP Registered Charity 302227
one child has left and 3 more joined. Therefore, we currently have 23 children in the Drey out of a maximum of 24.
Squirrels have a similar badge system to the other scouting sections. There are 4 Challenge badges, and 12 Activity badges, plus the Acorn badge which is presented once a Squirrel has completed all 4 challenge badges and at least 2 activity badges.
So far, all of our meetings have been planned around badge requirements, activities are always hands on, practical and hopefully fun and biased towards encouraging interaction with others, exploration and personal experience rather than achieving a specific skill.
We meet at 5.15pm on Thursdays each week either in the scout hut or Cranbury Park. However, when we can, and weather permitting, we prefer Cranbury Park where the children can have the freedom and space needed to enhance their independence and develop their physical and social skills in a safe environment.
We have had two outings over the past term, one to an allotment and the other to the Hares of Hampshire in Winchester.
We look forward to our second term starting on 8th September and wish to thank all the parent volunteers especially trainee leaders for their help and enthusiasm over the past term. A special note of thanks also goes to our GSL for her support and guidance in getting our new section started.
FABULOUS FRIDAY BEAVERS
Friday beavers leader team remains the same and have parents helping most sessions too. We have 24 beavers in our section and 4 leaders, 1 young leader and 3 scouts helping out too. We had 2 beavers achieve their bronze award in July and the rest of our beavers our on track on achieving their bronze awards too. Hopefully 5 of our beavers will achieve this in October.
This year the beavers have done a variety of badges, this included Debbie Pearce coming in to do the photographers badge also and gardening badge as they used some photos to cover both. Beaver Christingle service which was well attended by the Beavers, also we managed a trip to the Apple store to do their digital maker badge which the apple store and ourselves was so proud on how all the beavers were outstanding in their knowledge and behaviour, we also done some tomahawk throwing, and the older beavers done a beaver camp in July this was run/organised by Juniper. To finish the summer term we done water Olympics at Cranbury Park, as usual this is a favourite with the beavers especially when they get all the leaders wet, great fun as usual.
Going forward the leaders has planned a great programme for the winter term, these include a bit of exploring, cooking creative things to name a few as well as our Xmas party too. Also we will be running another beaver camp for the beavers who didn’t do it in July.
Celebrations
Juniper has gain her night away permit for her organising and running beaver camp which all beavers had great fun even though most of them were up at 5.30am ish.
Our young leader is now doing his gold D of E and has passed his driving test (so keep off the roads)
Thank you
A very big thank you goes to all the parents for their continued support, and all the help they do when needed, some of our activities cant go ahead without you. I personally would like to thank my team too for everything you do and the support we give each other, and looking forward to another great term ahead.
1[st] Chandlers Ford Scouts. Brickfield Lane. Chandlers Ford. SO53 4DP Registered Charity 302227
Friday beaver team
1[st] Chandlers Ford Scouts. Brickfield Lane. Chandlers Ford. SO53 4DP Registered Charity 302227
1[st] Chandlers Ford Scouts. Brickfield Lane. Chandlers Ford. SO53 4DP Registered Charity 302227
Scouts
September 2021 we welcomed Goose as assistant section leader in Monday troop and got back into the full swing of IRL scouting, including our first camp in 2 years! We took 30+ Scouts to Cricket Camp for the weekend in September and had a blast, Monday vs Friday competition was strong, until the group joined forces against a common enemy the ‘not guides’ Rangers! (I jest!).
The homemade scrap wood sign banter kept the scouts entertained during free time. We welcomed James (Q/Robin) back as our Archery Instructor to help run the weekends’ activities, for which we are very grateful.
Winter term saw us working on a good chunk of the Skills challenge badge, creating cards & wooden reindeer to sell at the Christmas fair, and honing meal planning & cooking skills. Alongside this, we had a fabulously fun evening at Parthian Climbing Centre in Nursling, where a good number of our newer Scouts were invested – we will definitely be back there at some point! At Christmas, Colin stepped down from regularly attending Monday meetings after a whopping 40 years’ service, however he is welcome and does re-join us on occasion, especially when pioneering is involved!
Spring term saw us take a dive into the World Badge, with our very own Scotsman Marmot (alongside the Marmot family) run a fantastic Burns Night evening, we also celebrated Chinese New Year and explored environmental issues and ways we can repurpose/upcycle. Friday Troop Patrol Leaders planned and hosted a successful Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea which raised over £500 for #BrickfieldsBigBuild and signed off some personal challenges! We finished off at Easter with a joint trip to Flip Out followed by a Blinky’s Blaze (campfire) at the Hut.
Summer term gave us not one but two weekend camp opportunities and a week in Denmark, thanks to our postponed Patrol Leaders Training Weekend from February. The first time we had run this training for our PLs, APLs & Scout who showed ‘leadership qualities’ and it was a success! It has been great to see all the Scouts who attended put into practice what they learned since attending the camp at Wilverley. We somewhat gate-crashed the Cubs weekend at Pinsent to hold our survival camp and while this gave us food for thought about best to run multi sections camps, some notable high points include 30 Scouts (plus Goose in his hammock in the roundhouse – bit chilly!) sleeping out all night in the woods in their handcrafted shelters, as well as 12 Scouts being signed off for their ‘Saw Axe & Knife’ (SAK) assessment. A handful of our Scouts joined the District contingent to the Denmark Jamboree over the summer, and I can’t wait to hear all about it when we get back to the hut! As well as the camps, or programme took us out and about making the most of the weather & light evenings, including a trip to the New Forest Water Park outdoor inflatables!
Leader wise, we welcomed Turtle and her daughter Panda to assist on a Monday evening and Marmot moved from Monday to Friday. Last summer, Pingu signed off her Gold Duke of Edinburgh and in May went to her Gold celebration event at Buckingham Palace. We said goodbye to young leaders Sam (Mon) and Isobel & Marina (Fri).
Looking forward to the coming year, we’ve got a ‘falling leaves’ camp planned in October, YL James to become a fully-fledged leader and Greg joining the leadership team in both troops initially. A number of Scouts ‘aging out’ and moving on to Explorers/other things – a number of whom are on track for achieving their Gold awards. Two of our current Friday troop have been accepted onto Project23 – a countywide alternative to the World Jamboree in South Korea – so their fundraising efforts continue with a tabletop sale on Sunday 2nd October at the Hut.
Big Build
As a result of a fantastic effort by Leaders, members, families and donations from businesses, we have raised over £10k this year, bringing the total to £55k.
Some of the events that we raised money at were:
- Mother's day tea = £500
1[st] Chandlers Ford Scouts. Brickfield Lane. Chandlers Ford. SO53 4DP Registered Charity 302227
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Southampton Marathon Mile Makers = £300
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Romsey Relay marathon = £2000+
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Father's Day bbq = £400
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Fryern Fest = £134
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Crescent = £92.50
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Runuary = £800, including over £500 from one parent
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2 leaders raising nearly £550 in sponsorship for triathlons and bike rides
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Local fetes, including Fryern Funtasia, Merfest and Scantabout summer fayre.
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Eastleigh Jubilee Showcase
We have received Donations and Grants from
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Ecclesiastical Insurance = £1000
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Arnold Clark = £1000
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Aqua Cooling = £200
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MJ Abbott = £200
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Safeguard engineering = £200
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Chalvington Road Residents Jubilee = £162
Over the next term we have a number of events but we need more events and that's where we need help. We are asking each section to come up with at least one Fundraising event per term, and we need support to make sure they are successful.
We need to enlist the support of businesses and grants to make a really big difference to our funds and raise out targeted £500k. We will be asking parents:
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Who do you know in business who might be able to a sizeable donation, or join us in raising funds?
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Do you have experience in grant writing?
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Can you help organise an event?
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Can you take on a personal challenge?
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Do you have any other fundraising ideas?
1[st] Chandlers Ford Scouts. Brickfield Lane. Chandlers Ford. SO53 4DP Registered Charity 302227
1st Chandler's Ford Scout Group
Receipts and Payments account for the year ended 31 December 2021
| CC | CC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts | £ | £ | £ | category | Payments £ £ |
£ | category |
| Subscriptions | 17,073 | A1 | Capitation | 7,345 | A3 | ||
| Subscriptions | 17,073 | ||||||
| Capitation | - | ||||||
| Camps, Events and Activites (1) | 4,971 | A1 | Camps, Events and Activites (1) | 3,121 | A3 | ||
| Christmas Fair (2) | 1,369 | Christmas Fair (2) - |
|||||
| Climbing event (3) | 900 | Climbing event (3) 1,260 |
|||||
| September / cricket camp | 875 | September / cricket camp 409 |
|||||
| Family fun day | 525 | Family fun day 263 |
|||||
| Winchester Science Centre visits | 371 | Winchester Science Centre visits 376 |
|||||
| Canoeing / kayaking | 180 | Canoeing / kayaking 180 |
|||||
| Miscellaneous events and activities | 311 | Miscellaneous events and activities 533 |
|||||
| Refund re event cancelled in 2020 (4) | 440 | Site deposit for 2022 summer camp 100 |
|||||
| Badges, neckers, clothing and merchandise (5) | 875 | A1 | Badges, neckers, clothing and merchandise (5) | 2,393 | A3 | ||
| Neckers | 98 | Neckers - |
|||||
| Badges | 50 | Badges 1,075 |
|||||
| Clothing and merchandise | 727 | Clothing and merchandise 1,120 |
|||||
| Other | - | Other 198 |
|||||
| Hire of premises (6) | 10,274 | A1 | Premises expenditure | 7,232 | A3 | ||
| Hall hire | 3,274 | Utilities (7) 2,198 |
|||||
| Dog training | 1,073 | Gas 108 |
|||||
| Martial arts | 776 | Electricity 1,613 |
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| Prayer group | 655 | Water 477 |
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| Line dancing | 390 | Cleaning and cleaning materials 80 |
A3 | ||||
| Eastleigh Borough Council election hire | 350 | Pest control 516 |
A3 | ||||
| Other hires | 30 | Waste collection 451 |
A3 | ||||
| Car park hire | 7,000 | Locks, fobs and key cutting 89 |
A3 | ||||
| Parking spaces | 7,000 | Maintenance 3,898 Building repairs and improvements 2,645 Boiler maintenance 253 Alarm maintenance 261 Building compliance 740 |
A3 | ||||
| Carried forward | 33,192 | Carried forward | 20,090 |
1st Chandler's Ford Scout Group
Receipts and Payments account for the year ended 31 December 2021
| CC | CC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts | £ | £ | £ | category | Payments £ £ |
£ | category |
| Brought forward | 33,192 | Brought forward | 20,090 | ||||
| Grants (unrestricted funds) (8) | 17,389 | A1 | |||||
| Big Build (restricted funds) (9) | 8,000 | A1 | - | ||||
| Community projects (designated or unrestricted funds) (10) | - | Community projects (designated or unrestricted funds) (10) | 195 | A3 | |||
| Donations and fundraising | 4,193 | A1 | Donations and fundraising | - | |||
| Christmas raffle (2) | 2,651 | Christmas raffle (2) - |
|||||
| via PayPal Giving Fund | 523 | ||||||
| via Easyfundraising | 153 | ||||||
| via AmazonSmile | 102 | ||||||
| Other | |||||||
| Cheque | 749 | ||||||
| Transfer | 6 | ||||||
| Cash | 10 | ||||||
| Gift Aid | 2,573 | A1 | Insurance | 1,278 | A3 | ||
| Interest received | 1 | A1 | Bank and finance charges | 725 | A3 | ||
| Monthly account fees 97 GoCardless processing fees 627 Card machine fees 1 Administrative and IT costs |
990 | A3 | |||||
| Software and hosting 710 Telephone and internet 200 Stationery and postage - Photocopier 80 Other administrative costs - Purchase of equipment |
820 | A4 | |||||
| Total Receipts | 65,347 | Total Payments | 24,099 |
1st Chandler's Ford Scout Group
Receipts and Payments account for the year ended 31 December 2021
Summary of receipts and payments
----- Start of picture text -----
Opening bank balances 34,497
Total receipts 65,347
Total payments 24,099
Surplus of receipts over payments 41,248
Closing bank balances 75,745
----- End of picture text -----
Summary of funds held
| CAF Bank account COIF account Total Funds held Within which, special fund: Big Build (restricted) Unrestricted funds |
69,816 5,929 75,745 12,282 63,463 |
|---|---|
1st Chandler's Ford Scout Group
Receipts and Payments account for the year ended 31 December 2021
Notes to the account
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(1) Events and activities which individually generated income of £150 or more are shown separately. Events and activities which generated income of less than £150 each are combined under the "Miscellaneous events and activities" heading.
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(2) Expenditure of £302.12 was incurred in respect of the Christmas Fair and printing of raffle tickets. These costs were paid via expenses claims in January 2022. See also (9) below.
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(3) It was agreed in advance of this event that the cost would be subsidised by the Group.
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(4) A deposit of £440 for a small bore rifle shooting competition was being held by its organisers. This was returned because the event was cancelled.
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(5) There was no expenditure on neckers during the year because stock is still held from the bulk purchase that was made when the Group changed its Colours in 2019. The Group awards badges to its members for achievements and for completing activities. There is no corresponding income because parents are not asked to contribute to the cost of those badges. However, a nominal sum was recharged in the year for badges celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the founding of Beavers. "Other" expenditure without corresponding income includes Group contributions to leaders' uniforms and re-stocking woggles, promise cards and other investiture materials.
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(6) When government COVID restrictions and Scout Association guidlines were relaxed the Group was able to welcome back a number of previous hirers and some new users. There was, however, almost no ad hoc hire during the year and this is something the Group will address in 2022, restrictions permitting.
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(7) The Group has changed gas and electricity suppliers. The very low expenditure on gas for the year reflects a refund of £998 from the former supplier, in respect of historic overpayments taken by Direct Debit. All payments made in respect of electricity during 2021 were to the previous supplier. The final electricity meter reading gave rise to a large liabilty, which was queried before being reduced by approximately 40% and settled. In the meantime the new electricity supplier failed to provide the Group with invoices, so payments could not be made. The missing invoices were eventually obtained at the end of December 2021 and the accrued liability of £1,093 was paid in January 2022. The gas and electricity accounts are now up to date and are being billed montly, based on actual readings.
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(8) As in 2020, the Group was proactive in seeking Covid-19 support grants to compensate for loss of income, additional costs and disruption. Further grants totalling £17,389 were received from Eastleigh Borough Council.
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(9) A fund was launched during the year for the replacement of the Group's building, which is dated and costing increasingly more to heat and maintain. In this regard a total of £8,000 was received during the year from two corporate donors. In addition, the net proceeds of the Family Fun Day, Christmas Fair and raffle, which were held in aid of the project, have been allocated to the fund. The Group's accounts for 2021 show a total of £12,282 held as restricted funds at the year end. However, after costs associated with the raffle and Christmas Fair were paid in January 2022 the balance of the building fund was reduced to £11,980. The expenditure will be shown in the Group's accounts for 2022.
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(10) The Group undertook various activities for the benefit of the local community in Autumn and Winter 2020, which were funded by donations from the public. £566 of unrestricted designated funds remained unspent at the end of 2020 and costs associated with the activities totalling £195 were reimbursed at the beginning of 2021. A balance of £371 remains available to be spent on future, similar projects. However, if it proves impracticable to do this in the short term then the funds, which are informally designated, will be put towards other Group activities.