7th Hanwell (St Thomas’s) Scout Group
2024-25 Annual Report
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Content
| Introduction from the Chair | Pg 2 |
|---|---|
| Lead Volunteer, Section, Rebuild and Fundraising Reports | Pg 2 |
| 2024-5 Financial Account Summary | Pg 7 |
| Agenda of Annual General Meeting 2025 | Pg 11 |
| Summary note of the 2024 Annual General Meeting | Pg 12 |
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1. Introduction from the Chair
Coming to the end of my first year as Chair of the 7[th] Hanwell Scout Group I feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with so many dedicated volunteers led by our three Group Lead Volunteers, Adrian, Nuria and Sergio and all the enthusiastic young people and parents/carers who make up the 7[th] Hanwell Scout Group. It is a privilege to see how much the experiences 7[th] Hanwell offer our young people to support them thrive and grow. As a parent of a Scout who began as a Beaver I know how much the weekly sessions at the Warren, and regular camps and other activities give our children. These are experiences that many would not otherwise have, which help teach them essential life skills. This is thanks to both their own commitment but also the amazing efforts of the Leaders, Young Leaders, other volunteers and Trustees who give up so much of their time and energy to 7th Hanwell and wider Scouting.
As well as offering an amazing scouting experience for so many this year has seen real progress in our long running efforts to revamp our HQ, the aging Warren. Thanks to the efforts of the Rebuild Committee over the year we hopeful that we will secure a sizeable grant towards the costs of rebuilding and were able to begin initial work on the first phase of the project to refurbish the walls and roof of the Warren and our stores hut in summer 2025.
From a governance perspective 7th Hanwell is fortunate to have active and experienced trustees. We meet approximately four times a year when we consider a range of issues including our finances and policies. We work with the Group Lead Volunteers to ensure we are following the best practice and training from the Scout Association. We are also supported by a fantastic Rebuild and Fundraising subcommittee to drive forward the rebuild project.
If you are reading this report and are a parent of one of our young people I would encourage you to get involved in supporting the group - even if you are time constrained there are always things to help with which can fit your time and skills. If you’re interested please just talk to me or one of the leaders.
Conrad Bailey
2. 7 th Hanwell Group Lead Volunteer, Census, Section, Rebuild and Fundraising Reports
Group Lead Volunteer
This past year has been another rewarding one for the 7th Hanwell Scout Group. With our three thriving sections and over 70 enthusiastic young members, we continue to grow stronger as a community. A huge thanks goes to all our leaders and volunteers, whose commitment and dedication make these successes possible.
We’re particularly excited to have taken significant steps towards rebuilding the Warren. Our vision is to create a fantastic space not only for our Scouts but also for other local community groups.
As your Group Lead Volunteers (GLV)—Adrian, Nuria, and Sergio—we share the role to show how volunteering can fit flexibly around busy schedules. Volunteering doesn’t need to be a huge commitment; by splitting responsibilities among us, we've demonstrated that even part-time help makes a substantial impact. However, we urgently need more adults to join us. Whether you have just a few hours a month or can commit more regularly, every contribution is invaluable.
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Please consider stepping forward—even small amounts of your time and effort will help ensure the group’s continued success. Thank you all for your ongoing support!
Census
Beaver Section - Mandy Cuttler
Our Beavers have had a fun packed year, with lots of activities taking place both within our group and across the district.
We currently have 17 Beavers, many of whom are the siblings of children who have moved to cubs and were very excited to finally be old enough to join us.
In addition to the 3 leaders, we have 3 wonderful young leaders who are very actively involved and have planned and led several meetings this year, although one young leader will soon be heading to university.
This year we have had Beavers join us at group camp, as well as the space themed annual district Beaver sleepover (with a special thank you to Nuria for supporting at the sleepover!). We also took part in the annual Beaver hike (thank you to Lilnos for joining us!), and had a joint evening of campfire and games with another local Beaver group.
Some of the activities that have been especially well received have been giant battleships, a street dance lesson, hikes, cooling down with the slip and slide, and making our camp blankets (thank you to all parents who were able to attend!) The Beavers also continue to love campfires and have done plenty of campfire cooking, with smores and chocolate bananas being particular favourites!
Badges earned this year have included staged, challenge and activity badges, including teamwork, skills, gardening, hikes away, nights away, builder and cooking, in addition to 5 chief scout bronze awards.
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Well done to all of our Beavers for being adventurous and always willing to have a go! We are looking forward to an equally action packed programme next year, and can't wait to hear all of our Beaver's creative activity ideas in our next termly log chew.
Cubs Section - David Hurley
It’s been another exciting year at Cubs, with plenty of activities and events taking place both on Tuesdays and the occasional weekend.
This academic year we have had the opportunity to attend four camps, the group camp in September’ 24, a one night-er at The Warren, a Wild West Summer Camp and the District Camporee in July.
Some highlights from the last year’s programme include; Orienteering, building shelters, building spacecraft for eggs, break dancing, glow stick widegames, making pancakes, visited Green Watch at Ealing Fire Station, made some cracking Christmas crafts, went to the Panto at Questors and many other activities.
We are fortunate that we are part of an active District and so this year we have taken part in cross country, St George’s Day parade and the upcoming Camporee.
We have had two young leaders and five leaders over the year. The number will be going down to 4 as Maggie left recently and Jamie is shortly leaving for university.
The Cubs have been very busy earning their badges over the year and since the last AGM we have awarded 236 badges, including 5 Chief Scout Silver Awards so far.
A big thanks to all the parents that have volunteered their time to help us run the programme and events and we hope the parents enjoy coming along to help and see what we are up to. We are especially grateful to those who ran our Christmas craft evening and have come on camp with us. If anyone would like to get more involved in any of the activities, please let us know, we are always very happy to have more help and it helps us do grander activities too.
We’d like to especially thank Maggie for all her help as a leader over the last couple of years. We’ve really appreciated her reliability, enthusiasm and dedication. She has been a key part of the leader team, and we will miss her greatly.
Scouts Section - Trevor Green
This year we find ourselves with a very healthy troop of 28 scouts. This is the largest it has been for some time and I am beginning to feel we are truly shaking off the Covid slump.
In the last year we have been on five camps, including this AGM. All these camps apart from this one remaining camp had different challenges - from weather conditions with the February Freezer Camp, to Scouts learning to be more self-sufficient campers with the Spring and Totem camps. All the camps are full of learning and fun. Camps give the Scouts an opportunity to hone their outdoor skills, develop teamwork, and hopefully create unforgettable memories. From setting up tents and surviving the cold to campfire cooking and cleaning up after, all Scouts attending showed fantastic enthusiasm and a spirit of adventure.
We have also taken the Scouts on 5 hikes including the ever popular Chippy Hike (always a sell out that one!). Everyone showed stamina and teamwork, supporting each other along
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the way. This year we even managed to reintroduce the winter hike to Walter Davis campsite which had been cancelled the year before. This included a mid hike break where we cooked ration pack food for lunch. We intend to continue this going forward so Scouts should always have their hiking boots ready to use again!
Another activity that we have been able to provide this year is a visit to Ealing Fire Station, enjoyed by everyone - especially the bit where they got to play with the fire hose at full blast! - as well as our classic Scout evening activities like fire lighting, altar fire cooking, pioneering and camping skills, as well as the all-important games.
Last but by no means least we should mention two scouts who earned their Gold Scout Award this year. This is a tremendous achievement that reflects leadership, dedication, and hard work. These awards are not just personal milestones but a source of pride for our entire troop.
We look forward to keeping up this level of activity into next year and are always happy to hear from scouts about activities they would like to try (within reason!) So here’s congratulations to all of the Scouts for a remarkable year, and here’s to many more adventures ahead!
Rebuild and Fundraising Committee Report - John Foxwell & Kirstin Green
We have some very good runners among our parents, leaders, young people and supporters! In April 2024 one parent ran a full marathon in Brighton, raising £730 plus gift aid. Then in September 2024 a dedicated team of runners supporting 7[th] Hanwell took part in the Ealing Half Marathon. They raised an impressive £970 plus gift aid for the rebuild. We thank all our runners – from veterans to newbies - for their hard work and dedication. Other than that, much of our rebuild fundraising work during 2024/25 has been behind the scenes – applying for grants. The fundraising committee has worked very closely with the rebuild committee throughout the year to help ensure our grant applications are strong and evidence-based. We are pleased to report that we believe we are close to securing a significant grant. We will provide more information on this as soon as we can, but if we are awarded the grant it will enable us to start work on the roof replacement later in 2025. Once that phase of work is underway, we will work with the Rebuild Committee on developing costings for the future phases so we can start applying for grants to fund them.
3. 2023-24 Financial Account Summary
The 7th Hanwell Scout Group are ingood financial health. Please see below for details of our year-end position for 2024-2025 and Independent Examiner’s sign off.
Caroline Lumb (Treasurer)
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7th Hanwell (St Thomas) Scout Group R•gl•t•r•d Ch•rlty No. 303632 Gener•1 W•rv•n fund Totsl Fundg 2025 Tot•1 Fund• 2024 2025 2023 INCOME Awnbwship Sut¢ 7.750 7.750 6.513 3.652 2.862 Gm Ald Camp IfK£¥ Acltht8s tr• AGM [kalk DfX)atKxH Wanen Use 1.707 6.357 1.118 1.118 75 214 214 Fun(tr¥tsing Jath Pel¢hy Bank lrtwesl Relund Tharnes Go Cardloss fee• 22270 2033 1.339 (489 {465) Toi•l for th• Y•w •21 21.047 35.441 EXPENDITURE Prrynifj (Wmnl 1.671 27 1.462 893 1.861 2.142 Meeling Adrrf Camp Experws AGM expen8e8 EquVnI & Repw8 to Eipnl 2.142 119 119 128 218 218 401 13,18 15,116 IOrn*(DI111) to Fund• 1938 24.316
7th H•nw•ll (St Thom••l SCO f R•gl•l•r•d Chrlty No. 303632 AM•ts •nd U•blllll•• l¢f Ib• Ymr to 31•t M•r¢h 2026 MOMETARY ASSEr8 2028 8.231 89.281 2024 d•posit acnI 81,263 95.512 8#.217 waler IrefuThJed Asyl 241 1.189 1.651 1512 {8101 (f12} {810 13•n•r•l Fund Assets lor prevk#Js Yo Trangfer to Deswwaled F1 31.493 29.420 (2.CUI) 16.126 13.188 13.171 11.098 2.073 31.493 .431 D•slgn•tsd Fund .Th• Warr•n Assets lor prevw)w Year Tr8n5fer Deswated Expenth"ILwe from DgnalAl Fwwj 15.(XXJ 1S.( (o io) Wafr•n 8mIng FWMI (R••trI¢1 Asséts for prevKW Ye•r Income to Restnc¢d Fund Expenditure frorn R•strKthJ Fty*1 21.322 4.921 22.270 Z7 22.243 Bthc• M •131•1 2026 NON - MONETARY ASSETS These assets are for the Charilvs own use, and are insured at the values below:_ Period of insurance cover.. 1st November 2024 to 31st Odober 2025 Bulldlngs All Buildings Sum Insured 501.192 Contents and Equlpment Contents of buildings Camping Kit and Equipment Sum Insured Sum Insured 2,689 24.188 Total Sum insured 528.069 Premium Paid to 31110125 1.695
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4. Agenda of Annual General Meeting 2025
Held at Walter Davies campsite, Stoke Poges on 6 July 2025
1. Introduction and welcome
2. Apologies for absence
3. Governance topics
A. Approve the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at Walter Davies campsite, Stoke Poges on 15 Sept 2024.
- B. Note the Group’s financial year
4. Review of the 2024-25 Financial Year
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A. Receive and consider the Annual Report of the Group Trustee Board, including the annual Statement of the Accounts
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B. Section reports: Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, GSL
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C. Group HQ rebuild project / Fundraising
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D. Ealing and Hanwell DC representative
5. Awards and Presentations
6. Making appointments
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A. Reappoint the Group Chair: Conrad Bailey
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B. Reappoint the Group Treasurer: Caroline Lumb
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C. Reappoint the Group Secretary: Will Howson
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D. Reappoint members of the Group Trustee Board: Adrian Walker (GLV)
Nuria Belinchon (GLV)
Sergio Garrido-Lestache (GLV)
Kirstin Green
John Foxwell
Mike Harris
Andy Schutz
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E. Appoint the Independent Examiner: James Anderson
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F. Request parent representatives
8. Closing remarks
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4. Summary note of the 2024 Annual General Meeting
Held at Walter Davies Campsite 15th September 2024 at 13.00
1. Introduction and Welcome
The three Group Lead Volunteers (GLV) Sergio Garrido-Lestache, Nuria Belinchon and Adrian Walker opened the meeting.They thanked the venue for the use of their facilities and welcomed members of the Scout Council and their guests.It was explained that a decision had been made to share the role of GLV.
The GLVs thanked the leaders who had run the camp, and particularly those who had provided the BBQ and food.
2. Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Mark Day, the previous chair, and from Mike Harris.
3. Chair Appointment
Adrian Walker thanked Mark Day for his work in the role of Chair of the Trustees over the last two years.
Following an open selection process and formal interview the GLVs recommended that Conrad Bailey be appointed as the new Chair of the Trustees. His appointment was unanimously approved.
The GLVs handed over chairmanship of the meeting to Conrad Bailey.
4. Governance
4a.Approval of the previous minutes
The Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting held on 06/07/2023 were put forward as read as a true record of the meeting.
This was Seconded by Jennifer Bailey and unanimously approved.
4b. Adoption of the model constitution from Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR)
In line with the recommendation from Scout Headquarters The Group Trustee Board proposed the adoption of the model constitution from Chapter 5 of the POR. A copy had been made available for inspection prior to the AGM, with link provided by email
This was Seconded by Kirstin Green and unanimously approved.
4c. Noting of the Group’s financial year
The financial year was noted as running from 1st April to 31st March
4d. Approval of appointed and community members of the Group Scout Council
The Chair noted that Group Scout Council can admit other people to membership. The chair advised that Caroline Lumb and Kirstin Green were admitted as members of the the Group Scout Council as well as the ex officio list in POR Rule 5.4.4.
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They were both approved unanimously.
4e. Agreement of the number of members that may be appointed to the Trustee Board
The chair proposed that 11 people be appointed as Trustees in line with good practice recommendations from the Charity Governance Code. POR states that the trustee Board should have no fewer than 5 Trustees and no more than 12, including both ex officio and coopted Trustees.
This was seconded by Doug Rowe and agreed unanimously.
4f. Agreement for quorum of future meetings of the Group Scout Council (excluding this AGM)
The chair proposed that the quorum for Group Scout Council meetings be set at 5 people as per the previous constitution.
This was seconded by David Hurley and agreed unanimously.
5. Review of the previous year
5a. Receipt and consideration of the Annual Report of the Group Trustee Board including the annual Statement of Accounts
The chair noted the Group Trustee Board had approved the Statement of Accounts.Caroline Lumb (Treasurer) explained the accounts. The income generated is from subscriptions. The move to a Linked Savings Account has allowed the funds raised for the rebuild to be placed in a high income account. Currently the Warren Rebuild fund has £22,270, which generates interest of £1,339 pa at 4% interest.
The Accounts have been examined independently and signed off.
There were no questions.
The Annual Report will be based on the events of this AGM.
The Chair thanked the Treasurer.
5b. Review of Scouts
Adrian Walker, as GLV, presented the annual review. The Scouts are a strong group with a breadth of experience from those who have never camped to John who has been to nearly 200 camps. There are benefits to both the children and adults involved. It is dependent on the help offered by the volunteers, to draw on their skills, knowledge and expertise.
5bi. Review of Beavers
Mandy Cutler presented the review of the Beaver section. This started with a Beaver who said “The most exciting thing is going camping and making shelters and roasting marshmallows.”
The Beavers have been developing confidence and this has shown in the increasing numbers from 3 at the first sleep over to 8 at the AGM and 11 at the Warren.
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4 Beavers have been awarded their Bronze Chief Scout Award. There was an outstanding You-shaped award for a Beaver who planned and ran a taskmaster themed meeting. There have been lots of outings which were only possible with the support of parents. Parents were thanked and encouraged to offer more help.
5bii. Review of Cubs
David Hurley presented the review of the Cub section. A Cub said how much she enjoyed Cubs “How regularly we do camps, learning survival skills, and how everything is really adventurous and includes nature”
There are 25 Cubs of whom 12 are girls. There are 2 young leaders, Jamie and Immie, and 5 leaders. Highlights have been cooking (apple pie and Calzone) community litter picks, Airfoil and Air activities. David thanked the parents for their support including Felicity and Helen and particularly Rich and Suzanna for helping with the cycling badge. 304 badges have been awarded and 7 silver awards made. Badges have included equestrian, skateboarding, snow sports and martial arts..
Regarding the leadership team: Mike completed all his training and achieved his wood bead. Nick received special commendation from the district for excellence in service.
As always the group is keen for volunteers.
5biii. Review of Scouts
Trevor Green presented the review of the Scout section.
Two Scouts said how much they enjoyed Scouts “Making new friends I wouldn’t meet” and “having opportunities to do different activities”
There have been 6 camps this year, including 2 easier and 2 harder winter camps. There were also two activity camps and 3 hikes of various distances, one of which finished at 1 am!
Activities have included pioneering, making tents, cooking on fires, fire fighting, bouldering and laser tag.
1 Gold Badge was awarded to Ben who is returning as a Young Leader.
Trevor told the story of how he became a Scout Leader, initially volunteering as a parent to support his son, watching and learning, and then taking a more central role. He said the section is always looking for volunteers.
5biv. Review of Young Leaders
Sergio Garrido-Lestache and Nuria Belinchon presented the review of the Young Leaders. This is a District Section. There are 7 Young Leaders attached to 7th Hanwell, 3 in Beavers, 2 in Cubs and 2 in Scouts. A number of Scouts from 7th Hanwell have gone on to join the District Explorers Group.
5bv. Rebuild Project and Fundraising Team
The History of the Warren was revisited. The first Hut was built in 1933 and refurbished in 1940. The current building was built in 1973, with a 30 year life expectancy. We are unable to raise the £380,000 in funds required to rebuild completely but are now tendering for the
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essential works. Quotes have been received from local businesses. The fundraising team thanked everyone for their efforts.
In 2023 £20,000 were raised.
In 2024 there have been efforts to raised small amounts of money but so far no grant applications have been successful. There have been efforts made at networking, consultation with potential users and raising awareness in the local community. The next step is to engage with the local MP and council officers, make further grant applications and to continue to work with the rebuild committee.
Specific help is needed with video presentations, pitch documents and social media.
5bvi. Presentation by the Ealing and Hanwell DC representative
Heather Jones, the District Representative introduced herself on behalf of Mandy Coombs, the District Lead Volunteer, who was running her own camp. She thanked the leaders for all their hard work. The District has been supportive of all groups. It has committed £10,000 to 7th Hanwell for the Rebuild.
The District AGM will be held on 23rd September. Awards were given to Mandy Cuttler, Sergio Garrido-Lestache and Adrian Walker in his role as Assistant Section Leader in Scouts. David Hurley has agreed to become the Nights Away Adviser.
Trevor Green was awarded his Wood Beads.
The Scouting Organisation is in the middle of a transformation. This will see the end of Compass, to be replaced by more intuitive software. This will be more than a change in names and should actually make training easier.
Finally an award for Merit was made to Doug Rowe for his activities for Scouting in the District over many years.
6. Awards and Presentations
Cubs: Chief Scout Silver award was made to Hannah
Scouts: Cobras won the Points Prize.
Thank you Awards were made to
Mike Scully for running the website
Darren Endicott who raised more than £1000 running the Brighton Marathon
The Fundraising Team, Kristin Green and Rachel Walker.
7. Making Appointments
Caroline Lumb was reappointed as Treasurer
The Group Scout Council recommended the following were appointed as Trustees:
Conrad Bailey
Adrian Walker (GLV)
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Caroline Lumb (Treasurer)
William Howson (Secretary)
Kirstin Green
Doug Rowe Andrew Schutz John Foxwell Mike Harris
Nuria Belinchon
Sergio Garrido-Lestache
These were all appointed unanimously .
The Chair thanked the Trustees for their work over the year and in particular Mark Day who is standing down.
The Treasurer proposed James Anderson as the Independent Examiner. This was seconded by David Hurley
The Chair confirmed James Anderson was qualified for the role. He was appointed unanimously
8.Closing Remarks
The Chair closed the AGM, and thanked everyone for attending.
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