2023-03-31-accounts

Registered Scout Group: 41377 Registered Charity Number: 303793

2023 Annual Report

www.19thwimbledonscouts.co.uk

CONTENTS

Agenda for 2023 AGM	2	Executive Committee	16
Group Chair’s Introduction	3	‘100 Club’ Winners	16
Group Scout Leader’s Report	4	Group Treasurer’s Report	17
Oakwood Beaver Colony Report	5	Group Information	18
Mayhew Beaver & Cub Report	7	Volunteering - It Could Be You!	19
Oakwood Cub Pack Report	11	Minutes of the 2022 AGM	20
Scout Troop Report	13	Group HQ - A Community Site	22
Explorer Scout Unit Report	15	Friends of the 19th	23

AGENDA for 2023 Annual General Meeting

1. Apologies for Absence

2. Minutes of the 2022 AGM

3. Matters Arising from the Minutes

4. Presentation of the Annual Report

5. Presentation of the Annual Statement of Accounts

6. Charity Governance

7. Group Scout Leader’s nomination of

8. the Group Chair

9. certain members of the Trustee Board

10. Election of Group Secretary & Group Treasurer

11. Election of other members of the Trustee Board

12. Appointment of Independent Examiner

13. Presentations

14. Any Other Business

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GROUP CHAIR’S INTRODUCTION

I am pleased to introduce this year’s Annual Report. We have had a full year of activities in each of our sections and I would like to thank all of the leaders and their assistants for their hard work in planning and delivering programmes that enable our young people to experience new challenges and have fun. Please take a look at each of the section reports to find out what has been going on during the year!

I would also like to thank all of my fellow Executive Committee members, who work hard all year behind the scenes to keep the Group in good order. I would particularly like to thank Paul Wilkins, our Group Scout Leader, for his continuing commitment to the Group. Paul not only makes sure our adult helpers are well trained and well led, but he also oversees everything that happens within the site. He looks after our outside users and ensures that the site is clean and secure for everyone to use. We would be lost without him!

At this AGM we are following the Scout Association’s advice and moving to a Trustee Board, we have room on the Board for some more parent representatives, this is not an onerous task; it involves meeting once a term, helping us to forward plan and providing feedback to the Board. If you are interested in volunteering for this role, please talk to your section leader who will let you know more.

We are also looking for someone to take over the running of the 100 Club from James Roe, who needs to hand over the reins after looking after it for several years. He has the club in very good order, please let us know if you feel that this is something you could do for us!

We are still also actively looking for more adult volunteers to work with our sections, particularly for Beavers and Cubs. Recently we took part in the Big Help Out event, championed by the new King, who wished to use his Coronation

weekend to encourage volunteering across the country. We talked to a lot of people over the day and ran some practical activities for children to showcase the sort of things that our sections provide within their programmes. There was a lot of interest from young people wanting to join Scouts, but unfortunately their opportunity to join us is extremely limited because we cannot increase our intake unless we can find additional adult help.

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I make no apology for using this report to ask for your help. Please consider helping us, or talk to friends and family to encourage others to contact us.

Volunteering can be a brilliant way to boost your mental wellbeing. It’s a great feeling knowing you’re helping young people get skills for life, and you might even learn a lot about yourself along the way.

Scouts can make you feel good in other ways too. We’ll guide you to an opportunity where you can:

• Make friends and meet people

• Try new things and challenge yourself

• Get outdoors and get stuck in

• Positively impact your community

• Create vital opportunities for young people

• Make memories that'll last a lifetime

If you can only occasionally help, that’s okay. Whether you’d like to be an activity planner, tea-maker or craft creator, we appreciate any time you can spare. Talk to any of the leaders, or contact me direct if you want to find out more!

Ros Barnes (Group Chair)

GROUP SCOUT LEADER’S REPORT

The last year has been one that has seen the passing of a monarch and the crowning of a King. This seamless succession of a head of state must be the envy of many citizens in the world who have to cope with upheaval and uncertainty.

At the 19th Wimbledon, we have provided Scouting for over 150 young people this year, helping them gain skills for life, experiences they will never forget and friendships that will last a lifetime.

Youngsters appreciate physically being with their friends, camping or being outdoors, learning new skills, hiking, navigating, fire lighting and putting those

skills to the test. These interactions beyond school and family are so very important, and help young people to be grounded with a healthy lifestyle, both in body and mind.

The leaders and supporters have completed a full year of activities that has stimulated and excited the young members in delivering Scouting to young people.

As a Scout Group we rely on our team of leadership volunteers, a few who have been at

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the sharp end for over 50 years, some others for decades and many for just a few months or years while they are involved with the Group. It is my job to plan for the future and attract new leaders and interest people in the joys of taking 30 youngsters to camp, run an activity, help with some admin, wash the windows or do some mass catering!

The job of keeping this successful Scout Group alive and healthy is a continuous challenge. It is assumed that this Group will be here in 5 or 10 years time, but without a succession of the leadership team it may not be such a certainty.

My gratitude and thanks go to all of the Group’s uniformed warranted leaders, section helpers, volunteers and young leaders for their time given freely during the past year.

The Executive led by the Chair, Rosalind, have planned and overseen the strategy and finances of the Group, my thanks goes to each of them for their support.

To use volunteers time more efficiently and to reduce the burden of charity governance administration, costs and communicating efficiently we continue to use Online Scout Manager (OSM) for the collection of camp money and membership subscription using Direct Debit. This is a really easy way for you to keep in touch and pay any dues owed promptly, and for us as a charity to obtain tax relief from donations.

Times are financially tough for some in our community; no young person should go without Scouting for the lack of money. This is a principle that we strongly uphold. Please contact me in complete confidence if you have or foresee problems paying the termly fees or for camps. We can contribute or assist in other ways to enable Scouting for your child.

To keep the levels of volunteer support healthy and this Group’s future bright, I urge any parent or family member to come along and feel free to help for whatever amount of time you have to give.

Paul Wilkins (Group Scout Leader)

OAKWOOD BEAVER COLONY REPORT

Oakwood Beavers have had a busy year with many fun activities leading to lots of badges. Sorry for all the sewing but it also means all of our Beavers moving onto Cubs have completed their Chief Scout Bronze Award, the highest award in Scouting available to Beavers. Monday evenings have seen learning moments, great teamwork and a lot of crazy fun.

Late September saw the welcome return of the Beaver and Cub sleepover. It was a soggy Friday evening but undeterred we played indoor games, sang camp fire songs enthusiastically in front of a virtual camp fire and watched the original Jungle Book movie. Fortunately, the weather improved by morning and we

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enjoyed a traditional outdoor camp breakfast before heading home for some actual sleep!

Our focus for the Autumn Term was the Safety badge

and we used some fun games and activities to learn about road safety, water safety and calling the emergency services. We also reviewed some interesting alternative ways of dealing with intruders watching Kevin’s various traps from the Home Alone movies. Probably better to dial 999 though! We finished the Autumn Term with our usual Christmas crafts along with a much-practiced hand bell performance and Christmas play for the parents at our party.

The Spring Term always gives lots of excuses for enjoying some different food. We celebrated Burns Night with haggis, neeps and tatties and had great fun doing an online dance lesson, learning the Two Step ready for the next Ceilidh. We welcomed in the Year of the Rabbit with Chinese New Year activities and noodles and enjoyed marking Pancake Day with pancakes and pancake races.

As well as eating, we completed the Money Skills badge, making a shield from all the UK coins, learning about the history of money and then bartering and trading to get the ingredients for a full cooked breakfast. We had to get the food theme in somewhere!

We ended the term by making peg dolls for Mother’s Day and completing the Disability badge where we assisted each other to complete a challenging obstacle course blindfolded, tried to communicate non-verbally and discussed hidden disabilities.

The first half of the Summer Term involved a lot of Bank Holiday Mondays and missed meetings but also a great excuse for a party as we were kindly invited by the Oakwood Cubs to join them for a Coronation Party on the Tuesday. It was

great to see some Beavers have fun with siblings and for us all to catch up with some of our Oakwood Beavers who have moved onto Cubs.

We’ve also managed so far to have a couple of great fun evenings enjoying the outdoor space. Fire lighting and cooking marshmallows is always a very popular, if messy, evening, to be repeated in the second half of the term. We also had a great evening building shelters

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using tarpaulins, ropes and trees and where parents and siblings enthusiastically joined us at pickup time.

Sadly we’ve said goodbye to Ben (Panther) after 13 years, starting as a Young Leader and moving on to become Assistant Section Leader. Congratulations to him on his new job and wishing him all the best with it. We’ve all really appreciated his great fun ideas for games and his legacy lives on - though he knows where we are should he find some spare time!

We’ve also said goodbye to Andrew, our Gold Duke of Edinburgh helper, who also completed his Young Leader Belt with us, as he prepares for A Levels and University. Andrew introduced us to some great new games and was an expert at the fire lighting activities.

Thanks to everyone for their help this year, particularly Pauline (Squirrel), Ben (Panther) and Andrew (Otter). The latter weeks of the Summer Term will hopefully involve more fire lighting and outdoor cooking, pioneering and our annual family hike and treasure hunt around Morley Park. We welcome any help from parents and other volunteers so please let us know if you’d like to join in our fun and help in whatever capacity.

Suzanne Clark (Robin)

MAYHEW BEAVER COLONY & CUB PACK REPORT

Given that we run similar programmes for the Mayhew Beavers and Cubs we have again combined our annual reports - thinking of our readers of course!

Always keen to make use of our outside space as long into the autumn as we can, the Mayhew sections began the current academic year with shelter building and fire lighting, along with the obligatory toasted marshmallow - always a good ice breaker for our newest members.

With the total relaxation of Covid restrictions, we were able to reintroduce the annual Beaver and Cub sleepover. A highlight for both sections, it allows our members both new and more experienced, to spend a night away from home (in some cases for the first time) in familiar surroundings. Whilst the heavy rain

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thwarted our planned trip to Melbury Gardens to burn off some energy, and sadly also our campfire, we were able to improvise and play our games inside and a hold campfire without the warming part! It wasn’t quite the same, but it was still entertaining. In all, around 60 Beavers and Cubs fell asleep one by one and eventually even the last one succumbed to the land of nod. Before we knew it, they were all wide awake again on the Saturday morning, had scoffed down their breakfast and gone home!

During the Autumn Term we started the Navigator badge, learning how to read maps, find compass points and grid references. The Beavers also revisited their Promise to understand what it means when they are invested, and each took home a ‘Promise hand’ within which they set themselves tasks to complete in each of the fingers and the thumb! As a leader, it is always pleasing when those Promise hands are returned after a week with ticks or statements of completion!

In early October, Campaign Paintball in Cobham hosted the District Cubs for a full on day of competitive paintball. A lesson in rationing paintball pellets per game is still needed, but the Cubs had an absolute ball, running through the woods!

In November, a guide from the Wimbledon Common Windmill visited both sections to tell us all about the history of the Windmill, the Common and what historic features can be found there. It is always great when local groups can come down and give the Beavers and Cubs a talk on local history, particularly the Windmill, when Robert Baden Powell himself wrote his famous book ‘Scouting For Boys’ in the cottage just behind.

For the first time in a long time, the Cubs were also invited to join Scouts, Explorers, Cadets, Brownies and Guides at the war memorial for Remembrance Sunday. All behaved impeccably, parading through Wimbledon Village and into the remembrance service.

Late into the Autumn Term, we invited the Beavers and Cubs to bring in a game (board or card) to play and share with the other Beavers and Cubs. Always a fun evening, it’s fascinating to watch the young people try different games against others that they might not ordinarily play with.

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The New Year brought new opportunities for the Beavers and Cubs to set New Year’s resolutions. Some very interesting and unusual resolutions were set, some completed and some … well ... not! We celebrated the Year of the Rabbit for Chinese New Year and made bird feeders from seeds and orange halves for the RSPB Great Garden Birdwatch. The Cubs enjoyed a fascinating visit to the synagogue on Parkside as part of their My Faith activity badge and My World challenge badge. The members are always very welcoming up there, opening their doors and sharing their religion and practices.

Like the Cubs, the Beavers also had an event down at Campaign Paintball in Cobham but it wasn’t paintball. The Beavers enjoyed an afternoon of the far less painful laser tag. Much like the Cubs, Scouts and Explorers, the Beavers very much enjoyed running around the woods on a sunny winter’s afternoon, catching members of their opposing team out and sending them out of the play zones. As the afternoon went on, the Beavers’ competitiveness just kept coming.

February wouldn’t be February without pancakes and both sections enjoyed making batter and cooking (individually) their own. We are so lucky as a Group to have the facilities and equipment available to us to allow the whole Colony and Pack to complete these sorts of activities. As we approached Easter, the Cubs brought their musical instruments along to a meeting where they bravely performed in front of the whole Pack. Those that don’t already play an instrument were able to give the handbells a go, expertly tutored by our Young (Explorer Scout) Leaders. They then joined the biggest chess competition the District has ever held. Sadly neither of the Mayhew teams brought home the trophy, but all played terrifically, with some personal victories adding to the points scores. The Beavers spent an evening of pioneering which resulted in an obscure yet very impressive structure constructed of garden canes and elastic bands.

To end the Spring Term, we combined the Beavers and Cubs and spent the evening bowling. Again the competitive juices were running with Beavers and Cubs pitted against each other. It is difficult to plan offsite activities that will take both Beavers and Cubs together, but bowling always goes down well.

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At the time of writing this report, the Summer Term is not that old, yet both sections have enjoyed fire lighting, soft archery, attended St George’s Day parade with the District (Cubs only) and - probably the highlight so far - a visit from a circus skills company who by the end had taught the Beavers how to spin a plate on a stick and the Cubs various skills with flower sticks. The Cubs have also just returned from an action packed Cub Camp at Frylands Wood campsite. Blessed with wall to wall sunshine, the Cubs enjoyed grass sledging, archery, sumo wrestling, pond dipping, team building and an assault course – oh, and we can’t forget the tuck shop! It’s great to get back outside doing what Scouting does best - providing adventure and opportunity to young people.

As always, none of the above would be possible without the leadership team we have at Beavers and Cubs. Big thanks to Rebecca, Denise and Ros (Group Chairman) for their help week on week. We also have a strong young leadership team at Beavers with Ashlyn joining us in the Autumn Term and Explorers Tony, Kai, Andrew and Sophia at Cubs. Their enthusiasm and willingness is always much appreciated. We have also recently welcomed Carly on to the leadership team at Beavers. We could not do many things without the ongoing support of parents signing up for camps, badge days and competitions, plus providing transport, dropping off/picking up their Beavers or Cubs as and when necessary. If any parents think they might like to give volunteering with us a go, please do come and have a chat with us - no matter your skillset or availability, we’d love to hear from you.

We hope the Beavers and Cubs have enjoyed their year of Scouting with us and will continue to as we go forward!

Liz Strutt (Beaver Leader and Raksha)

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OAKWOOD CUB PACK REPORT

September began with an unprecedented ten Cubs going up to Scouts. All had had their time in Cubs shortened due to Covid but amazingly seven of them still achieved their Chief Scout Silver award. Well done! We wish them every success in Scouts and beyond. This left the Pack somewhat depleted but gave us an opportunity to take some children from our Group planning list as well as Beavers. We also required four new Sixers and Seconders which gave a new set of children the opportunity to step up and take more responsibility and gain their Team Leader award.

The first major event to take place in our new year was the Cub and Beaver Sleepover. This was another event taking place for the first time since Covid so it was greeted with much excitement especially as it was the first time for many children to be sleeping away from home. How often do you get to share a room with 70 other children? Although the weather wasn’t great, we managed to play games in the hall, have hot chocolate and watch the original Disney version of the Jungle Book upon which Cubs is based. In the morning the weather had cheered up enough to have our breakfast of sausages and beans outside, after which the children went home, and then the leaders went home to catch up on some muchneeded sleep!

During the year we run a very active and varied programme made up of outdoor activities, art & craft and games. This year was no exception and the children have had the opportunity to light fires, cook sausages and beans backwoods style (no pans or utensils), toast marshmallows and make pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. They have also learnt how to wash windows, (the Scout hall windows were very dirty!), change a light bulb and how to make and tie gadgets. Art and craft activities have included making glove puppets, tinsel Christmas decorations and

decorating a bag using fabric paint as a Mother’s Day gift whilst the Mother’s Day cards were made using hearts.

At Christmas we managed a very festive Christmas party, again the first since Covid and later a special Coronation party when we invited the Oakwood Beavers to our meeting to have a shared celebration which was really good fun.

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Everyone enjoyed the running around game, similar to our Easter Egg hunt, to find the hidden nursery rhymes. In February, we visited the synagogue which was both enjoyable and very informative and most children went on to gain their World Faith badge. Other badges gained this year have included Emergency Aid stage 3, Backwoods Cooking, Personal Safety, Artist and Nights Away. In January the District also ran a Cub badge day and all those who attended gained their Communicator badge. Everyone likes a badge and special badges given out this year have been sadly to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth who was our patron, and this has now been replaced by the King’s Coronation Badge. The District also put on a Cub Chess competition and this year we had three teams taking part. Well done to all those who participated and congratulations on earning your Hobby badge. Also well done to all the Cubs who came to the St George’s Day parade and to those who carried our flag. Again, it was quite special as it was the first parade since Covid.

The highlight of the year however, was our joint camp to Frylands Wood in May. The weather was glorious, sunny but not too hot, and we were able to be outside for most of the time with eleven of the oldest Cubs sleeping in tents. The weekend was made up of lots of activities including favourites like archery and the assault course as well as new ones like pond dipping, grass sledging and Sumo. There were also problem-solving activities which required the children to work together as a team to come up with solutions. We also try to include activities like these in our general Cub programme and this year the children have made structures strong enough to hold a tennis ball, six Sudoku and a quiz. At camp we also held a campfire as we like a good sing song. Of course, the first sing song

was the Group campfire in November when we hope the children will learn songs and actions from the older children and leaders and put them into practice throughout the year at our own events and meetings.

Finally, I would like to end by thanking my fabulous leadership team of Chris, Helen, Kiki and Laura without whom none of these activities and events could take place. It’s their dedication and time freely given as volunteers that make things happen and it certainly couldn’t be done without them. Also thank you to all our parents who have supported us throughout the year, together we all make an amazing team.

Mike Mayhew (Akela)

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SCOUT TROOP REPORT

This is always a great opportunity to reflect on what our Troop has achieved over the year, thanks to the Scouts and team of volunteers.

We started off the Autumn Term asking the Scouts ‘What do you want to do at our next camp?’ The youth input was great, with everyone voting for their preferred activities. This soon formed the programme for our Autumn Camp at Bentley Copse Campsite. (We did have to make a few compromises due to the lack of pilots willing to let us parachute onto Box Hill – maybe next time).

In just a weekend camping in October, we managed to fit in hiking, zip-lining, abseiling, fire lighting, cooking, karting, wide games and...a trip to the tuck shop! Later in October, we joined Scouts from across the Wimbledon and Wandle area to take part in the District Incident Hike. The 19[th] Wimbledon team did a great job navigating the course across Wimbledon Common, completing a challenge at each checkpoint. Well done to our team finishing in 3[rd] place!

Throughout our Wednesday evening Troop meetings our Scouts completed their Skills Challenge award. Hopefully some of the new skills learnt have made it home – polishing shoes, ironing, changing a duvet and making cups of tea.

In January, we joined 100+ Scouts and Explorers from across the District for Paintballing in Cobham. Our Scout’s had a great time, especially as we got to catch up with some of our old members now part of Raynes Park Explorers.

Winter Camp 2023 was held at Polyapes campsite. A great place that we haven’t visited for many years – thank you Dick for organising. Over the weekend we were able to take part in some quite different activities including driving giant radio-controlled 4x4s around an obstacle

course and tomahawk throwing. It will be hard to beat the mega game of capture the flag in Oxshott Woods.

Over the Spring Term Troop evenings, Scouts progressed through the stages of the Navigator badge. Developing their map reading ability, using a compass, learning about GPS and putting this all into practice. We hope that these will be ‘skills for life’ which our young people will benefit from in the years to come. We also took part in Merton’s ‘Beat the Street’ competition and managed to tap our way to first place in the Community Team category.

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We always welcome lighter evenings as we move into the Summer Term. It’s great to get outdoors; making the most the amazing HQ grounds we have available to us. Our friends at Wimbledon Park invited us back in May for an evening of Water Sports and the Scouts had fun kayaking, and it wasn’t raining for a change.

Later in May we camped at Walton Firs. Scouts arrived Friday night and quickly set up their tents for the weekend. They challenged themselves with the physical and mental demands of Jacob’s Ladder and the high ropes. We all had a try at creating fires without matches, using friction to create an ember. After popping popcorn over the fire for a snack, we then cooked chicken fajitas and campfire nachos. Frisbee golf, pushball, wide games, a Scout-led campfire and cricket were all fitted into the weekend before the Scouts packed away their tents.

We are now getting excited as we prepare for our week long Summer Camp in July at Braggers Wood Campsite in the New Forest.

Currently we have 39 Scouts in the Troop and are looking forward to meeting the 6 new members who will be moving up from Cubs in the next few weeks.

Welcome to our two new volunteers to the adult team, Dominick has joined us as an Assistant Scout Leader and Ian, who is no stranger to the Group (parent, Group Secretary, ex-member, etc.) has also been regularly assisting with the Troop. Also, congratulations to James & Jamie who both completed their ASL training.

Thank you to our volunteers (leaders, young leaders, helpers and parents) for their support over the year.

Dave Godden (Scout Leader)

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RAYNES PARK EXPLORER SCOUT UNIT REPORT

The Explorer Scout Unit had another great year of Scouting. We are up to 36 active members with more joining all the time, particularly via word of mouth from existing members – which is a great sign!

We continued having many of our weekly meetings off-site and took part in minigolf, driving range, scavenger hunts, ice skating and a number of hikes in the local area. While on site, we did plenty of cooking and baking, of which a particular favourite was “Steak Off”, a competitive steak-grilling competition. We also had a great evening of learning circus skills. On a quieter note, we did plenty of arts and crafts, notably Warhammer. Finally, we had a home-and-away round of “Train Your…” where our Explorers imparted a skill to their leaders and, a few weeks later, leaders returned the favour. Outside of that, we saw our Explorer Scouts do very well at the County’s annual Red Flare exercise and at the District Paintball Day.

Over the next year, we have many things to look forward to: another Explorer Summer Camp shared other units from Wimbledon & Wandle and Royal Kingston Districts; Duke of Edinburgh award hikes; and a Kandersteg trip in Switzerland being planned for the summer of 2024. Three of our number will be attending the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea this summer – Xander, Freddie and James. We wish them a spectacular time and look forward to hearing their stories when they are back.

On the leadership front, the team are proud to have run a youth-shaped programme this year. Explorer Scouts are never short of ideas about what they would like to do and we worked with them to slot these activities into appropriate weeks. We hope to continue this next term and move toward more Explorerdelivered activities as well.

We were sad to say goodbye to our leaders Nic and Nicky but continue to receive overtures from new folks eager to get stuck in. It truly is great fun – and we are always happy to welcome new volunteers! Please contact Eric if you are interested.

Eric de Regnaucourt (Explorer Scout Leader)

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MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

2022-2023

Group Chair Group Secretary Group Treasurer Group Scout Leader (G.S.L.) Assistant Group Scout Leader (A.G.S.L.) Beaver Scout Leader (Robin) - Oakwood Beaver Scout Leader (Raksha) - Mayhew Cub Scout Leader (Akela) - Oakwood Cub Scout Leader (Akela) - Mayhew Scout Leader (S.L.) Explorer Scout Leader GSL nominated member Oakwood Beaver parent Mayhew Beaver parent Oakwood Cub parent Mayhew Cub parent Scout Troop parent Quartermaster

Ros Barnes Ian Haynes Adrian Chapman Paul Wilkins Mike Mayhew Suzanne Clark Liz Strutt Mike Mayhew Rebecca Gregg Dave Godden Eric de Regnaucourt Richard Bowyer vacant vacant vacant Matthew Debnam Anne Khan vacant

‘100 CLUB’ WINNERS IN 2022

		‘100 CLUB’ W	INNERS	IN2	022
Jan	£15 £15	Diana Smith Charlie Mowbray	Jul	£15 £15	Erica Bishop Jenny Tew
Feb	£15 £15	Kevin Kilbane Liz Strutt	Aug	£15 £15	Claire Henderson Jane Chase
Mar	£15 £15	Sean Lee Sarah Ellen	Sep	£15 £15	Michele McNamara D Pegrum
Apr	£15 £15	Clare Insall Jackie Kitchener	Oct	£15 £15	Paul Henderson Evelyn Bleasdale
May	£15 £15	Jim Brook Chris Godden	Nov	£100 £15	Mark Steed Helen Jeon
Jun	£15 £15	Deborah Bishop Kath McLauchlan	Dec	£50 £15	Deborah Bishop Rosemary Matters

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GROUP TREASURER’S REPORT

The accounts for the Group show that income exceeded expenditure by more than £25,000 in the financial year to 31 March 2023. Full accounts for the whole Group will be presented at the AGM.

Due to the continuing great demand from various groups to use our facilities our letting income remained strong at over £45,000. Our positive financial situation meant we were in a position to fully repay the loans totalling £150,000, which financed the rebuilding of our HQ, with a final repayment of £20,000 to District.

We have raised more than £1,900 over several years from The Giving Machine as commission donated from online purchases of goods, insurance, theatre tickets etc but the number of people using this fund-raising scheme seems to have declined recently. It costs the buyer nothing so we'd like a lot more people to use this scheme. Details of it can be found in this booklet and under Fundraising on our Group website. We were also raising donations from AmazonSmile as a percentage of purchases made through their website but this scheme has now Thanks also to those who been closed. We will be getting a final payout shortly. made other donations totalling over £475.

The Gift Aid scheme continues to provide additional income. I would urge all parents to sign up if possible.

The 100 Club is an easy & fun way to raise money for the Group. It costs £1 a month (payable annually) to belong and 50% of all money received is given out in prizes. Many thanks to James Roe for running the Club in the recent years, he now has to stand down, so if you can help with this role please contact us. If you would like to join the 100 Club please email [e-mail] .

Adrian Chapman (Group Treasurer)

Raise funds for us while you shop!

You can also raise money for our Scout Group without doing any fundraising or donating any money. How?

If you shop online (at stores like Amazon, John Lewis, Argos, M&S, Interflora and hundreds of others) simply register with The Giving Machine , access the stores through their website and the Scout Group will receive a free cash donation at NO extra cost to you. Visit www.thegivingmachine.co.uk , join as a Giver and please choose ‘19th Wimbledon Scout Group’ as your chosen beneficiary.

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GROUP INFORMATION

The Headquarters Site of the 19[th] Wimbledon Scout Group and the Raynes Park Explorer Scout Unit is at 106 Cottenham Park Road, SW20 0SZ (at the junction with Oakwood Road).

The Group has links with St Matthew’s (C. of E.) Church and the Sacred Heart (R.C.) Parish.

Group Chair

Ros Barnes

[e-mail]

Group Scout Leader Paul Wilkins [e-mail]

Assistant Group Scout Leader

Mike Mayhew [e-mail]

Mayhew Beaver Scout Colony Thursdays, 5.30 – 6.30

Liz Strutt (Raksha) [e-mail]

Oakwood Beaver Scout Colony Mondays, 6.15 – 7.15

Suzanne Clark (Fawn) [e-mail]

Mayhew Cub Scout Pack Thursdays, 6.30 – 8.00

Rebecca Gregg (Akela) [e-mail]

Oakwood Cub Scout Pack Mike Mayhew (Akela) Tuesdays, 6.30 – 8.00 [e-mail]

Scout Troop Dave Godden Wednesdays, 7.30 – 9.00 [e-mail]

Raynes Park Explorer Scout Unit Eric de Regnaucourt Thursdays, 7.30 – 9.15 [e-mail]

PROTECTING YOUR DATA & GDPR COMPLIANCE

Please see the Data Privacy Notice on our website at: www.19thwimbledonscouts.co.uk/ about-us/data-privacy-notice

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VOLUNTEERING - IT COULD BE YOU!

Would you like to be part of a successful team, make a real difference to young people’s lives and have a positive impact on society?

The 19th Wimbledon Scout Group is one of the largest and most successful Scout Groups in Merton with great facilities and a strong and dedicated leadership team. We want to build on that success and provide greater Scouting for more young people for years to come.

We are recruiting now at all sections in the Group to strengthen our adult leadership team.

No previous experience or skills are required. There is a range of roles to choose from; depending on where you and we feel you would fit in best. Any necessary training will be provided.

All you need is an enthusiasm to help Scouting ‘actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.’ We do this through adults working in partnership with young people (boys and girls, aged 6 to 18).

Being a leader in Scouting is hugely rewarding and is great fun - most of the time! It will give you the chance to try new activities and experiences and develop your own confidence and skills such as leadership, team working and planning, which will be of value to you and employers.

For further information on the 19th Wimbledon Scout Group visit our website at www.19thwimbledonscouts.co.uk and for more general information about Scouting visit www.scouts.org.uk.

If you think you might be interested and would like a completely non-committal chat about our volunteering opportunities, then email the Chair at [e-mail]. After that, you can come along and try it out. And in the meantime, there is a safeguarding process to go through, including criminal record checks and a couple of references. All being well, you’ll soon be joining the adventure and sharing in the rewards that Scouting has to offer.

Paul Wilkins (G.S.L.)

Ros Barnes (Chair)

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Minutes of the Nineteenth Annual General Meeting of the 19[th] Wimbledon Scout Group, held at Group Headquarters on 10th September, 2022

Present: There were approximately 20 people present, including leaders, parents, friends and members of the Group Executive and District Team.

Welcome: The Group Chair, Ros Barnes, welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending on this extraordinary weekend. A one minute silence was held in memory of the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

1. Apologies: Apologies for absence were received from Rebecca Gregg, Mike & Kiki Mayhew, Suzanne Clark, Dave Godden, Chris Chapman, James Wilkins, Anne Khan, James Bowyer and Dave Bixby.

2. Minutes: The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of 1[st] November 2021 were taken as read. Approval was proposed by Dick Bowyer, seconded by James Roe and agreed by the meeting.

3. Matters Arising from the Minutes: There were no matters arising.

4. Annual Report: The Group Chair presented the Annual Report. This was a year of recovery after the Covid pandemic and repeated lockdowns had restricted activities in the previous two years. Ros thanked the leaders and all the volunteers for all working together to restore the usual program of events. The leaders and their sections had been incredibly creative during lockdown but it was great to see them return to section evenings in person and outside activities and camps at the weekends. She reminded the audience that leader and volunteer recruitment is still a big theme for the Group and indeed the Scout Association as a whole. Scouting is still very popular and well regarded by young people, our sections typically run at capacity but that in turn puts demands on the leadership team and we are always looking for more volunteers in any capacity. She particularly thanked James Roe for running the 100 Club again this year, especially when additional responsibilities at work made this more challenging and noted that he would like to stand down if someone else could be found to volunteer. This year the 19[th] Wimbledon is 20 years old, having been formed when the 15[th] Wimbledon and 4[th] Wimbledon merged in 2002. The celebrations planned for this afternoon have been postponed in recognition of the mourning period for the Queen, but she encouraged people to read the article in the Annual Report and look at the photographs. Finally, Ros thanked all the Leaders and Executive for all their efforts, not just at section meetings but also helping around the site and at other events. Approval of the report was proposed by Liz Wilkins and seconded by Denise Wilkins.

5. Annual Statement of Accounts: The Treasurer, Adrian Chapman, presented the Annual Statement of Accounts for year ending 31st March. He noted that post the Covid restrictions the lettings income was now increased again. Also, that in this financial year subscriptions had not been collected every term due to lockdowns restricting activities. Our energy prices are currently fixed until 2024

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which is providing protection against the recent market rises due to the Ukraine war. Paul Wilkins thanked Adrian and announced that the final £20,000 from the District Loan can now be paid off, leaving us debt free for the first time since the Phoenix building project. He presented an oversized cheque to the District Commissioner to mark the occasion. He also noted that our thoughts will now turn to improvements for the Explorer Hut. Approval of the Accounts was proposed by Eric de Regnaucourt, seconded by James Roe and agreed by the meeting.

1. GSL’s Nominations of Group Chair and Executive Committee: The Group Scout Leader thanked Ros for her expertise as Chair, for thinking outside the box and guiding us through an unusual and tricky year, and he nominated her to continue for another year. Also, he nominated Dick Bowyer to be a GSL’s nominated member of the Executive. He finished by giving his thanks to all the leaders and executive for the past year.

2. Group Secretary and Group Treasurer: The Chair advised that Ian Haynes was willing to continue as Secretary and Adrian Chapman to continue as Treasurer. This was proposed by Alison Edwards, seconded by Marina Bowyer and agreed by the meeting.

3. Election of Remaining Members of the Group Executive Committee: The section leaders all agreed to be standing members of the Executive. Two parents have volunteered to be on the Executive, Matthew Debnam for Mayhew Cubs and Anne Khan for the Scout Troop. Finally, Explorer Leader, Eric de Regnaucourt, was nominated to serve on the Executive Committee. Their elections were proposed by Denise Wilkins and seconded by Dick Bowyer and approved by the meeting.

4. Appointment of Independent Examiner: The Treasurer reported that Michael Barnes was willing to continue as Independent Examiner. This was proposed by Dick Bowyer, seconded by Denise Wilkins and agreed by the meeting.

5. Presentations: There were no formal presentations at this meeting. Other presentations will be done by the District Commissioner at a later event, possibly the Group Camp Fire. The Chair thanked James Roe for running the 100 Club and noted that the grand annual draw will be done at the Group Camp Fire this year.

6. Any Other Business: Michelle Baker, DC, thanked the leaders and volunteers at the 19[th] for another successful year and for managing through all the external events. She noted that the last few days had been hectic as plans were being put in place for the Queen. She also agreed that adult recruitment was a focus for the District given the increasing demand for Scouting in the area. Alison Edwards, District Leader Training, congratulated the Group on their 20th Anniversary, and mentioned that she would be helping with additional nights away training for some of the leaders..

Close of meeting: There being no other business, the meeting closed and the Chair invited everyone to stay for refreshments and to view the reports and photos.

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GROUP HQ - A SITE FOR THE COMMUNITY

Our site continues to be used by a number of organisations throughout the week and the income created from this use provides us with a steady revenue stream. Following the repayment of the loans which we took out to help fund our new hall, we are now actively looking to the future and starting to plan for the replacement of the older building on site, the Explorer Hut. We will report back to you as this project moves forward.

During the last year the Kingston Wheelers, who run long distance cycle races using the Scout Hall as the start and finish base, kindly gave us a donation of £400 which we have used towards the purchase of a defibrillator, which is now set up outside the gates and available to anyone to use. We are very grateful for their support and for the cooperation and support from all of the other users of the site.

Our users are happy to co-operate with us to enable the exclusive use of the site for Scout use when we need it. We are very grateful for their continuing support. Information on the various activities available in the hall is posted on our notice board in the hall lobby, please take a look and see if anything is of interest to you and your family.

Ros Barnes (Lettings)

We need tea makers, activity planners, tidy-uppers and helpers for as little or as much time as you can spare.

We meet on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday evenings to help our 6 to 11-year olds get going, get thinking and stuck into all kinds of things to give them skills for life. Every now and then that may well mean using a compass, but more often than not it’s about confdence, speaking up, thinking on their feet and going for it. Can you help?

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www.19thwimbledonscouts.co.uk
19th Wimbledon
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FRIENDS OF THE 19TH (FON)

The 19[th] Wimbledon can trace its origins back over 110 years, and during that time many people have had an involvement one way or another with the Group or its predecessors. We realise that whilst people move away or move on, they may still like to keep in contact with us, receive occasional news of the Group's activities, renew old acquaintances and receive invitations to important Group events. For this we have the “Friends of the 19th”. We also hold regular events for Friends, Leaders and Exec members at Group HQ.

If you would like to become a Friend, then please contact the secretary:

Ian Haynes, Secretary, 19[th] Wimbledon Scout Group

[e-mail]

The Friends of the 19[th] are proud to support the efforts of the 19[th] Wimbledon Scout Group in providing another century of Scouting to local boys and girls.

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