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2021-12-31-accounts

Keep going. Bounce back. Grow.

1[st] Stanstead Abbotts & St Margaret’s Scout Group Annual Report 2022

Awards and Achievements from the Year

Chief Scout’s Award

The Chief Scout’s Award can be awarded to Beavers (Bronze), Cubs (Silver) and Scouts (Gold). They are each gained by completing a set of challenges and activities. The awards are the culmination of a huge amount of work on proven tasks by the participant over a period of time.

The Chief Scout’s Awards celebrate the highest level of award that a Beaver, Cub or Scout can achieve in their section, and are rightly recognised and celebrated as a major achievement. The awards are often presented at special events when friends and family are invited to attend.

The awards require the Beaver, Cub or Scout to complete a variety of tasks that include: learning new skills, working on projects, trying out new activities and showing their colony, pack or troop and their Leaders what they have managed to achieve / make / learn to meet the requirements of the award.

Since our last AGM, the following have been presented with their Chief Scout’s Award.

The Chief Scout’s Bronze Award is gained by completing the following:

and completing any four activity badges or staged activity badges.

Chief Scout’s Silver Award

Chief Scout’s Bronze Award

The Chief Scout’s Silver Award is gained by completing the following:

and completing any six activity badges or staged activity badges.

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Chief Scout’s Gold Awards

The Chief Scout’s Gold Award is gained by completing the following:

Young Leader training

When our Scouts reach the age of 14 and move on to Explorer Scouts many of them additionally choose to volunteer as Young Leaders and join the Scout Association's Young Leader training programme.

Our Young Leaders are given the opportunity to undergo training specific for their role and often progress to becoming Adult Leaders when reaching 18 years of age.

and completing any six activity badges or staged activity badges.

Our congratulations to all those who have achieved these awards and who can be easily recognised with their Chief Scout’s Award Badge sewn on the front, right-hand side of their uniform.

The adventure continues…

At around their fourteenth birthday our young people must leave the Scout Troop. At that time they have the option to move up to Explorer Scouts, which is run by Ware & District Scouts, for young people aged 14 to 18 years.

Some Young Leaders volunteer with us for a full four years, while some volunteer with us for a shorter term as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme,

Although the number of Young Leaders helping at the Group declined markedly during lockdown, we’re pleased to say that new young people are now joining, so numbers are rising again. They provide invaluable support to the adult volunteer team and we’re very grateful for their continued help.

We’re pleased that the following Young Leaders have completed their Young Training this year and achieved their Young Leader Belt:

Explorer Scouts provides the ideal opportunity to both develop and broaden skills, as well as taking on even more challenging “adventures” such as international expeditions.

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Group Chair’s Report

This is the 2022 AGM report on activities during the calendar year 2021, made on behalf of the whole executive team, to whom I send my thanks for their support and contributions throughout the past year.

We can summarise the last year as one where we kept going through the pandemic, we bounced back strongly once things began to return to normal and now we are growing and developing Scouting in Stanstead Abbotts once again.

The Group has in common with everyone and everything in the country gradually and safely moved back towards normal after the unprecedented Covid pandemic. At the beginning of the year the leaders worked hard to provide remote activities, that I know were hugely appreciated by most members.

As normal activities resumed, membership rebounded towards pre-pandemic levels. We had 128 youth members at the January 2022 Census, which is comparable with 2019. Membership has continued to climb since January, taking us back over 150 young people by mid-2022.

During the last half of the year, preparations started for the introduction of Squirrels, the new scouting provision for four- and fiveyear-olds. Really good work from Lucy Isham, Jo Morton and potential new assistant leaders meant that our first Squirrels joined in March 2022, the first in the district. This opens a new chapter in Scouting in Stanstead Abbotts and we hope it will help young people gain skills for life at a time when it matters most.

The executive committee recognised that the impact of the pandemic on the finances of members could be substantial and so maintained the subscriptions at 2016 levels to try to ensure all could remain members.

Good financial stewardship means that the Group could utilise reserves to cope with this, given most of the expenditure is fixed costs and could not be reduced.

Government covid grants to cope with the pandemic mean that we have been able to reinstate defects and keep the building ready for use when we were able to. We have even been able to invest in the HQ to make it more accessible and fit for modern use. We have been given huge support to do this by French and Jupps. As well as use of the field as in previous years, a substantial donation was made to allow the electrical installation to be improved with new LED lighting and heaters which are more efficient and sustainable. In addition, the kitchen has been completely renewed by the company for us after the previous units rotted during the pandemic. The new kitchen is a huge improvement on what went before and puts us in a great place to offer Scouting going forward.

We have also investigated sound attenuation measures to make the main hall more user friendly and reduce the noise to make it more welcoming for younger members and those who find the noise of so many young people having a wonderful time a bit much.

It is important to point out that Scouting is only possible because our excellent leaders contribute their time for free and I am sure all members are extremely grateful for this. Volunteers are always needed to support and join the leadership team so do please consider if you can help in some way and contact Paul Stretch if you think you can. You will get something out of it yourself!

Gavin Miles Group Chair

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Group Treasurer’s Report

The Group is pleased to report a surplus for the year 1 January to 31 December, which is almost entirely due to the Government’s Covid 19 recovery grants we received during the pandemic via East Herts District Council. These were paid to help offset lost income and additional costs arising from lockdowns, and to help organisations (and their people) recover from the pandemic. We will be retaining part of the grant in our HQ maintenance and reserve fund for this purpose.

Total income for 2021 was £30,199 (£20,370 in 2020) and expenditure was £14,731 (£10,643 in 2020), and I will comment below on some of the major changes that go towards making up these figures.

Subscription income increased due to the return of full subscription payments during the year following the reduced level in 2020. Our subscriptions to The Scout Association were increased in 2021 by £7.50 per head and this is partly shown by the increase from £5,651 in 2020 to £6,084 in 2021. Although membership numbers fell slightly during the previous two years, they increased steadily throughout 2021.

Gift Aid receipts were drastically reduced from £4,163 in 2020 to £1,971 in 2021. Our Gift Aid claim is based on the previous year’s subscriptions, and as these were so low in 2020 the claim was reduced accordingly. Gift Aid is a major part of our annual income, and we are grateful to the parents who have responded to our emails to sign up for this and would encourage any parent who has not already done so to respond as soon as possible ready for this year’s claim.

We are grateful to French and Jupps for their donation of time and materials to replace our water damaged kitchen and for converting the lighting and heating system in the HQ to more energy efficient LEDs. We are sure that this will be result in a reduction in our energy consumption in the future.

We are also grateful to Mrs Sue Daniels for arranging for the donations at the funeral of the late Les Daniels to be given to us. Les was a long-standing and valued member of our Executive Committee.

We did not hire out the HQ for outside events in 2021, partly because of Covid 19 restrictions, and because we were using it more frequently to dry wet tents over the winter. This will be reviewed in the future.

We were able to fund all expenditure on equipment and maintenance from our annual income, so we did not need to draw on the HQ maintenance and equipment reserve fund.

At the end of the year, the Group’s cash assets were £48,226 (increased from £32,758 in 2020).

The Group continues to hold monthly executive committee meetings, complies with the requirements of the Charity Commission and the policies and rules of the Scout Association.

Anne Sauntson Group Treasurer

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Statement of Financial Activities and Balance Sheet

Receipts and payments

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2021 2020
Unrestricted funds Unrestricted funds
£ £
Receipts
Donations, legacies and
similar income
Membership subscriptions 13,670 7,895
Less:Membership
subscriptions paid on 6,084 5,651
(National/County/Area/District)
Net membership subscriptions
7,586 2,244
retained
Donations 140 789
Covid-19 recovery grants 18,241 10,000
Gift Aid 1,971 4,163
Sub total 27,938 17,196
Scout Group Activity Income
Group Activities - -
Scout Activities 429 1,699
Cub Activities 74 523
Beaver Activities 390 323
Scout Summer Camp 2022 1,200 -
Young Leaders 52 -
Sub total 2,145 2,545
Fundraising (gross)
Equipment Rental 100 35
AGM income - -
Lottery 15 33
Sub total 115 68
Investment income
Bank interest 1 6
Property Rent income - 555
Sub total 1 561
Total Gross Income 30,199 20,370
----- End of picture text -----

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Statement of Financial
Activities and Balance
Sheet
----- End of picture text -----

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Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year
31st December 2021 31st December 2020
£ £
Cash funds
Bank current account 40,038 24,571
Bank deposit account 8,188 8,187
Bank subscriptions account -
Cash/Floats - -
Total cash funds 48,226 32,758

Independent Examiner's Report

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of 1st Stanstead Abbotts & St Margaret’s Scout Council

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the 1st Stanstead Abbotts & St Margaret’s Scout Group for the year ended 31 December 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the 1st Stanstead Abbotts & St Margaret’s Scout Group you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the 1st Stanstead Abbotts & St Margaret’s Scout Group accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Geoffrey Addy ACMA

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my

6 June 2022

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Trustees’ Annual Report

A. Reference & administration details

The 1st Stanstead Abbotts & St. Margaret’s Scout Group, Scout Association registration number 11590, is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England & Wales, registration number 302583.

This document is the Trustee’s Annual Report for the period 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.

The charity’s principal address is the Scout Headquarters, Marsh Lane, Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire SG12 8QT.

Charity trustees for 1 January – 31 December 2021

Office

Trustee Name

Gavin Miles Chair Nicola Gardener Secretary Anne Sauntson Treasurer Paul Stretch Group Scout Leader Neil Johnson Assistant GSL Mike Williamson Scout Leader Debbie Gilbert Scout Leader Elaine Alles Cub Scout Leader Lucy Isham Beaver Scout Leader Will Drury Beaver Scout Leader Catherine Moorcroft Mara Hougham Mark Watt Sinead Slater

B. Structure, governance & management

Governing document

The Group'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.

How the charity is constituted

The Group is a trust established under its rules that are common to all Scouts.

Trustee selection methods

The Trustees are appointed in accordance with the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association.

Additional governance information

The Group is managed by the Group Executive Committee, the members of which are the Charity Trustees of the Scout Group which is an educational charity. As charity trustees they are responsible for complying with legislation applicable to charities. This includes the registration, keeping proper accounts and making returns to the Charity Commission as appropriate.

The Committee consists of three independent representatives, Chair, Treasurer and Secretary together with the Group Scout Leader, section leaders and parent’s representation and meets approximately ten times a year.

Members of the Executive Committee complete trustee introduction training within the first five months of joining the committee.

This Group Executive Committee exists to support the Group Scout Leader in meeting the responsibilities of the appointments and is responsible for:

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Trustees’ Annual Report

Risk and internal control

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

Damage to the building, property and equipment. The Group would request the use of buildings, property and equipment from neighbouring organisations such as the church, community centre and other Scout Groups. The Group has sufficient buildings and contents insurance in place to mitigate for permanent loss.

Injury to leaders, helpers, supporters and members. Risk assessments are undertaken before all activities. The Group through the annual membership fees contributes to the Scout Association’s national personal accident and medical insurance policy and its third-party liability insurance policy.

Reduced income from fundraising. The Group is primarily reliant upon income from subscriptions and fundraising. The Group does hold a reserve to ensure the continuity of activities should there be a reduction in income. The Committee could raise the value of subscriptions to increase the income to the Group on an ongoing basis, either temporarily or permanently.

Reduction or loss of leaders. The Group is totally reliant upon volunteers to run and administer the activities of the Group. If there was a reduction in the number of

leaders to an unacceptable level in a particular section or the 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 Group.

Reduction or loss of members. The Group provides activities for all young people aged 6 to 14. If there was a reduction in membership in a particular section or the Group as 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 Group.

C. Objectives & Activities

The Purpose of Scouting

Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.

The Values of Scouting

As Scouts we are guided by these values:

The Scout Method

Scouting takes place when young people, in partnership with adults, work together based on the values of Scouting and:

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Trustees’ Annual Report

D. Achievements & Performance

The main activities and achievements of the Group are described elsewhere in the report.

E. Financial Review

Reserves Policy

The Group's policy on reserves is to hold sufficient resources to continue the charitable activities of the Group should income and fundraising activities fall short. The Group Executive Committee considers that the Group should hold a sum equivalent to 12 months running costs, circa £10,000.

Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Gavin Miles Group Chair

Paul Stretch Group Scout Leader

11 June 2022

Investment policy

The Group does not have sufficient funds to invest in longer-term investments. The Group has therefore adopted a risk-averse strategy to the investment of its funds. All funds are held in cash using only mainstream banks or building societies.

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The Purpose of Scouting

Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.

The Values of Scouting

As Scouts we are guided by these values:

The Scout Method

Scouting takes place when young people, in partnership with adults,

The Scout Promise

On my honour, I promise that I will do my best, To do my duty to God and to The Queen, To help other people and to keep the Scout Law.

The Cub Scout Promise

I promise that I will do my best,

To do my duty to God and to The Queen, To help other people and to keep the Cub Scout Law.

The Beaver Scout Promise

I promise to do my best, To be kind and helpful and to love God.

The Squirrel Scout Promise

I promise to do my best, To be kind and helpful and to love God.

Contact Us

Scout Headquarters Marsh Lane Stanstead Abbotts SG12 8QT 01920 320100 StansteadAbbottsScouts.org.uk

Copyright © 2022 1st Stanstead Abbotts & St. Margaret’s Scout Group Registered Charity No. 302583