## **Ware & District Scout Council Annual Report for the year 2021 Meeting held 4[th] July 2022** Buntingford, Braughing / Standon, Thundridge, Ware, Gt Amwell, Hunsdon, Stanstead Abbotts www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk **01920 320820** **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk ## Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3 District Executive Members as of Dec 2021 ....................................................................... 4 District Chairs Report ............................................................................................................. 5 District Commissioners Report............................................................................................... 5 District Management Team ................................................................................................. 7 ADC Scouts ........................................................................................................................... 7 ADC Cubs .............................................................................................................................. 8 ADC Beavers ......................................................................................................................... 8 Scout Active Support Unit ...................................................................................................... 9 Scout Adventure Active Support Unit ..................................................................................... 9 District Explorer Scout Commissioners (DESC) report .......................................................... 9 Explorer Unit Reports ........................................................................................................... 10 Armynage (Buntingford) Explorer Unit .............................................................................. 10 Ware Explorer Unit ............................................................................................................... 11 Young Leader Explorer Unit ................................................................................................. 11 Treasurer’s Report ............................................................................................................... 12 Ware & District Accounts 2021 Receipts ...................................................................... 13 Ware & District Accounts 2021 Payments .................................................................... 14 Ware & District Accounts 2021 Assets Liabilities .......................................................... 15 Ware & District Accounts 2021 Scrutineer’s Report to The Trustees ............................ 15 Ware & District Accounts 2021 Scrutineer’s Report ...................................................... 16 Page 2 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk ## Introduction The Trustees of Ware District Scout Council present their report and financial statement for the year ended 31 December 2021. The Council’s governing documents are those of The Scout Association. They consist of a Royal Charter which in turn gives authority to the By-laws of the Association and the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association. The Council is a trust established under its rules which are common to all Scouts. The Trustees are appointed in accordance with the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association. The aim of the Association is to promote the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities. The Council’s method of achieving the aim of the Association is by providing an enjoyable and attractive scheme of progressive training based on the Scout Promise and Law and guided by adult leadership. Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Council and of its excess of income over expenditure for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to: - 1) select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently. 2) make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. - 3) follow applicable accounting standards, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements. 4) prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Council, enabling them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Standard Statements of Recommended Practice. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Council and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Legislation requires the protection of Young People to be scrutinized closely. It is the policy of The Scout Association to safeguard the welfare of all members by protecting them from physical, sexual and emotional harm. We, as a District Organization, are fully committed to complying with this policy in all respects and it is the responsibility of all our members over the age of 18 to ensure that this is done. Legislation requires Health and Safety to be scrutinized. It is our policy to provide Scouting in a safe manner without risk to health, as far as is reasonably practicable, and to ensure that we comply with all the requirements of The Scout Association safety policy as laid out in the Policy Organisation and Rules of the Association. The Council has in place a system of internal controls that are designed to provide reasonable assurance against material mismanagement or loss. These include two signatories for all payments and comprehensive insurance policies to ensure that insurable risks are covered. Page 3 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk The Council meets the Charity Commission’s public benefit criteria under both the advancement of education and the advancement of citizenship or community development. ## **District Executive Members as of Dec 2021** David Allen (Ex-officio District Chair) District Secretary- Role vacant Pat Horridge (Ex-officio District Commissioner) Phil Clayden (Ex-officio District Scout Network Commissioner Now stood down) Peter Raymen (Elected 2016 District Exec committee member) Geoff Addy (Elected 2017 District Treasurer) Keith Jennings (Elected 2019 District Exec committee member) Gavin Miles (Elected 2017 District Exec committee member) Ollie Rose (Appointed March 2022 Ex-officio District Explorer Commissioner) Page 4 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk ## District Chairs Report As we all set about getting back to Scouting the District Exec have looked at having to adapt and make some changes to support and assist where possible. The HQ has had some essential woks completed to ensure the building remains serviceable and safe. The arrangements to identify candidates for the next world Jamboree were also completed. Subscriptions were again reviewed to ensure transferable costs were kept to a minimum. The shop arrangements have changed significantly to ensure the service continued, and a lot of work has gone into the change in an effort to make sure items are available at a competitive cost. Pat Horridge is to step down as District Commissioner and I would like to thank Pat for all his hard work and assistance. Pat worked hard to complete works on the HQ to bring it up to date and called in a couple of favours to ensure the works budget was kept to a minimal. Pat has worked hard around the District and his local knowledge and previous experience in Scouting has been put to good use and been a positive assistance within the District. The new DC will be in place shortly and I am sure they will have their own idea on what is required within the district. ## **David Allen District Chair** ## District Commissioners Report This is my last District AGM as I step away as DC at the end of July handing over to Paul Stretch. I moved out of Ware to Lincolnshire in June 2022. I’d always planned to serve the district for 5 years and will have left after 5.5 years. That said we spent 2 years dealing with a pandemic which put my development plans on hold as the district helped support the groups and their leaders weave their way through the complexities of delivering scouting in a Covid19 safe way. I strove, during my time as DC, to be responsive as I could and ensure I replied to requests and made the decisions that needed to be made. I never sought the DC role but have always approached Scouting and my contribution as doing what I could to help promote the best scouting to our YP and that’s 3 times now I’ve taken a role that wasn’t my choice. Leaving behind some of the elements I so enjoyed about scouting to fill a role others shunned. But there was always the bigger picture to consider and that led me to this DC role and I was determined to tackle many of the established views in the district holding us back from delivering the very best of scouting. As ever in scouting there just didn’t seem enough time to do all I hoped but if I’ve been able to change the environment enough to attract a new DC of Pauls calibre to the role then I know the district on track for the future. Page 5 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk One of the key challenges I faced was inducting the district into the concept that our Policy Organisation and Rules (POR) wasn’t an optional aspiration. That for the safety of our YP and the protection of our leaders (and to reduce the legal risk to the Scout organisation) our leaders did their mandatory training when required and that all leaders progressed their leader training in a timely manner. The appointments panel and Kaz our Local Training Manager and the team of Training Advisors have worked hard to improve that position. We went from being one of the worst districts re training compliance to one of the best. There is still work to be done on this but we have the momentum now and I’m hoping the whole team can support the new DC in ensuring we resolve this. I’m also delighted that post Covid (if it is indeed behind us now) our Explorer provision is moving in the right direction. Christine the Explorer Leader for Armynage stepped down towards the end of the pandemic due to a number of reasons but having moved out of the area we knew it was on the cards. With no leaders able to step up it left us no option but to close the Armynage Explorer unit. The Armynage Explorers were transferred to the Lygean Explorer unit which has been renamed as Ware Explorer Scout Unit. Earlier in 2022 I appointed Ollie Rose as our District Explorer Scout Commissioner and Jo Morton as our Young Leader. They have had a big impact (along with the rest of the Explorer and YL team) in integrating YLs (who are Explorers of course) and Explorers and we are now seeing a real mixture of YLs and non YL Explorers active in scouting activities. We hope to see every YL active in the Explorer programme and every Explorer not a YL consider being a YL. This is a marked difference from before when there was a clear separation between Active Explorer and YL. I was often told YLs had no interest in doing Explorer activities but I knew this couldn’t be true and sure enough those YLs are rising to the option of these activities. There are some key people I like to specially thank: **Jim Smith** who headed up the Scout shop for so many years stepped away when the shop had to close during the pandemic. Also our thanks to the whole Scout Shop team who gave their time and helped raise valuable income for the district. We can’t see any viable way post pandemic to bring a viable shop back to the district and my thanks to Peter Raymen and Ollie Rose for helping raise some funds from the stock we were holding. **Bob Cooper** has been our nights away advisor for over 16 years and stepped back during the pandemic when camping just wasn’t possible. We have created a new team of nights away advisors to replace Bob and Bob kindly attended a planning meeting with that team to impart some of his experiences. As a District the NAA team will be working to encourage camping and mentoring leaders into getting their permits. **Tony Hinson** who for many years helped manage the District HQ bookings. Again with no bookings for such a period of time over the pandemic Tony stepped back. Our thanks for his support all those years. Page 6 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk Finally my thanks to everyone in the District from the Exec down through the District teams to the GSLs and their leaders on the ground for supporting me and helping us change as we needed to do. ## **Pat Horridge District Commissioner** ## **District Management Team** The District Team consists of a number of District Scouters who help and support section events. A core of those also have management roles and meet regularly to contribute to the district scouting development are: Pat Horridge (District Commissioner till the end of July 2022) Position vacant (Deputy District Commissioner) Ollie Rose (District Explorer Scout Commissioner as of March 2022) Peter Raymen (ADC Development) Lynn Isham (ADC Beavers) Position vacant. Trevor Byworth acting as liaison (ADC Cubs) Graham Paul (ADC Scouts appointed April 2019) Position vacant (District Scout Network Commissioner) Keith Jennings (Nights Away Adviser) Additional NAAs appointed in 2022 Karen White (District Appointments Secretary & Local Training Manager) Position Vacant District Youth Commissioner Jo Morton (Leader Young Leaders) Jennifer Makewell (District Assistant Commissioner – International) There are also an additional 25 or so Leaders who also support the District in a number of ways, many in background roles. So, our thanks to all those unsung helper and supporters. ## ADC Scouts 2021 started under a cloud, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued and social restrictions prevented face-to-face Scouting. Whilst some groups had succumbed to Zoom fatigue in late 2020, others still managed to keep going with a mixture of quizzes and topical activities, with home cooking and tossing pancakes being particularly popular. Thankfully, face-to-face meetings resumed in the Spring with most groups running activities outdoors as much as possible. Face coverings and hand sanitizer became commonplace indoors with introduction of risk assessments to manage a return to face-to-face scouting. However, District and County events were to remain suspended throughout the year and would not return until 2022. I awarded 5 Chief Scout’s Gold Awards in 2021. Congratulations to the scouts at 2nd Ware for their great achievements under trying circumstances. In the wake of the pandemic, there has been a turnover of Scout Leaders and I finish by thanking the leavers for their contributions. Page 7 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk ## **Graham Paul ADC Scouts** ## ADC Cubs 2021 was another challenging year for the Cub section with the covid restrictions still in place and we were unable to hold any of our regular district events. The packs continued with their meetings via zoom and resumed face to face meetings when possible with restricted numbers. I would like to extend my personal thanks to each and every section leader that has continued to engage with our young people throughout these unusual times to provide them with the adventure that Scouting offers and to prepare them for the years ahead when we will be able to resume our district activities. ## **Trevor Byworth District Cub Scout Leader** ## ADC Beavers After what has been unpredictable times it was fantastic to get back to some normality at the beginning of this year and held our District Sleepover with just over 90 Beavers. The theme was Celebration. They matched the crown on the queen’s head, bandanna on the corgi’s, Royal skittles with the guards., decorated crowns, made shields, soft archery and wide game indoors as the weather was not so kind to us. Celebration cake, before film and bed! March we held our Easter Egg hunt. We started off with our normal hike, snacks and games. Then off to match up cardboard Eggs which we had previously decorated at our Beaver evenings in the field in exchange for a real one, chocolate of course! Finishing off with a game fire, then hike back to Poles Lane. May we held a party for the Queens platinum jubilee celebration with over a hundred beavers. We made rockets and launched them, entertained by Andy, made royal bag/key fobs and off course party games and cake! After our summer holidays we will hold our tug of war competition and our district hike. My thanks go out to all the leaders for their support in the District events and look forward to a brighter future! ## **Lynn Isham ADC Beavers** Page 8 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk ## Scout Active Support Unit The Active Support Unit continues to provide help and support to all the groups in our District who I am pleased to say have been taking advantage of our help and assistance so far and we hope to continue now that we are back to normal. It has been a tough few years! We have, of course, been providing support on the catering side of all District, Exec and Team meetings and we were able to have our annual dinner at Fanhams in February which was enjoyed by all. We have 17 Active Support members who have various roles in the District including appointments committee, nights away permits, training advisors, shop uniform sales etc., and badge secretary. This is now managed by Ollie Rose online still adding valuable funds to the District. I, of course, will continue my roles as County/District Active Support Manager. Once again, this year ASU members have helped in many ways to improve and repair our HQ building completing tasks such as painting inside and out, gardening, disposal of rubbish and general tidying up together with the help of ASU Adventure, Explorers and Network Scouts. We look forward to getting involved again with all the major Scout, Cub and Beaver events. We continue to have a good link with the ASU Adventure Unit managed by Keith Jennings which is working in combination with the District Network on joint ventures. I would like to thank all the ASU members for their support and I am looking forward to working with and supporting our new District Commissioner, Paul Stretch, and would also like to thank Pat Horridge for all the help and support he has given to our unit in the past five years to promote and expand the ASU now that Scouting has returned. ## **Peter Raymen Active Support Unit Manager** ## Scout Adventure Active Support Unit As we saw in 2020 2021 saw few opportunities for face to face scouting. The ASU Adventure unit had another quiet year with little to report. We look forward to something like normality so we can resume supporting our young people in their adventure. The challenge going forward will be renewing permits and bring on new leaders to gain permits and support our YP in activities to a level we achieved in the past. ## **Pat Horridge on behalf of Keith Jennings Adventure Active Support Unit Manager** ## District Explorer Scout Commissioners (DESC) report Ollie Rose was appointed as our new DESC in March 2022. Page 9 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk W&D Explorers struggled over the last 3 years as did everyone. Being the oldest section of Scouting for the YP, there is only so many times you can do a quiz, or a scavenger hunt to go find something purple. However, since returning to face to face Scouting and some new additions to our leadership team, I am glad to inform that W&D Explorers is growing and improving every week. We are lucky to have a new ESYL team, led by our new Young Leader Coordinator, who are working closely with the groups and YP to give them the training and skills required to assist the section leadership teams. Lygean & Armynage have combined to form the W&D Explorer Scout Unit, focusing our growing leader team to providing the most beneficial experience. Combined we have recently completed a survival camp, using our new hammocks, taught how to cook from scratch, operate different rare camping equipment and some micro navigation in preparation for our mini summer expedition. Overall I am very pleased with the progress of the Explorers and their leaders and look forward to what the future can bring. ## **Ollie Rose District Explorer Scout Commissioner** ## Explorer Unit Reports ## **Armynage (Buntingford) Explorer Unit** Armynage ESU Wednesdays Buntingford Scout HQ Christine and Martin managed to keep Armynage explorers running during lock down with zoom sessions and even a few face to face sessions as things eased up but issues with securing a flexible arrangement re a meeting venue and that Christine has been living out of the area proved to be the final factors in Christine stepping away. We had nobody to step in and continue to run Armynage explorers up in Buntingford so it was decided to transfer those explorers into the Ware Explorer unit (formally Lygean explorers) Many thanks to Christine and Martin for their many years of support and continued involvement in Ware and District Explorers. ## **Pat Horridge on behalf of: Christine Sharman Explorer Scout Leader** Page 10 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk ## Ware Explorer Unit Lygean ESU Friday Christ Church Ware The return to 'normal' Scouting has been slow in the Explorer section, but numbers are slowly increasing. We have been running a varied programme to try and satisfy all tastes - Explorers do not have to attend every meeting, the whole ethos behind Explorer Scouting is that the Young People can pick and choose which meetings/events they want to attend. After much deliberation we have chosen an Explorer Unit 'colour' scheme, and the first batch of hoodies have been ordered - hoodies and polo shirts will soon be available to Explorers to order online. My thanks to the Explorer leaders for their efforts over the past year, and a warm welcome to Pete (aka Nacho) our new AESL. ## **Jim Campbell Explorer Scout Leader** ## Young Leader Explorer Unit Following the easing of restrictions in September last year The Explorer Scout Young Leader Unit had 20 committed Young people, I am pleased to write that this had increased to 30+ young people all volunteering their time and ideas in all the Scout groups in Ware and District. Since September our dedicated team of adults have organised and run 9 module training nights using the Young leader Training scheme to support our young people and develop their knowledge and confidence in working within their chosen sections of the District. We have had really good uptake and feedback from these courses and are already in the planning stages for our course schedule for the upcoming academic year. We have awarded 4 Young leaders with their belt buckles, service awards and certificates for completing the Young Leader training scheme and all 4 missions that are part of the scheme. With serval more Young Leaders nearly finished their training. In addition to the YL training modules we have begun working in partnership with the Explorer section of the Explorer Scout unit to build the Unit by visiting the scout sections and provide more opportunities for the Active Explorers and Young Leader to meet, exchange skills and continue their scouting adventures together. One of these opportunities is the Summer Survival Camp where we will be trying out brand new kit of several hammocks in what will be the first young leader camp in several years. ## **Jo Morton (YL Leader)** Page 11 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk ## Treasurer’s Report ## **TREASURERS REPORT FOR THE ACCOUNTS ENDING ON THE 31[ST] DECEMBER 2021** Total Income was £3,703 for the year compared to £11,419 for 2019, which is predominately due to the lack of scouting activity in 2021 due to COVID-19. Membership subscriptions were included in this total and the total amount collected was £36,202 compared to £38,867 in 2020. The District received £325 in donations during the year, whereas in 2020 it received £0. The Scout Shop generated £495 in sales during the year as activity was very low for Scouting. The Scout sections income was £540 for the year which is very low due to reasons explained above. Gift Aid in 2021 was £466 compared to £599 in 2020. A Bank incentive was received during the year for £1250 compared to £0 for 2020. Overall, the District made a loss of £7344 for the financial year and this decreased the cash reserves £63,331 at the end of 2021, and this includes the Restricted Funds balance of £31,644 as at the 31[st] December 2021. The accounts were formally accepted by the District Exec. ## **Geoffrey Addy District Treasurer** Page 12 WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021 yvww.wareanddislri¢tscouls.org.uk Ware & District Accounts 2021 Receipts Ware District Scout Council Receipts and Payments Account For thp 01-J￿ 314*cQl Receipts and payments 2021 2020 knd5 Totsl lurwJ5 T*Jtalkn Im1 2J15 325 Gr FuTr*aisYvJ Iwossl 215 Ixe ￿tFe￿Il T￿in1￿ 1J16 Mgt Sub ¢rt4 1•0 Totsl Gmss Incx I LT71Xrf))3 Page13 WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021 yvww.wareanddislri¢tscouls.org.uk Ware & District Accounts 2021 Payments Ware District Scout Council Receipts and Payments Account Fortr*p T• Receipts and payment5 2021 2020 knds 1345 Gass 1757 12 rknal(ME Toclwlty 1.747 42 Sthtcéal Tot& Gross EX￿￿¥t￿r0 Net olrweipts/(pttyn[￿tsj J0243 70.114 sfy tIMs yefyrwjd Page 14 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk Ware & District Accounts 2021 Assets Liabilities Ware & District Accounts 2021 Scrutineer’s Report to The Trustees Page 15 **WARE DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Annual Report 2021** www.wareanddistrictscouts.org.uk ## Ware & District Accounts 2021 Scrutineer’s Report Page 16