2020-12-31-accounts - Winchester District Scout Council

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Winchester District Scout Council Annual Report and Accounts of the Trustees 1[st] January 2020 to 31[st] December 2020

Charity No. 302317 Scout Association Registration No. 12033

The Winchester District Scout Council (WDSC), to which this report is addressed, is the charity that supports the operation of the Winchester District of The Scout Association (TSA) (‘the District’).

Names of the Trustees[1] :

Name	Route to membership (and related roles)	Dates as trustee
Garry Cook	Previously ex-officio (District Treasurer), co-opted as of 1stJan 2020 and elected at AGM (19thOct 2020) (Treasurer of the Explorer Scouts Sub-Committee)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Robin Cook	Ex-Officio(District Commissioner)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Steven Cox	Nominated at AGM (10thJun 2019) (GroupChair 9th)	1stJan to 19thOct 2020 (resigned)
Richard Eve	Elected at AGM (10thJun 2019) (GroupChair - 12th)	1stJan to 19thOct 2020 (resigned)
James Fraser	Ex-Officio (District Treasurer) (Chair of Finance Sub-committee)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Bruce Martin	Ex-Officio(District Explorer Scout Commissioner)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Richard Mendelsohn	Ex-Officio(District Chair)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Dawn Inglis	Co-opted 19thFeb 2020, Nominated at AGM (19th Oct 2020) (Chair of Appointments AdvisoryCommittee)	19thFeb 2020 to 31st Dec 2020
Ian Johnson	Co-opted 19thFeb 2020, Nominated at AGM (19th Oct 2020) (Chair of Pinsent Campsite and Activities Sub- committee)	19thFeb 2020 to 31st Dec 2020
John Le-Riche	Nominated at AGM (10thJun 2019), Elected at AGM (19thOct 2020) (Vice President)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Alastair Sawdy	Ex-Officio (District Scout Network Commissioner)	1stJan to 19thOct 2020 (resigned)
Claire Sclater	Elected at AGM (10thJun 2019 & 19thOct 2020) (GroupChair 6th)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Bernard Stebbing	Elected at AGM (10thJun 2019), Nominated at AGM (19thOct 2020) (Chair of Growth and Development Sub- committee)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Megan Thompson	Ex-Officio(District Youth Commissioner)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020

1 All members of the District Executive Committee are trustees and all trustees are members of the District Executive Committee.

Name	Route to membership (and related roles)	Dates as trustee
Sarah Tilley2	Elected at AGM (10thJun 2019 & 19thOct 2020) (GroupChair 7th)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Chris Welland	Elected at AGM (10thJun 2019 & 19thOct 2020) (GroupChair 3rd)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020

The following roles Executive Committee / Trustee roles are vacant as of 31[st] Dec 2020:

Route to membership (and related roles)	Route to membership (and related roles)	Dates
Ex-Officio(District Secretary)		1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Ex-Officio(District Scout Network Commissioner)		From 19thOct 2020
Chair of Pinsent New BuildingSub-committee		1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
The following persons have a right of attendance at trustees’ meetings:
Martin Mackey	CountyCommissioner(Hampshire)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020
Paul Bell	CountyChair(Hampshire)	1stJan to 31st Dec 2020

SECTION A: Reference and administration details

The District has no advisers in terms of the administration of the charity.

SECTION B: Structure, governance and management

As of 31[st] December 2020, the District consists of:

a) Twelve Scout Groups;
b) Four Explorer Units;
c) One Scout Network Unit; and
d) One Scout Active Support Unit

The District’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 (TSA).

The District is created and operated as an educational charity under the rules of TSA. It is an autonomous organisation holding its property and equipment and admitting people to membership of the Scout District subject to the policy and rules of The Scout Association. The District operates in accordance with the constitution provided at Rule 4.25 of the Policy, Organisation and Rules of TSA.

The District is led by the District Commissioner and managed by the District Executive Committee. They are accountable to the District Scout Council for the satisfactory running of the District.

The District Executive Committee exists to support the District Commissioner in meeting the responsibilities of their appointment, and must act collectively as charity Trustees of the Scout District and in the best interests of its members to:

Comply with the Policy, Organisation and Rules of the Scout Association.

2 “Sarah Tilley” appears as “Sarah Loch” in the AGM minutes. “Loch” is her maiden name and she continues to use it professionally but uses her married name in community concerns such as Scouting.

Protect and maintain any property and equipment owned by and/or used by the District.
Manage the District finances.
Provide insurance for people, property and equipment.
Provide sufficient resources for Scouting to operate. This includes, but is not limited to, supporting recruitment, other adult support, and fundraising activities.
Promote and support the development of Scouting in the local area.
Manage and implement the Safety Policy locally.
Ensure that a positive image of Scouting exists in the local community.
Ensure that Young People are meaningfully involved in decision making at all levels within the District.
Appoint and manage the operation of any sub-Committees, including appointing Chairs to lead the sub-committees.
The opening, closure and amalgamation of Groups, Explorer Scout Units, Scout Network and Scout Active Support Units in the District as necessary.
Appoint and manage the operation of an Appointments Advisory Committee, including appointing an Appointments Committee Chair to lead it.
Supervising the administration of Groups, particularly in relation to finance and the trusteeship of property.

Risk and Internal Controls

The District Executive Committee has identified the major risks to which they believe the District is exposed. These have been reviewed and systems have been established to mitigate them. The main areas of concern identified are:

Injury to leaders, helpers, supporters and members: The District, through the membership fees, contributes to the Scout Association’s national accident insurance policy. In addition, a review has been undertaken to ensure that all adults supporting the District are covered by this or alternative insurance. Risk Assessments are undertaken and appropriate risk reduction measures are put in place before all activities take place in accordance with TSA Policy, Organisation and Rules.

Damage to buildings, property and equipment:

a) The District has its own property, buildings and equipment at its Pinsent Campsite and Activities Centre. Sufficient insurance is maintained through TSA insurance and other commercially sourced insurance to address all third party responsibilities and continuation of service provision in the event of damage;
b) From time to time the District hires or borrows other buildings and equipment on a commercial or charitable basis. In such transactions, the District ensures that a sufficient level of insurance is in place against damage or loss on a case by case basis.

Reduction or loss of youth members: The District and Groups provide activities for all young people aged 6 to 25. If there was a reduction in membership in a section of a particular Group then there would have to be a contraction, consolidation or closure of that section. In the

worst-case scenario, the complete closure of the Group. This reduces the District, and its Groups, ability to fulfil its aims that every young person in the area who wishes to take part in its activities is able to do so and that those activities will be wide ranging and of a high standard and educational value as expected from TSA. This risk is addressed through seeking to provide a wide ranging programme of activities of a high standard and educational value in all sections;

Reduction or loss of leaders: The District relies totally upon volunteers to run and administer the activities in the District. If there was a reduction in the number of leaders to an unacceptable level in a particular section or a Group as a 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 District. This reduces the District, and its Groups, ability to fulfil its aims as above. This risk is addressed through seeking to maintain sufficient adult support for every section through continuous attention to recruitment, with Groups assisted by a District Growth and Development Team.

Reduced income from fundraising: The District relies primarily upon income from membership subscriptions and fundraising. The District holds reserves to ensure the continuity of activities should there be a major reduction in income. The Committee could raise the value of its membership subscriptions so as to to increase the income to the District on an ongoing basis, either temporarily or permanently.

Improper or uncontrolled expenditure: The District continually monitors its expenditures against its annual budget. Financial controls are in place which are designed to protect against unauthorised expenditure by any individuals who undertake scouting or other related activities on behalf of the District which necessarily incur costs. The District also has in place a system of internal controls which are designed to provide reasonable assurance against material mismanagement or loss, which include two signatories for all payments, and comprehensive insurance policies to ensure that insurable risks are covered.

SECTION C: Objectives and activities

The objectives of the District are as a unit of the Scout Association. Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society. 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
make and live by their Promise.

In addition, the District aims that every young person in the area who wishes to take part in its activities should be able to do so, and that those activities will be wide ranging and of a high standard and educational value as expected by TSA.

The District maintains three charitable funds to support those people who would otherwise

be unable to participate in normal scouting activities enjoyed by the majority of members: -

The RBR Fund for young people in Winchester District who are members of the Scout Association, who want to take part in activities which are appropriate to them but who, through financial circumstances, find themselves unable to take part. It also supports those who need financial assistance to become or to remain members of a Section within the District. Access to the fund is not available to Leaders or other adult supporters.
The Mike Green Fund for supporting people in training to run adventurous activities but who, through financial circumstances, find themselves unable to partake of appropriate training.
The International Fund for assisting young people in Scouting to attend international Scouting events.

The District meets the Charity Commission's public benefit criteria under both the advancement of education and the advancement of citizenship or community development headings.

SECTION D: Achievements, performance and objectives

Scouting in Winchester continues to thrive and the challenge remains to meet the demand from young people wanting to become Scouts and to increase that demand by providing better activities.

The year 2020 fell into two distinct parts.

Prior to the restrictions put in place by the Government to control the spread of COVID-19 throughout the country, Scouting in Winchester was proceeding normally with many good activities taking place. The census showed a positive increase in the take-up of Scouting in the District (1322 young members) although a larger increase had been hoped for. Several major events took place with several Scout troops enjoying a winter camp in January plus the Beavers and Cubs

Following the restrictions on movement and meetings, the response varied greatly between Groups. Some Groups moved immediately to on-line meetings, and then resumed face-toface meetings as soon as allowed in the summer. Several Groups arranged support for local hospitals and care homes. One Group made good use of the time and arranged contacts with Scouts in other places called Winchester around the Globe. Other Groups were more affected, generally through having a high proportion of adult leaders whose work commitments were in the health care sector which rose dramatically leaving less time for Scouting. Some Groups did not manage to resume meetings during the year. Also, unfortunately, on-line meetings were not to everyone’s taste and membership did drop during the year with only 1150 registering on the 2021 census.

The Growth and Development team and the District Development Officer have remained active through the year albeit with a modified approach as it has not been possible to visit schools. The Joining List remains high. This represents an unsatisfied demand which is unsatisfactory, because those young people on the Joining List will only be young people for a limited time. The aim is for a zero Joining List while stimulating its increase through a wide range of high-quality activities and publicity that encourages others to take part. The key to satisfying the demand and improving activities is to recruit more adults. Hence this has continued to good effect.

In accord with national needs, very good progress has been made on the validation of leader competence against the required training modules. The non-validation of the safety and safeguarding modules was reduced to zero, and the occasional non-on-time-renewals are being dealt with as they occur. Likewise, the late completion of induction activities has been addressed. The local process (where POR requires such) has been streamlined, and the Appointments Advisory Committee has held many Appointments Panels to address the backlog that became more apparent with the streamlining. Six Panels were held in August.

Also, in accord with national needs, the leadership team has risen to the challenge of COVID19 risk assessments and fully written-up and stored risk assessments across the board.

The opening of a new Explorer Unit at Easter was prevented by the pandemic. This has not been achieved in the year.

Our campsite at Pinsent suffered a fallow year with no overnight stays permitted (apart from families). Improvements were made to the car park and a major programme on tree safety was commenced.

Of the twelve Groups, eleven had Group Scout Leaders (GSLs) at the end of 2020. The twelfth has a problem in that it was a small school-based Group and several key leaders moved on in the summer. Hence, this Group currently has no youth members and will fold unless action can be achieved in the near future.

Scouting relies on adult volunteers (we have 430 adult volunteers and one paid adult in the District). These volunteers have engaged well with the highly unusual challenges thrown at them this year by the pandemic and a great deal of gratitude is owed to all of them.

SECTION E: Financial review

Last year was an unprecedented year due to COVID-19 restrictions. As a result of the restrictions our income was reduced to £84k from £128k the previous year. Youth activity income was halved from the previous year and activity at Pinsent was virtually non-existent during 2020. However, some of our reduction in income was compensated by £11k grant from the government for COVID-19 support. The government support has continued into the current year. As our activity was restricted last year and the income reduced so was the expenditure reduced from £114k in 2019 to £62k in 2020. This reduction was due in the most

part to not spending on asset purchases down from 42k (2019) to 2k (2020), and a halving of Pinsent costs down from £12k (2019) to £6k (2020). Overall financially the year 2020 resulted in a surplus income of £21k against a surplus income of £14k in 2019. As a result of the reduced activity, and the fact that groups had generally reduced their subscriptions, it was decided by the trustees that the District’s membership subscriptions would be reduced by 40% 2021, and again by a similar reduction in 2022.

Total cash funds at the end of the year were £209k. Of this £178k were allocated funds, which left £31k in general reserves, which is equivalent to two years average District general expenditure.

SECTION F: Plans for future period

Our overall plans and priorities set out in our previous report continued unchanged at the start of 2021. However, increased emphasis has been placed on what the County Commissioner has termed #bounceback. This concentrates on what we had set out in order to grow the District:

a) Active recruitment of Beavers Scouts and parents;
b) Further improving the welcome for new adults; and
c) Continuing good programmes.

The part-time District Development Officer who started in 2017 will be continued through 2020 and into 2021.

Several improvements are planned for Pinsent Campsite in 2020. Some of the claimed additional ground has been awarded through a claim for Adverse Possession. The process has been restarted to claim the remaining unowned land. Car park improvements are planned (some were achieved in 2020) and a major programme of work on tree safety has been started. Expert guidance has been engaged on a commercial basis.

The new building at Pinsent continues to be discussed, and we intend to have a clear plan before the end of 2021.

We also intend to address the issue of the 18+ programme. This starts with finding and appointing a new District Scout Network Commissioner.

Emphasis continues to be placed on maintaining and developing the close relationships with our local communities and with City and Hampshire Councillors and Council Officers. The need for new Scout buildings and land swaps continues to be urgent. These, as ever, will only be achieved with local community and local authority support. The key to funding new building construction remains to be achieved with community use by day - most likely by the very young or elderly.

Scouting in Winchester continues to embrace TSA’s Strategy for 2018-23 with its continued focus on the following four objectives:

Growth – Scouting changes lives. Youngsters who want a place should have one.
Inclusivity – we are working to ensure more girls and more additional needs.
Youth shaped – young people should be able to shape their Scouting experience.
Community impact – Scouting makes a difference not just to the individual but also to wider society and we want to increase that positive impact.

SECTION G: Declaration

The Trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees: -

Signatures
Names	Richard Mendelsohn	Robin Cook
Positions	Chairman	District Commissioner
Date	2ndJune 2021	3rdJune 2021

Independent Examiner's Report to the Truste s of the WINCHESTER DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL

I report on the accounts of the District for the year ended 31 December 2020 which are set out on pages 1 to 4.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The District's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They consider that an examination is required under section 145(1) of the Charities Act 2011, and that section 144(1) (audit) of the Charities Act 2011 does not apply, and that that the charity trustees may property elect to prepare accounts on a receipts and payments basis under section 133 of the Charities Act 2011.

It is my responsibility to:

Examine the accounts (under Section145 of the Charities Act 2011);

To follow the procedures laid down in the Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011Act: and
To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner's report

The report provided relates to an independent examination carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Charities Act and that the examination has been conducted in accordance with the Directions given by the Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the District and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes considerations of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent Examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements
to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 130 of the Charities Act 2011; and
- to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records.

have not b n met; or

to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Date ... J. .'b �-. . ... . . . . .... .... . . : : �-l-'?.-::l- Qualification: FCCA .l.;;;[�] [·][· ] Address: 40 Marina Grove, Portsmouth, PO3 6HD