1st Kingston Hill Scout Group
Registration Number: 303755 293 Park Road Kingston upon Thames KT2 5LY
Trustees Chair: Graham George Clive McDonald Treasurer: Nathan Timothy Friel Trustee: Stewart Nash
Trustee’s Report 2022
This report covers the period 01/04/2021 to 31/03/2022.
Structure
1st Kingston Hill Scout Group operates primarily as a centre for Scouting activities for young people.
There are three Sections, Beavers (age 6-8), Cubs (age 8-10.5) and Scouts (age10.5-14). Scouting is inclusive, all children are welcome to join regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity.
1st Kingston Hill Scout Group operates a waiting-list policy for all Sections. The Beaver group in particular is over subscribed. In order to manage the Beaver waiting list, children must be a minimum of 5 years old to apply.
Once a child leaves Scouts at 14 years of age they can continue in Scouting through a Young Leader Scheme, in which they will continue their journey through Scouting by assisting the younger age Sections. It is hoped that they can start to share the knowledge and skills gained and take on small responsibilities to help the Leaders.
Each Section has a qualified adult Leader, registered with Scouting UK. They are assisted by another registered adult and often by young leaders as well. We also encourage parents to attend our meetings occasionally to assist. All assistance and involvement is provided on a voluntary basis.
1st Kingston Hill Scout Group operates a Group Executive Committee (GEC). This comprises elected members, Chair, Treasurer and usually one other Trustee. At meetings, these members invite along Section Leaders (and any assistants), a Secretary and Parental Representatives are also encouraged to attend. Meetings are formally recorded and minuted to provide a report for any actions necessary.
The Hall at 293 Park Road is used for Scout meetings and activities and the field behind is used for outdoor activities and camps. When the Hall is not being used
for Scouting activities at weekends and evenings, it is available for the public to hire as a venue. The bookings are administered by a parent volunteer.
During School term-time the Hummingbirds Montessori Nursery hire the Hall and field during the day for their own use. They offer day care for children between the ages of 2.5-5 years of age.
Activities
1st Kingston Hill Scout Group operates during School term-time. Each Section meets once a week to develop new skills. Each child is encouraged to develop as an individual and as part of a group. Each weekly meeting will feature a ceremony, some learning and a physical activity. Progress can allow the child to receive a badge as a token of their achievement.
Other activities throughout the year include overnight camps, which are conducted either on the field at our Hall or on other campsites. The aim is to have three camps each year, Summer Camp, Winter Camp and a Young Leaders Camp.
Each year, 1st Kingston Hill Scout Group celebrates Guy Fawkes Night with a fireworks display. Tickets are made available to those who have children in attendance at the group. Tickets are priced affordably, as the event is not intended to make a surplus. There is a firework display, barbecue and bar.
Several times a year we invite parents to come and assist in maintenance of the Hall and field. This usually happens over the course of a weekend, which allows people to volunteer for a few hours at a time of their choosing. The work usually involves redecorating, minor repairs, hedge trimming etc. The parental involvement helps reduce our maintenance bills and allows parents to meet the Leaders informally.
Objectives
1st Kingston Hill Scout Group engages and supports young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.
Financial Review
1st Kingston Hill Scout Group operates with two bank accounts. The first is used for day to day spending, while the second is a savings account (which also holds deposit funds from hirers). The control mechanism for accessing both accounts is a complex mandate and it requires two signatories to release funds. Currently the signatories are the Chair and Treasurer. The bank accounts are monitored through internet banking.
Balance of Current Account at year end was £27,355.78 Balance of Savings Account at year end was £8,661.66
Over the last year our overall income has decreased slightly on the previous year to £39,271.68
Hall hire has remained popular with people choosing to celebrate events again after the pandemic. Our parent volunteer Simon Allen, who managed the Hall bookings has chosen to step down after serving for seven years. We are extremely grateful to him for his work in this role. He streamlined and formalised the bookings process, increased the rental to reflect local rates, introduced Hummingbirds Montessori Nursery and helped establish them as our primary hirer. We have been very fortunate to have had him during this period. He has now handed over to Rebecca Parsons; who has taken on the role.
Hummingbirds Montessori Nursery is now in its second academic year, operating weekdays during term-time. Some minor changes have occurred to facilitate the nursery, allocating them storage space for equipment and an office from which to base their business administration. They operate on a ‘pack away’ basis which helps to reduce the visual impact and retain the character of the Hall for the Scouts and other users. We have renegotiated our hire contract with them this year, it now reflects the changes to our overheads and their growth as a business. Our Savings Account holds deposit money (£1,400) from this enterprise.
In line with advice from Scouting UK, meetings have been conducted on digital platforms during the pandemic. Consequently we asked for reduced rates/ donations during these times.
Although it has been safe to run face-to-face meetings again. It has not always been easy to make the transition from Covid, it has required various adaptions to allow attendance and extra work for our Leaders.
Our usual termly subscriptions are £42.50 per child. We offer reduced rates for families unable to meet this cost at our discretion on an individual basis.
Over the last year our expenditure has increased to £44,089.26
Expenditure is up significantly this year. Our financial position last year was strong, we had been the recipient of a generous grant from Kingston upon Thames Council and had established Hummingbirds as a long term hirer. Significant funds had been built up and it was felt that we should use these to improve the facilities for Scouts and hirers.
Large amounts of repairs and improvements have been achieved over the last few years and have helped to reduce our maintenance bills recently. We have invested in a new ride-on lawn mower to the delight of our Head Groundsman Woody. He has provided us with free mowing and lawn care since the Late Jurassic period, a fantastic effort.
We have completed a landscaping project to improve the car park and rear of the Hall. Both these areas have been affected by poor drainage and degraded surfaces. We employed a contractor to place two soakaways and connect drainage to remove excessive rainwater. The car park now has a new tarmac surface, sleeper wall planter and bollards to prevent illegal parking. The area to the rear of the Hall has a sandstone patio which connects the car park to the field and rear door. Both the front and rear door now have full wheelchair access.
Utilities and insurance have increased and will most likely continue to do so significantly in the future. We now have an internet connection and modem in the Scout Hall to provide users with data and internet connection.
Spending on Scouting activities has been up on recent years, due to the ending of the pandemic. Preparations and investment has been made for the forthcoming 2022 Summer Camp. Everybody is looking forward to being able to hold these sorts of events again more frequently.
Future Plans
It would be great to continue to spend funds on Scouting activities like camps now that social distancing has been relaxed.
Some more expenditure may be required to the MAC to fulfil its potential on the inside and outside. We have plans to improve the perimeter of the field to separate areas for Scouting use only. Other areas meriting future improvement work are the toilets and the Store.
We will continue to re-invest our rental income to support Scouting activities and to maintain and improve the 1[st] Kingston Hill facilities. We operate a prudent reserves policy designed to ensure we can meet 12 months of essential expenditure. From time to time our cash balance may exceed the reserve requirement as we build towards a significant premises improvement project..
Nathan Friel Treasurer
Table 1
| 1st Kingston Hill Scouts 2020-21 | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | January | February | March | Totals | 2020-21 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income | ||||||||||||||||
| Donations | 100.00 | 30.00 | £130.00 | £0.00 | ||||||||||||
| Membership subscriptions | 168.00 | 313.00 | 645.50 | 83.50 | 295.00 | 840.50 | 958.80 | 301.10 | 260.43 | 825.20 | 1451.82 | 1563.96 | £7706.81 | £931.00 | ||
| Gift Aid | £0.00 | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Fund Raising | 853.94 | 115.65 | 173.00 | 175.00 | 215.00 | £1532.59 | £10447.35 | |||||||||
| Camps and Activities | 265.00 | 2377.00 | 832.50 | 930.00 | 100.00 | 400.00 | 80.00 | 120.00 | £5104.50 | £236.50 | ||||||
| Hall Hire | 840.00 | 3940.00 | 1397.00 | 400.00 | 1245.00 | 5600.00 | 1229.25 | 2433.35 | 510.00 | 5360.00 | 1030.00 | 810.72 | £24795.32 | £28661.72 | ||
| Bank Interest | 0.53 | 0.59 | 0.70 | 0.64 | £2.46 | £3.74 | ||||||||||
| Total Income | £1861.94 | £4468.65 | £2043.03 | £748.50 | £3917.00 | £7446.59 | £3323.05 | £3049.45 | £771.13 | £6585.20 | £2561.82 | £2495.32 | £39271.68 | £40280.31 | ||
| Expenditure | ||||||||||||||||
| Camps and Activities | 1866.20 | 1291.27 | 673.32 | £3830.79 | £1731.13 | |||||||||||
| Expenses | 4273.67 | 4200.01 | 135.34 | 337.03 | 74.48 | £9020.53 | £682.00 | |||||||||
| Badges, Uniforms and Leader Training | £0.00 | £49.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Van | £0.00 | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Property Maintenance | 306.00 | 21000.00 | £21306.00 | £1879.42 | ||||||||||||
| Utilities | 500.61 | 500.61 | 422.61 | 433.27 | 426.74 | 427.50 | 365.74 | 204.74 | 204.74 | 262.74 | 376.35 | 209.94 | £4335.59 | £3936.76 | ||
| Refund | 120.00 | 50.00 | £170.00 | £0.00 | ||||||||||||
| Insurance | 2546.35 | £2546.35 | £2461.36 | |||||||||||||
| Capitation | 2880.00 | £2880.00 | £2268.00 | |||||||||||||
| Bank Charges | £0.00 | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Total Expenditure | £4774.28 | £3166.96 | £728.61 | £433.27 | £426.74 | £6493.71 | £1657.01 | £22013.40 | £204.74 | £649.77 | £376.35 | £3164.42 | £44089.26 | £13007.67 | ||
| Balance | -£4817.58 | |||||||||||||||
| Total Funds 2020-21 | £34176.36 | |||||||||||||||
| Total Funds 2021-22 | £29358.78 |
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