Annual Report for 2023
22[nd] Oxford Sea Scout Group Annual Report
List of Trustees for 2023
| List of Trustees for 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Group Chair | vacant |
| GroupTreasurer | Kate Stilborn |
| Group Secretary | Teresa Greenwills (from 23/09/2023), previouslyvacant |
| Group ScoutLeader | Lorraine Crowther |
| Deputy Group Scout Leader | Andrew Frawley |
| Section Leaders who opted into Trusteeship: Goliath Scout Troop Wanderers Explorer Scout Unit |
Teresa Greenwills (until 31/07/2023) Andy Mainprize (as per Partnership Agreement) |
| Elected Trustees | Paul Crowther Viju Jayadevan Stephen Harness Sarah Greenwills (elected 23/09/2023) |
| Nominated Trustees | Simon Parfitt |
Objectives
The charitable objective of the 22[nd] Oxford Sea Scout Group 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.
Membership
Our membership numbers have continued to decline since 2020. This is primarily as a result of our chronic shortage of leaders meaning we cannot sustain larger sections. Numbers of Young People across our sections, as taken in our annual census (date 31[st] January each year) are shown in the table below. There are currently 179 Young People on the group waiting list, spanning all age groups. We use this waiting list to feed our Beaver Colonies, and very occasionally to fill spaces in older sections. However, we find that a significant portion of those offered spaces do not reply.
With reference to adult volunteers, we continue to struggle hugely with a lack of leaders. The Group Scout Leader is currently running Monday Cubs with the support of Section Assistants and the County Commissioner. We continue to have no Section Leader at Tuesday Scouts, although the section is running in
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22[nd] Oxford Sea Scout Group is registered as a charity (304437) with the Charity Commission for England and Wales
Annual Report for 2023
the very capable hands of two Assistant Section Leaders. Sudden resignations left Tuesday Beavers without any leaders, meaning neither Tuesday nor Thursday Beavers had a Section Leader in post. The Group Scout Leader and Deputy Group Scout Leader have been overseeing these Colonies, supported by an Assistant Section Leader in each Colony. During 2023, the joint Section Leaders of Thursday Scouts stepped down; the Group Scout Leader has covered this section, and has sucessfully recruited a number of new and returning volunteers, including an experienced Section Leader who has moved to the area. We are still desperately in need of more leaders in all sections to enable us to deliver the highest quality activities to as many Young People as possible. A parent volunteered to take on the role of Group Administrator, carrying out DBS checks and renewals, which has been a very welcome help! Recruitment is challenging when shortages of volunteers means local managers are spending significant amounts of time simply helping to keep sections running.
We continue to maintain good relationships with Wanderers ESSU, our partnership Explorer Unit. The group benefits from this relationship with a supply of Young Leaders, and having an Explorer Unit linked to the 22[nd] Oxford ensures continuity of experience for our leaving Scouts.
In addition to leaders, we are still in need of more Trustees (formerly Executive Committee members). This is a vital group of people who help to ensure that our facilities and equipment are kept in working order, and to ensure we are compliant with our requirements as a registered charity. In particular, we have no Chair, and we are urgently in need of a volunteer for this role.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nemo (Tuesday) Beaver Colony | 14 | 13 | 18 | 19 | 13 |
| Neptune (Thursday) Beaver Colony | 18 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 10 |
| Kotick (Monday) Cub Pack | 21 | 19 | 14 | 17 | 19 |
| Keego (Wednesday) Cub Pack | 32 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 16 |
| Mercury(Tuesday) Scout Troop | 24 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 17 |
| Goliath(Thursday) Scout Troop | 28 | 31 | 29 | 19 | 19 |
| TOTALS | 137 | 124 | 116 | 109 | 94 |
Activities
All sections have been busy with exciting programmes throughout 2023. During the year, sections have done activities and covered badges including rope making, archery, navigation, Global Issues, cycling, backwoods cooking, road safety, bug hunts, firelighting, Fairtrade, science, healthy eating, night hikes, wide games, debate night, pioneering, fabric painting, water safety, and of course plenty of water activities. Whilst the Group is well-equipped for water activities, we continue to struggle with a shortage of permit holders, meaning a very small team of instructors are working hard to cover as many sections as possible.
We had a number of camps and sleepovers, including a weekend Spring Camp for Tuesday Scouts, a short Summer Camp at Youlbury for both Scout troops, a Summer Camp at Blackwell Adventure for Cubs, a spythemed sleepover in March and a camp in October for Cubs, and two Beaver sleepovers! We also attended a number of District events, including the Sixer and Seconder Weekend camp and Remembrance Parade.
A number of our Young People achieved their Chief Scout’s Awards and were invited to the County Awards Ceremony to share in a wonderful day of celebration and activities with their families.
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22[nd] Oxford Sea Scout Group is registered as a charity (304437) with the Charity Commission for England and Wales
Annual Report for 2023
We thank all leaders for organising and delivering these activities, as well as parents who support sections with help.
Other Group Updates
We ran our annual Fireworks event in November. It was wonderful to see so many local people in attendance to support the group. We had the new benefit of card readers to take payments, although these did cause us a few teething problems on the night! We also provided support to the Rotary Club at the South Park Fireworks display. We also provided camping, parking and food for rowers, umpires and other visitors for the Oxford City Royal Rowing Regatta, strengthening our links with our riverbank neighbours the City of Oxford Rowing Club. This is a vital fundraising event for the group, and we have many regular campers who have been coming for a number of years. Thanks to Paul and Lorraine Crowther for being the driving force behind both these events, and to all those members of the group who helped.
Andrew T. Frawley
Deputy Group Scout Leader & Trustee
On behalf of the Trustee Board of the 22[nd] Oxford Sea Scout Group
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22[nd] Oxford Sea Scout Group is registered as a charity (304437) with the Charity Commission for England and Wales
Annual Report for 2023
22nd Oxford Sea Scouts Financial Report for January to December 2023
This report summarises the accounts produced for the Financial Year Jan - Dec 2023 and should be read alongside the accounts summary below.
Total income from subscriptions, payments for activities and trips, hires, donations and fundraising was £28,461 compared to £30,148 in 2022.
Total expenditure in 2023 was £26,660 compared to £29,164 in 2022. This was helped by a large credit on our utilities bill for overpayment in the prior year.
Net income was £1,800 compared to £984 in the prior year.
| 2023 | 2022 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Income | ||
| ActivityEquipment | 95.00 | 0.00 |
| Bank Interest | 47.96 | 4.87 |
| Donation | 690.00 | 440.02 |
| Events | 6,881.61 | 9,202.13 |
| Events - Cubs | 1,399.00 | 690.00 |
| Fundraising | 2,318.02 | 2,144.82 |
| Hires | 3,844.00 | 4,223.00 |
| MembershipFees | 12,939.81 | 13,443.24 |
| Sundry | 245.55 | 0.00 |
| Expense | ||
| ActivityEquipment | 5,017.08 | 3,482.01 |
| Admin | 611.29 | 781.03 |
| Badges | 1,034.36 | 617.54 |
| Bank Fees | 61.74 | 0.95 |
| CampingEquipment | 56.88 | 153.00 |
| Events | 2,573.90 | 6,371.81 |
| Events - Beavers | 0.00 | 35.00 |
| Events - Cubs | 2,320.93 | 14.25 |
| Insurance | 3,249.13 | 3,068.28 |
| Licences | 574.29 | 669.37 |
| Meetings | 360.71 | 155.00 |
| MembershipCosts | 6,653.56 | 6,481.37 |
| Rates | 182.18 | 194.56 |
| Rent | 478.20 | 478.20 |
| Sundry | 281.85 | 121.20 |
| Training | 325.00 | 60.00 |
| Utilities | 50.75 | 2,099.76 |
| Venue Maintenance | 2,828.99 | 4,380.98 |
| Summary Total income |
28,460.95 | 30,148.08 |
| Total expenditure | 26,660.84 | 29,164.31 |
| Net income | 1,800.11 | 983.77 |
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22[nd] Oxford Sea Scout Group is registered as a charity (304437) with the Charity Commission for England and Wales
Annual Report for 2023
Cash Held at Year End
The audited accounts are a roll-up of nine bank accounts: Group Current, Group Saver, Group Camp, Fellowship, Beavers, two Cubs accounts (Keego and Kotick) and two Scouts accounts (Goliath and Mercury).
The Fellowship account closed during the year and the money transferred into the Group Current Account.
| Account balances | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| 22nd Oxford Sea Scouts | 54,760.59 | 760.5949,301.87 |
| 22nd Oxford Beaver Scouts | 2,389.69 | 389.694,005.13 |
| GroupSaver | 5,086.48 | 086.485,038.52 |
| Goliath | 1,883.04 | 883.041,714.46 |
| Camp | 743.84 | 743.84 743.84 |
| Kotick | 5,465.84 | 465.845,232.28 |
| Mercury | 2,316.16 | 316.162,786.01 |
| Keego | 5,535.04 | 535.047,117.47 |
| CowleyDistrict Scout Fellowship | 0.00 | 0.00 440.99 |
| Summary | ||
| Account balance brought forward | ht forward76,380.57 | 380.5775,396.80 |
| Total income | 28,460.95 | 460.9530,148.08 |
| Total expenditure | 26,660.84 | 660.8429,164.31 |
| Net income | 1,800.11 | 800.11 983.77 |
| Account balance carried forward | 78,180.68 | 180.6876,380.57 |
The Year Ahead
The Group will review the use of the Camp Account, potentially closing it and transferring the funds into the Group saver account or current account.
The Group will also review our financial policy and processes with a view to further improving controls and security such as dual authorisation.
Thanks
Thank you to all the section treasurers and section leaders for collating all the financial data, scanning receipts, shopping prudently and keeping accurate records.
Thanks also to Dave Northover for his support and time as our external examiner.
Kate Stilborn, Group Treasurer
Approved at Annual General Meeting, 28[th] September 2024
Signed
Andrew T. Frawley, Deputy Group Scout Leader & Trustee, on behalf of the Trustees.
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22[nd] Oxford Sea Scout Group is registered as a charity (304437) with the Charity Commission for England and Wales
Annual Report for 2023
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22[nd] Oxford Sea Scout Group is registered as a charity (304437) with the Charity Commission for England and Wales