WEST HERTS DISTRicr scoiir COUNCIL TRUSTEES, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 MARCH 2025 Charity Registration No. 302518 scouts.org.ukljoin #SkiLLsForLife Scouts Classification- Intemal Content West Herts District Scout Council Inforn￿tiOn Foreword Trustee's Report The Purpose of Scouting Objectives of West Herts District Scout Council PubLic benefit Financial Summary Principal Athitses this Year Impact Benefit Statement Risk management Recruitment and induction of trustees 10 ISki115ForLlf• aassification- Intemal WEST HERTS DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL INFORMATION West Herts District Scout Council is an unincorporated Charity registered in England & Wales in 1966. The Scout Association (of which WHDSC is a part) was founded in 1907. and its Governing Document is a Royal Charter granted in 1912. Dlstrirt Presldent Mrs Ann Seward Distrirt Trustee Board District Lead Volunteer- Vacant joint Chairs- Mr David Colvin tr)- Mrs Pam Megaw ffl Treasurer- Mr lan Cutler IT GLV Rep- Mr Simon WiLkin50n (resigned December 20241 Mrs Sheena Burrus Mrjames Douglas Mr Anthony Dunford tr) Mr Stephen Spall tri Charity Nurnber 302518 COrrespond￿Ce addresses Scouting and General lan Cutler 6 The Meadows Hemel Hempstead HPI 2TP Finanaal and Legal lan Cutler 6 The Meadows Hemel Hempstead HPI 2TP District Team Distrirt Tearn Lead Beavers Badge Secretsry District Team Lead Water District Team Lead D of E Mrs Judy Grundy Mrs Karylyn Ho¥Jgh Mr Brian Rook Mrs Jan Rook Bankers CAF Bank Ltd Independent Examiner Mr Malcolm Rogers *SkiUsForLife Oassification- Intemal Foreword Scouting in West Hertfordshire continues to offer a varied programme for young people in our communTty. This is only possible due to the enthusiasm and adaptsbiltty of the Scotrting volunteers within West Herts. something the Trustees would like to recognise- so. thank you. The West Herts District Scout Council has endeavoured to attend au group AGMS this year and we have been met wrf(h keen. enthusiastic leaders as well as young people having a great time. It makes all the effort worthwhile. Continuing on a positive note. we have issued initial informakn.on on Locheamhead 2027 and hope it will be enthusiasbcally supported by young people and adults The Crong Explorer Unit has ciosed1011011251 and monetsry assets and ￿maIn1n9 leaders have trath5ferred to Thunderdell Explorers. Certain Groups are also not able to run all 3 sertions (Beavers. Cubs, Scouts) and until this is resolved, the District is not erbtertaining starting any Squirrel Dreys.14-6 yysl The new membership system commenced in November and the rthy structure for adultvolunteers to utiiise. has proved a bi9 challenge throughout the District Many discussions and frustrations had to be dealt with but slowly HQ and District are addressing all issues. The instigated District GLV meetings heLd every few months have also helped with these problems as have the very open discussions between attendees which has been invaluabLe in exchanging solutions, ideas etc. We continue to run waiting lists within the West Herts and hope to reduce these Wa￿ng lists when the changes to the recruitment programme encourage more adult volunteers- particularly younger member5. To support us in achieving this goal. we ask that you talk to your friends and colleagues and encourage them to give up some time and bihng their spe(ific skills to enhance our programme. Please support us in our ambition of continuing to bring quality Scouting to as many young people as possible. Thank vou to all of you who already make Scoutbng successful in the districL Trustee's Report The trustees of the charity present their report and financial ststements for the year ended 31° March. 2025. Objertives 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 p05ttive contribution to society. Objectives of West Herts District Scout Council The object of the charity is to promote Scouting in the West Herts area by providing the strurture that enabLes the eight individual Scout Groups and five Explorer Unts lone of whtch is a virtual Young Leader Unit) to operate eff iciently and effectively. The charity provides reuuitmenL training and District scouting actiwties. Public benefit In planning activities for the year. thè West Herts Trustee Board confirni that they have given due regard to the Charity Commission's legislative and regularity requirements to comply with Section 17 of the Charities Art 2011. This report outlines how our achievements during the year have benefited the publio #SkDllsForLife aassification- Intemal Financial Summary URER VERBAL REPORT 2 24-25 As you are all aware the West Herts District Scout Council is a registered charity INQ 3025181. This means that we have to present our accounts in a format acceptsble to the Chartty Commission. which the separate Accounts document does. The charity is also required to include a financial summary within this Trustees. Report which is this section. The Financial summary needs to.. - Outline the general financial standing of the Charity. Present headline financial figures covering the transactions and balances of eath section of the Charity land readily supported by the details on the Accounts document)- Summarise the Charity's Reserves Policy.. Comment on whether the value of each (segment ofj the actual Re5eNes is broadly bn-line with the policy. OR significantly LÈSS than policy I zero / in deficit OR more than the policy. The District Treasurer has had control and oversight of fourteen accounts. The balances orh 31103125 and 31103124 a￿ shown below. The District Treasurer has had control and oversight of fourteen accounts. The balan￿5 on 31103125 are shown below WHDSC- HEADLINE FIGURES FINANCIAL YEAR lstApril2024 10 31sl March 2025 OPENING BALANCES TOTAL NET ASSETS CLOSING BA￿NcEs TOTAL NET ASSET5 TOTAL RECEIPTS TOTAL PAYMEKfs SURPLUS I DEFICIT TRANSFERS within WHD5C Coundl Executlve and Aciiwties COUNCIL EXEC MARINE BADGES LOCHEARNHEAD Savin and Investments CAF SAVINGS LTSB TDS Ex lorer Scout Unlts CRONG TRIPLE V ODDY THUNDERDELL ICKNIELD TOTAL £9.760 £1,314 £5,906 £2,605 £3,989 £6.635 £1,893 -£2,897 -£5,828 41.424 £0 £1,091 £808 £469 £5 £612 -£556 .£1,066 £11,464 £1,565 £5,309 .£2.610 £16,805 £36,379 £423 £1,252 £0 £0 £423 £1,252 £i.(M)o -£0 £18,228 £37.631 £3.467 £8.340 £5,074 £2,740 -£715 10.985 -£5,468 -£1￿26 -£11 451 -£127 £1.645 £3.242 -£523 -£617 -£454 £436 £650 -£4 £2,723 £9.530 £8.752 £2￿67 £12,630 £8.710 £1.303 £97 597 £52 571 £109 575 Notes to the Table Total Net Assets includes not only balances In Current Accourts. Savings Accounts and Cash. but also the value of Badges and any Debtors andlor Creditor& The Column "Transfers within WHDSC- shows the overall effert of transferring funds from one WHDSC- controlled Account to another- as such. they do not represent real income or expenditure. and overall have zero impact on the balances. #SkiilsForLi aassiftcation- Intemal Commentsry The financial standing of the District remains strong- there are significant finantial balances. no debts. and the only liabilities are regular low value debts owed by the Counal Executive to two Grotlps within the District who have paid a deposit in advance for the purthase of badges. Expenditure for each Unit and Section follows the regular nature and pattem of expenses for each kind of Unit / Section- this wmment applies to all the Distrirt except the Executive CounciL which expends its funds on variety of POR responsibilities and discretionary items. The Distrirt Explorer untts are designed to be self-fundirTrg. The accounts are examined every year and 'rolled up. into the District account5. The activty fees received along with sales of clothing. gift aid received by the Explorer Units, prepayment for major camps and Explorer fund raising. considerably increase the District receipts. OveralL the District made a surplu5 in FY2425 of nearly £12.000. This is mainly the result of.. - An underspend on training (£1,500) which will be correrted in the coming years,. A natural outcome of the long-standbng policy to maintsin the accounts on a "Receipts and Payments-basis. Income is booked in the year in which rt is received. Two of our Explorer units (Oddy and Icknieldl collerted prepayments for a visri to Kandersteg which wslL take place in the summer of 2025. This resulted in a surplus of £8,000 in the Explorer accounts. The remairbing "profrt- is investment income whith is designed to maintsin the value of the Lockhart bequesL Consequently. l expert both the Explorers and the Exec to make a ioss in 2025-26 Executive Council The income related to the Distrirt ScoLrt Council Executive is almost enb.rely the District Levy coLiected on the capitation payment Most Distrirt expenditure is on insurance fof District members, insurarhce for the distrirt and expLo￿r equipment and bankithg charges for the nine accounts that the Disthrt maintsins wrth CAF Bank (this incLudes one account for each of the five Explorer Scout Units). The Distrirt also pays. as is required by the Scout Association for the examination of the annual accounts. Other Council expenditure comprTrses district badges and Young Leader badges l Logbooks. leaming costs1£7441. governance and admin costs, generating an Exec surplus of £1.090. In addition. the District is believed to have a credit with the CoetmorTrust to the value of £400 due to the cancellatiorh of a weekend book*ng as a result of the COVID pandemic. It is undear whether the Coetmor Trust will be able to honour this credit rf the District chose to Use IL We remain ready to a5S1St ary Group or Urbit who may need access to significant funds to aid development The District benefited from the Lockhart bequest in 1995 to the value of £14.250. The ojrrent value of this bequest in 2025 laccording to the BOE inflation calculator) is £28.764. The formal accounts prepared on a receipts and payments basis have b￿n exarnined by the Distrirt Examiner Imalcolm RogefSI. They will be approved at the District Trustee Board in Lats October and then filed with the Charity Commission. Reserves Policy and analysis The District's Rese￿e$ Policy was last reviewed and adopted in 2018. It determines an acceptable range of Reserves for each ESU and Section linduding the Executive). Totalled togethei pr(KJuces an overall Distiirt ReseNes range. and #SkiitsForLife Classification- Intemal a key test for the Trustees is to ensure that the actual Reservès comfortably within that range. The Charity Commission requires Trustees to operate a ReseThes Policy. but it does not specfy how tt should be created or how ti should look. Reserves are that portion of the CharTty's financial assets less liabTrlitie5 that are not Resirirted, and they do not incLude any physical assets_ Trustees may also exclude some Designated Funds that they have formally earmarked for specrfic purposes. Using this definition. the Charty's Reserves as at 31Mar25 were £105,136, which may be considered comfortable rf not excessive. The Independent Examiner has suggested that after seven years they review the Reserves Policy. wtth a view to ensuring it reflects current realities, and consider modifying the means of calculating target Reserve5 target bands so that they become narrower and thus more helpful as a financial management tooL Principal Activities this Year Our ambition continues to be "bring quality scouting to as many young people as possible" The Scout District exists to gNe Structu￿ to local Scouting and to provide a link to the County and by extension the National land Internationall Scouting Organisations. The Distrirt Lead Volunteer lead5 the uniformed membership and the District Chairlsl lead the non-uniformed (but still vttall lay mefflbership. The District Trustee Board meets regularly throughoutthe year to review the activrties of the Groups and the DistricL The distrirt is responsible for. Collertion and remthD￿ of the annual membership subscription to the County CompLetion of the annual census Supporbng the Groups. Explorers and the West Herts Scout Network Organising District events Administering the District leaming fund Administering the'access 4 all. fLbnd (kindly provided by Rotary Club of Ba*hamsted and Buibournel Providing finance to individuals and Groups to enable them to expand access to Scouting Proterting District assets Monitoring learning and comtAian¢e Monitoring risk in the Distrirt The Tnjstee tr*)ard has been active this year in all of the above areas. Impact Benefit Statement This year our Group5 have taken part In several County arKI District events. including: Green Beret ExpLorer Monopoly Run Peak Assault Mersea Sailing Week ScoLrt Cooking Competibon DofE Award Expeditions Phasels Activty Weekend Beaver hunt for Rudolph The individual Groups carry out actiV￿e5 on a weekly basis too numerous to mention here. They are all designed by the individual Leaders to delNer the Scouting programme to the age range on which they are focussed. The Explorer units take part in unit and inter-untt activrties In 2024-2025 The District had 173 adults supporting 573 young peopLe in scouting across the District through volunteering in leadership, management govemance and SUPFX)rt roles. #Ski11sForLi aassification- Intemal Along with our Groups we are still supporting Skills for Lrfe by acbvely engaging and supporting our Young People in their personal development empowering them to make a posttive contribution to soriety. The District administers an 'access 4 all fund.. The funding is provided by the Rotsry Club of Berkhamsted and Bulbourne and the fund is used to pay grantsto families and individualsto enablethem totake part in Scouting activities that WOLbld otherwise be too expensive. No grants were made from this fund 2024-25. £172 ￿MaInS in this fund. We still lack adult volijnteers in both the District Team and our Group& This means that currently our sertions run at capacty that IS safe for alL As a District we have been looking at recruitsnent opportunities particularly for a Distrirt Lead Volunteer. If anyone would like to voluntÈÈr in any capacty- please contact one of the Distrirt Trustees. There have been some significant change5 Wtthin Scouting over the last year. the bi99est being the introduction of the new Membership Database, this has been a big leaming curve for us all and continues to be improved and updated by Headquarter5. The learning program for all AdultTeam members has been revised and is now being implemented. a5 a District we are supporknng our volunteers to complete their leaming in a timely manner. There is also a focus on our Youth having more involvement with the organising the weekly meetings. Currently we are still supporting the Skills for Lrfe Risk management he major risks to which the chartty is exposed, as identrfied by the Tnjstees. have been reviewed and systems or rocedures have been established to manage those risk& The District Trustees conduct regular risk review meeting5 nd have made the Distrirt Risk Review available to the Groups. The Groups are encouraged to conduct their own risk eviews. Recruitment and induction of trustees rustees are selerted on the basis of their expertise. skills and knowledge and upon the beneffts that these can bring o the charity. New trustees are briefed on the activtties of the charity by other trustees.. their attention 15 drawn in articular to their legal obligations under Charity Law and the Chartty Commission guidance on PLbblic benefit his report and the associated accounts were adopted by the Trustees and members at the AGM held on 19th eptember 2025 at which the following Trustees were in post - Sheena Burrus. lan Cutler. Jamie Douglas. Anthony unford, D8vid Colvin, Pam Megaw. Stephen Spall. he documents We￿ formally approved by the District Trustees at its meeting held on the 19th August 2025 at hich thè following Trustees were in post. - Sheena Burrus. lan Cutter. jamie Douglas. Anthony Dunford. David olvin. Pam Megaw, Stephen Spall. fRCAK ?CFliolzs Tol￿1 9611012$ igned on behalf of the Trustees Skill8ForLife aassification- IntÈmal Leader Names for West Herts Distrirt Groups Group Group Lead Volunteer Berkhamsted Caleb Paullus 0550ms End Howard Scoot ittle Gaddesden Simon WiLkinson orthchurch James Foskett otten End Jim Paton idgeway "dan Scahill ring Sanjayjha ilstone & Long Mar5ton Jane Dawson xplorer Unit Explorer Team Leader cknield Paul Terrett ddy John O'Keefe underdelL Mark Baker Stephen Brooks oung Leaders Paul Chambers ljackie Chambers est Herts Network (WHeNU) etwork Team Leader Vacant or further information about Scouting in West Herts please contact the District hairs killsForLrfe aassification- Intemal li FORE￿NDANDwA Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Fwthfr yiod (*n DIIM0¢4 311)YXQ5 Section A Receipts and payments rth A1Rtt (.i.>Jt6$fAp PK.24*knv rK*T Drthws l FLr&xry t0￿dT￿l Sub l•tal 4571 Toolrecepts SI,￿1 STgtT AJP PAY4-TTa&¢ Ir4wwlP PAYUt•est &tb 57271 Tthlplyp￿ts SUMMARIES Cf FUNDIIOVEME1115 CA3WASÈ0 & UNWLnlES C*hfwK18 ￿tye￿eThI 91.ni 93JtyJ 91451 W71 CuhFuThJb It￿y••r￿nd OIH&I KON¢ASHAUEIS 9frStcthl8CoitlWY OVEPALLNET AJWSnRIY IWJ45 In I￿>17 Bl Cash fvnd$ B1_W Fwth_ol Bl Cth Fw* ro Bl_C•th_Fw&b_03 Tolal¢asltJlmds 532 82 Cdl*rmonotsry assets 82 C*• Fil A%xts T¢4kn11 *Jr#b 83 IrfrtstsNrt &5_L*kn.01 T(￿L&4*• 1* TolalFinanriillAsels rth B4 Assets retsi￿d foithl ¢harty's TOTII METI£SETS In athetsth*¢S IV). II .2611 TESIOA(COW4TS 11*45 I4￿1 S3.J85 L674 55159 •7597 75 WEsf HERTS DISTRicf SCOUT COUNCIL INDEPENDE￿ EXAMINER'S REpoirr l am pleased to report on my exarnination of the Accounts aDd Note5 of West Herts District Scout Council IWHDSCI. for the year ended 31" March. 2025 Set out on pages I to 3 of the Accounts document. Respectfve responslbllltles of trustees and examlnef The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charlty's trustees consider that an audit Is not required for th15 year under section 144 of the Charities Art 20111"the Charlties Act") and that an independent examination is needed. ft Is my responsibillty to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act; * follow the proce(lures laid down in the general Directions given by the Chafity Commission (undèr sertion 14515llbl of the Charities Act, and state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basls ol Independent examiner's stat•mont My examin•tion was carried out in accordance with general Dirertions 8iven by the Charity CommissK*n. An examination includes a revlew of the accounting record5 kept by thè charity and a comparison of the a¢¢ounts presented with those records. It also includes Consideration of any unusual iterns or disclosures in the accounts, and seekin8 explanatKJns from the trustee5 concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit. and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a'trut and falrf view and the report is Ilmlted to those matters set out in the ststement below. Independent examlner's Stateffl￿t In connertion with my examination. no material matters hwe come to my attention whlch gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. 4t the accounting rec￿￿$ were not kept in accordance wlth sectic>n 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not accord bwth the accounting records,. or * the accounts dld not comply with the applicable requiremènts concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulation5 2C4)8 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'trne and fail vlew which is not a matter considered as part of an independent emminatlon. I have corne across no other matters in connection with the exarnination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed.. Date= ?A OJOW, 202 Name: Malcolm W Rogers, ACIE Address: 24a. Friars Walk, Trin& Hertfordshire. HP23 4AY