8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
## **(St Barnabas and St Joseph’s) AIR SCOUT GROUP**
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
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## **THE CONTENTS**
|**The Group Prayer**|**3**||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**The Group’s Details**|**4**||||
|**The Scout Association**|**5**||||
|**Our Group Structure**|**7**||||
|**The Team**|**8**|1.|Leaders|8|
|||2.|The Trustees’ Board|8|
|||3.|Friends|8|
|**Reports**|**9**||||
|||1.|Group Scout Leader|9|
|||2.|Beaver Scout Leader|11|
|||3.|Cub Scout Leader|14|
|||4.|Scout Leader|16|
|||5.|Explorer Leader|20|
|||7.|100 Club|23|
|||8.|Chronology|24|
|||9.|A Financial Overview|25|
|**Examined Accounts**|**27**||||
Front Cover – The Troop arriving in Jersey.
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## **THE GROUP PRAYER**
Almighty God, who has joined us together in the fellowship of this Group,
help us to think fairly, do things bravely,
act kindly and to live cleanly.
Bless us in body and soul and give us strength
to keep our three-fold promise
so that by the lives we live,
we make the lives of others happy.
## Amen.
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## **THE GROUP’S DETAILS**
Epsom Air Scout Group is a branch of the "Scout Association" formed under Royal Charter. It operates under the Association's "Policy, Organisation and Rules". The Group is a Trust established under its rules that are common to all Groups and Districts. The Group's registration number is 12678.
## **SCOUT ASSOCIATION HEADQUARTERS:**
Scout Association's Headquarters, Gilwell Park, Bury Road, Chingford, London, E4 7QW. Tel: 08453 001818.
## **GROUP HEADQUARTERS:**
Concorde Hall, The Footpath, Horton Hill, Epsom, KT19 8SR. Tel: 01372 742502. Web site http://www.epsomairscouts.org.
## **GROUP CONTACT:**
Luke Jennings, 10 Sunnybank, Epsom, KT18 7DX. 01372 721393 or mobile number 07950 335730.
## **GROUP BANKERS:**
Barclays Bank plc. 82 High Street, Epsom, KT19 8BS. Tel: 01372 853000. Lloyds Bank plc. 64 High Street, Epsom, KT19 8AT. Tel: 01372 743711. CAF, 25 Kings Hill Ave, Kings Hill, West Malling ME19 4JQ. Tel: 0300 012 3456.
## **GROUP INDEPENDENT EXAMINER:**
Sundry Sundaran at Atherton Brooks LLP, 9 Cheam Road, Ewell, KT17 1SP. Telephone 020 8642 8681.
## **Legal Advisors:**
Teddy Totman,
21 St Margaret Drive, Epsom, KT18 7LB. Tel: 01372 739029. John Flood,
71c Dorking Road, Epsom, KT18 7JU. Tel: 01372 725951.
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## **THE SCOUT ASSOCIATION**
## **THE PURPOSE OF SCOUTING**
Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.
## **THE VALUES OF SCOUTING**
As Scouts, we are guided by these values:
- Integrity - We act with integrity; we are honest, trustworthy, and loyal.
- Respect - We have self-respect and respect for others.
- Care - We support others and take care of the world in which we live.
- Belief - We explore our faiths, beliefs, and attitudes.
- Cooperation - We make a positive difference; we cooperate with others and make friends.
## **THE SCOUT METHOD**
Scouting takes place when young people, in partnership with adults, work together based on the values of Scouting and:
- Enjoy what they are doing and have fun;
- Take part in activities indoors and outdoors;
- Learn by doing;
- Share in spiritual reflection;
- Take responsibility and make choices;
- Undertake new and challenging activities; and
- Make and live by their Promise.
## **THE SCOUT PROMISE**
On my honour, I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God (to uphold Scout values) and to the King (the country in which I now live), to help other people and to keep the Scout Law.
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## **THE SCOUT LAW**
1 - A Scout is to be trusted.
2 - A Scout is loyal.
3 - A Scout is friendly and considerate.
4 - A Scout belongs to the worldwide family of Scouts.
5 - A Scout has courage in all difficulties.
6 - A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and
property.
7 - A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.
The Group admits members primarily from Epsom although some members come from further afield, particularly where there is no other Air Scout Group available. Although a small subscription is charged for membership, this covers no more than the immediate running costs of the Group and at less than £150 does not unduly restrict membership. The Group endeavours to obtain grants for those who could not otherwise afford to take part.
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## **OUR GROUP STRUCTURE**
The Group has responsibility for four youth Sections divided by age. In rising order, they are the Beaver Scouts, the Cub Scouts, the Scouts and the Explorer Scouts. Each Section has an adult Leader and they have assistant Leaders. Each Section runs its own activities and keeps its own accounts with an appointed treasurer assisting.
A Group Scout Leader unifies the four Sections of the Group. He or she is responsible for all activities of the Group.
All interested parties in the Group are entitled to form the Group in Council. These people meet regularly once a year at the Annual General Meeting and they elect a Trustees’ Board to manage the Group. The Group Scout Leader appoints the Chairman of the Group in Council who also chairs the Board. Fundraising and Group support is organised by this committee in response to the demands placed on it by the Scouters who act in common through a further committee chaired by the Group Scout Leader.
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## **THE TEAM**
## **LEADERS IN THE GROUP**
## **GROUP TRUSTEES' BOARD**
## **Group Scout Leader (GSL)**
## **Ex-Officio**
GSL (Luke Jennings) AGSL (Howard Park) (Graham Bailey)
Luke Jennings
## **Ass. Group Scout Leaders (AGSL)**
Graham Bailey Howard Park
## **Nominated**
## **Beaver Scout Leader (BSL)**
BSL (Pippa Del Nevo) CSL (Richard Park) SL/ESL (Paul Dawson) Chair Simon Pearce Secretary Lindsay Hill-Bennett Treasurer Justin Manly Daniel Coleby John Petersen
Pippa Del Nevo **Assistant Beaver Scout Leaders**
Bob Clarke Chiara Baldas
## **Beaver Scout Helpers**
Toby Grant YL Daniel Coleby Pheobe Medcalf YL John Petersen Daniel Grant YL **FRIENDS** Lexi Pearce YL 100 Club (Howard Park) **Cub Scout Leader (CSL)** Troop Helper Richard Denyer (ADC) Richard Park Camp Helpers Theresa Park **Assistant Cub Scout Leaders** Chris Walker James Merry (Sarah Dawson) (Bob Clarke) (Graham Bailey) (Chiara Baldas) Gift Aid John Mortimer **Cub Scout Helpers** Group Friends John Hughes ADC (Pippa Del Nevo) Geoff Whitehead Alex Duval Chaplain Canon William Davern Melchior Buisson YL Cleaners (Toby Grant) **Scout Leader (SL)** (Daniel Grant) Paul Dawson Keyholder Jayne McGhee **Assistant Scout Leaders** Examiner Sundry Sundaran Caroline Pearce Legal Advisors Teddy Totman Sarah Holroyd John Flood (Pippa Del Nevo) Editor (Howard Park) **Scout Helpers** Proof-reader Christine Turner
Sophia Katsikaris Oliver Hagan
## **Explorer Scout Leader (ESL)**
Leaders on the Board are marked
(Paul Dawson)
## **Assistant Explorer Scout Leaders**
Sara Dawson Dominic Dawson (Sophia Katsikaris)
Where we mention a person more than once, we bracket their name in subsequent entries.
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## **THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GROUP SCOUT LEADER**
We have had another superb year within our Group going from strength to strength and managing to finally have a year with all faceto-face meetings!
Our membership numbers are very strong, and we continue to provide wide-ranging programmes giving all Scouts new life-skills and incredible memories.
Our amazing leaders have not only set out varied programmes as you will read in their reports but outside of weekly meetings have taken them to Bazzaz, Beavers Go Wild, the Pantomime, Swimming galas, Cub Scout Challenge, Boidier Hurst camping/day activities, a Summer camp in Jersey, Scoutabout weekend, RAF Fairford and an Explorer summer camp in the Lake District to name but a few. These are just some of the highlights and this is alongside awarding numerous badges including many Chief Scout’s Awards, which are not easy to achieve.
Our leadership team has grown in numbers for both full and Young Leaders and alongside our many helpers, they all support the running of the programmes. A massive thanks goes out to all of them. Our new Cub Scout Leader, Richard, has settled in very well and with the help of our new and existing Cub Scout Leaders, they are making a great team.
We also had a change of leadership in the Explorer Scouts. Jay Marvin has been our Explorer Leader for many years and after the summer camp he decided it was time to step down and I would like to thank him for all his dedication over the years. Paul, our Scout Leader, has kindly stepped in to help keep the Section going in the interim until we have a new Explorer Scout Leader. The search for a replacement leader goes on….
Our Group Executive (Trustees’ Board) works behind the scenes to make sure the Leaders can put on their superb programmes. This year has seen many new faces all of whom are providing invaluable help. Our new Chair Simon Pearce (known as Ziggy) has taken over from
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Chris Walker and we would all like to thank Chris for his contributions over recent years. We also have a retired pilot, John Petersen, on our team now and we have recently taken the Group flying, more on that in next year’s report.
The World Scout Jamboree happens every four years and normally there is a selection weekend but for the first time it went to a ballot instead. Our Group were very fortunate to have three people selected in Toby Grant, Sean Monroe and Alastair Dawson. They are in the final stages of preparation, and we look forward to hearing all about their adventures in Korea.
The details in the Section reports show what an amazing team we have in our Group, and we are very grateful to them all. As well as our enhanced Trustees’ Board our thanks as ever go to Howard our Assistant Group Scout Leader who, as ever, provides invaluable support behind the scenes and Jayne McGhee who manages all our hall bookings.
Helpers and Leaders are very hard to come by so if anyone would like to find out more, please come and have a chat to find out how you could help.
Luke Jennings Group Scout Leader
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## **THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BEAVER SCOUT LEADER**
The Beaver Scout Colony has enjoyed a varied programme in what has been the first full post pandemic year and I am delighted to report that we have not had to meet over zoom at all!
Developing Scouting skills has been one of our key focus areas with fire-lighting, putting up tents, mini-pioneering projects, tracking, knot skills and shelter building.
We have celebrated many special days throughout the year, including St. George’s Day when we made shields. On the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the Beaver Scouts wrote a congratulatory letter to the Queen – and they were delighted to receive a reply. On International Peace Day we made pledges about how we can be peaceful in our homes, school, and Scouting lives, whilst to commemorate Remembrance Day, we made our own poppies and joined the Group for the Remembrance Day church service. With Burns Night falling on a Wednesday, we celebrated with neeps and tatties and shortbread. We played hunt the haggis and listened to the Gruffalo being read in Scottish. Wimbledon was celebrated by making our own tennis rackets and eating strawberries and cream.
On an international level we have developed a pen-friend group and exchanged badges with a Joey Section in Australia.
Our action for the environment has been to plant sunflowers to encourage bees to our gardens, and to set up bug-hotels in the Scout Hall grounds. We have also enjoyed some natural activities such as a traditional game of conkers (having drilled our own holes and tied a knot in the shoelace ourselves). Thinking of others, we rounded off the year at our Christmas party by also collecting for the Epsom foodbank.
Unfortunately, our visit to the fire-station was a non-starter, as the fire engine had been called out. We will rearrange that visit soon. Developing our personal skills, we have learned to strike a match safely, light candles, iron our scarves and decorate cakes to name but a few.
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One of our Beaver Scouts (Ellie) led the Colony through a whole meeting of craft activities – a future Leader in the making!
Joining the Cub Scouts, Scouts and Explorer Scouts at Boidier Hurst for the day was another highlight where we cooked on fires, had a string trail and a wide game amongst other activities. Probably the biggest highlight of the year, was taking part in Surrey Scouts’ Bazzaz – a full day of inflatables, zip wires, climbing walls and more. The Beaver Scouts loved the day and for many it was their most memorable experience in Beaver Scouts.
Beavers Go Wild provided us with an overnight opportunity and the Beaver Scouts were again able to take part in many exciting activities, enjoying a huge campfire and, in a first ever for 8[th] /14[th] Beaver Scouts, to sleep overnight under canvas!
The Beaver Scouts also joined the Group trip to the pantomime and took part in the District Swimming Gala.
All these activities count towards badgework - often challenge badges - but we have also been busy earning badges such as the Builder and Experiment badge. Several of our Beaver Scouts took part in the Surrey Scouts Reach for the Stars online camp with more badgework achieved.
This reporting year we had only had one Chief Scout’s Bronze Award to present, a reflection of the amount of work that goes into achieving it, the need for regular attendance at meetings and work at home. There are several more Beaver Scouts who are very close to finishing, so hopefully we will have more successes to report next year.
My thanks, as always, go to Bagheera (Bob Clarke) for all his support this year. Quite what we would have done had he not ‘postponed’ his retirement, I am not sure. We are starting next year with the support of Falcon (Chiara Baldas), which will hopefully mean sharing the load on a Wednesday afternoon and at weekend events. We benefit hugely from the support of some excellent young Leaders, Jay (Toby Grant), Robin (Phoebe Medcalf), Hawk (Daniel Grant) and Kiwi (Lexi Pearce), who are
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all a real asset to the Beaver Scout Colony and showing many Leadership qualities, which I hope we can foster through to adult Leadership roles in due course. Toby is very close to achieving his full Young Leader Award.
My thanks also go to colleagues in the Group for stepping in when we are short of adults, for helping us with activities and for providing us with a nights-away permit holder when necessary.
Pippa del Nevo
Beaver Scout Leader
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## **THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CUB SCOUT LEADER**
This year has been another busy one for our Cub Scout Pack. It has been brilliant to have the Pack back in the hall without a Zoom meeting in sight. We have been running all year at full capacity and even though we have introduced another six (we now have five in total), we still have a waiting list of young people wanting to join our Pack, which shows how popular we are.
We have run an active programme of weekly events on a Wednesday evening throughout the year at the headquarters concentrating on developing Scouting skills; activities such as knot tying, lashings, fire lighting, tracking, backwards cooking, crafting, teamwork challenges and junk modelling.
Away from the headquarters we have also had plenty of activities to keep our young people busy. In June, the Cub Scouts took part in Cub Challenge and had great fun with various Jubilee Challenges. The occupation we provided was _Land the Royal Jet_ that was very popular with the Cub Scouts. They also enjoyed taking part in the Tug-of-War competition as well as chariots and go-karts. In the autumn, as a Pack, we also spent the day at Boidier Hurst campsite with the rest of the Group for an activity day. Many of the Pack enjoyed the pantomime at the Epsom Playhouse this Christmas. We also entered three teams into this year’s District Swimming Gala, with two of our Cub Scouts making it into the backstroke final along with one of our relay teams.
Badgework wise our Cub Scouts have been working hard both with us in our weekly meetings and with their families at home, with over a hundred badges being awarded just this year. Let us see if we can build on that for next year.
We are planning our first two-night camping trip for April 2023 with the rest of the Scouts and the Explorer Scouts. It will be great to get the young people out and sleeping under canvas after all the recent Covid restrictions.
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There has been a change in the Leadership team this year with me taking the role of Akela. At the end of last spring several parents were brought together as the previous Akela, Ethel Merry, decided to move on from our Group. Ethel had shown incredible dedication to this Pack and many people across Epsom owe her a huge debt of gratitude for her years of service. Even when I was a Cub Scout in the Pack thirtyfive years ago Ethel was involved. Her contribution to the Pack and 8[th] /14[th] Air Scout Group cannot be overestimated.
It was not exactly my plan to start as the senior Leader in the Pack, but as a former Queen Scout whose family has very close ties to this Group, and as a previous young helper in the Pack and with two young boys as members, I felt I should take a step forward. However, I am not the only parent to have volunteered. Chiara and Alex have also joined the Leadership team and like me are on a steep learning curve. We very much welcome input from other parents and if you are interested in helping on a Wednesday evening please come and see me. We do not need a weekly commitment from anyone, it can be ad hoc.
I must tell you what an amazing support the established Leaders in the Pack have been to me. Pippa’s (Baloo) experience of dealing with young people both professionally and as Leader in this Group has been totally invaluable. I do not think there is a Section within this Group she is not active in. She has continued to do so much of the Cub Scout paperwork and administration for the Pack and I am extremely grateful for that. Bob (Bagheera), also a previous Akela within this group, has a natural affinity with the Cub Scouts, his decades of experience within the Pack is quite simply priceless, his gentle help and wise head are a tremendous support to me. James is also continuing to support the Pack and guide our young people with his years of Scouting knowledge.
Richard Park (Akela) Cub Scout Leader
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## **THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SCOUT LEADER**
he year was a busy one, as they always are, and we begin to look to the year ahead earlier and earlier. We had started to plan our summer camp back at our last camp at Boidier Hurst. As the rain fell one evening, the leaders, as they normally do, sat huddled around a gas light drinking hot chocolate in the marquee after the Scouts had gone to bed and wishing for better weather the next day. It was at that point it was decided that next year we should return to Jersey!
Our normal spring camp would be delayed as we were unable to secure the dates, we wanted at Boidier Hurst as the whole of the Scouting world and the DofE groups were playing catch up from Covid and had booked out all the camp sites before us. However, as this was a Scoutabout year, we had plenty of camps to plan for.
Monday night saw a smaller Troop than we have had for some years. After ten of our older Scouts transferred up to the Explorer Scout Unit, we were left with about twenty-six members in April 2022. This meant for the first time in some years we decided to move from six patrols to five with the Eagle Patrol, for the time being, put on hold. Monday night activities saw visits from some people that work in the aviation industry. An interesting chat from a man who worked for British Airways told us about the hard work that Cabin Crew must endure every flight and the training that they undertake. A few weeks later we were visited by John Peterson, a pilot, and he talked about the planes he has flown and his job as a pilot instructor. The Scouts really enjoyed it and had plenty of questions such as, “have you ever crashed a plane!” I am particularly pleased to say that John enjoyed their company so much that he has joined the Trustees’ Board and I am delighted to have him as part of the team.
In May we were contacted by Epsom and Ewell Tree Advisory Board to see if we would like to help with planting some saplings. We had to look after them for a year to start their growth before they were taken to be planted in some of the parks in Epsom and Ewell and a new Copse at Horton Country Park. Jane McGhee very kindly helped the
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Scouts plant hundreds of saplings in containers and planters that we look after at the headquarters. You have probably seen them outside the front of the building!
In July we went to Scoutabout at the South of England Showground, Ardingly. There were twenty-three Scouts, three Explorer Scouts, four Leaders and five Group helpers for a weekend alongside all the other Scouts and Guides in Surrey. The weather was excellent and despite being the furthest we could be from the arena we had a great time.
A couple of weeks later and on one of the hottest days of the year we went to the Royal International Air Show at RAF Fairford. There were sixteen Scouts, and several leaders who travelled in an air-conditioned coach but when we arrived at Fairford at 10 am the site was like a furnace. We found a place to base ourselves and put up our new sun shelters, sun shades and deckchairs and settled down to watch the show and not get sun stroke. It was an excellent day and all the planning that we had put in ensured that everyone returned safely having enjoyed themselves.
A week later we flew to Jersey for our summer camp. We departed from Dorking by train to Gatwick where we ended up in a queue for two hours trying to check in. I must take my hat off to all the Scouts as their behaviour was excellent and this was noted by members of the public.
When we arrived in Jersey we were met by Howard and Theresa who were our advance party. They had arrived at the site the day before and put up the kitchen and mess tent that we had hired from the Jersey Scout Centre. Our week in Jersey can be summed up by two words, hot and fun. Most days the sun shone and got to thirty degrees that meant that some days it got too hot to do anything other than find some shade. We spent our first full day at the beach kayaking, swimming, and playing games, with leaders chasing Scouts around to ensure that they had sunblock on and were drinking enough water! The two sun shelters that we had purchased for the Fairford Air Show again came in very handy!
Howard again led the Troop on a hike which ended on the beach to the
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north of the island and Scouts were very eager to get in the sea when they arrived, oh and to eat ice cream! We played crazy golf, went surfing, played wide games, made and flew kites on the beach and had a Christmas Party!
I asked some of the Scouts recently what was their favourite moment and strangely most said it was the pioneering activity where we built a gateway to our campsite. As I always say it is not until you arrive back that you realise what a great camp it was. Jersey 2022 will go down as memorable and I would like to thank Chris, Howard and Theresa, Graham, and my wife Sara for their support to Caroline, Pippa and me.
In September our return to Scouting was saddened by the death of Her Majesty The Queen. Our flag outside was raised to half-mast and on the day of her funeral our Troop meeting was suspended.
The rest of September was spent getting ready for our next camp. We had deferred our Spring camp to October, which was quite a first for the 8[th] /14[th] Epsom Air Scouts. It was very successful with twenty-five Scouts attending the camp at Boidier Hurst. The weather was kind to us, and we all had a good time with lots of the Scouts extending their camping abilities and others learning new skills.
In November we attended the Lord Mayor’s Show and sold programmes and then the following day the Group went to St Barnabas church for a Remembrance Day Service. We were asked to help at the British Down Syndrome Swimming Championships in Crawley and the Scouts that attended were put to good use helping the swimmers and the organisers.
In December we were part of the Ewell Yule Street event, and we ran stalls to help raise money for Troop activities. It was a cold night, but we did well and raised over four hundred pounds that we will put to good use. We also went to Epsom Playhouse for the pantomime along with the rest of the Group and had a very fun time……Oh yes, we did! The following evening, we went bowling with the Explorer Scouts for our joint Christmas event and we had a great night together.
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The start of 2023 has seen the Troop carry out a chip shop survey, (Epsom Grill, in Waterloo Road, won!) make pancakes, hold a talent night, and play a wide game on Epsom Downs.
I started by saying that we end up planning the year ahead earlier and earlier and here we go again. Summer camp, which will be in Switzerland this year, is all sorted, and having just come back from a very wet spring camp, I am registering the Troop for Scoutabout 2024 - it never stops.
At the end of my 2022 report, I said that we needed more help especially with the Trustees’ Board. A year on and I can thank those parents that have stepped forward and are now on a much larger committee. My thanks go to Luke, our Group Scout Leader, and the Board.
I sign off with my thanks to those that are around me and support the Troop. Caroline, Pippa, Richard Denyer, Howard and Theresa, Sara my wife and the young leaders, Sophia, and Ollie. This year I would like to say a huge thank you to Chris Walker our outgoing Chairman who stepped down last year. Chris has been a very important part of camps and supporting the Troop on days out as well as guiding the Group for many years. Thank you.
Paul Dawson Scout Leader
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## **THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE EXPLORER SCOUT LEADER**
It’s me again! This time with a different hat on and not one that I have ever worn before!
In September 2022 after ten years with the Group our Explorer Leader Jay Haughton decided to step back from running the Explorer Scout (Concorde) Unit. Jay had done a fantastic job and will be missed. This, however, left us with no Explorer Scout Leader and a Unit with sixteen members.
Therefore, I decided to step in and bridge the gap until we found a new Explorer Scout Leader. The Unit is the senior Section of Scouts for those aged fourteen to eighteen and nearly all our current Unit have come through Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Scouts and I have known most of them since they were ten years old.
Dominic, my eldest son, has joined me as assistant leader and I also have Sophia as an adult helper along with Sara, my wife.
I have found running the Explorer Scouts is very different to running the Troop, which is very organised, uniformed, structured, and disciplined. The Unit are young teenagers who are locked into social media, very aware of wanting to make a difference and I have to say very bonded together. They are a spirited group that rarely stop talking but are never-the-less Scouts through and through.
One of the first tasks I wanted to put in place was a forum for them to write their own programme and decide what they wanted to do on a Tuesday evening when we meet. They voted for their members of the forum, elected their chairperson, Milly and planned a very comprehensive programme for the run up to Christmas including Makaton learning, murder mystery night, birthday cake bake off and a wide game.
They undertook a project at St Barnabas church to help clear some of
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the grounds at the rear of the church that were overgrown and helped the Epsom Rotary Club with bucket collections around the streets of Epsom at Christmas, raising £900 for their funds.
In October the Unit joined the Scout Troop at Boidier Hurst for a weekend camp. They arranged all their own food and helped teach Scouts knife and axe skills. With them being at camp with the Scouts demonstrates the huge amount of emphasis on how we operate as a Group. The younger Scouts very much look up to the older ones and want to be them one day. This runs all the way through the Group. It is then important that we capture their attention when they turn eighteen to become future young leaders and keep them acquainted with the Group when they go off to university, ensuring that we can keep them focused enough to go for their King’s Scout award that they can do up until the age of twenty-five.
The Explorer Scout Unit voted to go paint balling in December for their Christmas trip, so on a very cold and damp Sunday morning we ended up in some woods in Cobham. I just supplied the doughnuts and watched from afar, no way was I going to end up as the number one target! That afternoon most of the Explorer Unit joined the other sections at the pantomime and again helped look after those in the younger sections.
They also joined the Scouts’ Christmas bowling night. As we had some places spare, I invited them and split them up into the Scout teams. Watching the youngest Scouts having fun with the oldest Explorer Scouts is very much part of what we do.
So far this year the Explorer Scout Unit has run a wide game for the Troop, camped with the Troop and the Cub Scouts and are now planning their Summer Expedition to Jersey. They have also been flying! All of which I will report next year along with the new Explorer Leader…who we still need to find!
If you are reading this and thinking “I would like to help” or even, “I could run the Explorer Scouts” please come and talk to me or to Luke, or in fact to any Leader. Running one section is fun; running two and
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having a new job and still having a family, oh and an allotment is a challenge! Any help is very much needed. You will be welcomed into our team and given all the support you need.
Paul Dawson
Temporary Explorer Leader
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
## **THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 100 CLUB TREASURER**
The year started with 45 members holding 105 shares and ended the year with 44 members holding 102 shares. In the year we took in £1,230 and awarded over half this sum of money in prizes (£620). In March 2023, we transferred £2,500.28 to a Group account. £63 worth of cheques issued this year have yet to be cashed.
The following members won 100 Club prizes:
April J Stewart May Paul Davey Spencer Hannan Mark Sydenham June Richard Denyer P Smith S Richards July Mark Sydenham August John Hughes S Pearce Catherine Allison September Ian White James Smart Sharon Self October Sara Dawson November Penny Smith Philip Park Ken Lauder December Alistair Spalding E McGarey Alistair Spalding January Philip Park February Richard Denyer P l Dawson H Park March Mark Sydenham S Pearce Mark Sydenham
Howard Park 100 Club Treasurer
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## **CHRONOLOGY**
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## **A FINANCIAL OVERVIEW**
The Epsom Air Scout Group has an overseeing management structure that is known as the “Group” and it has four “Sections” divided by age, called “Beaver Scouts”, “Cub Scouts”, “Scouts” and “Explorer Scouts”.
The Group has a current account and a deposit account (Active Saver) with Barclay’s. Each section also holds a Barclay’s current account.
The Group also runs a fundraising 100 Club with an account at Llyods. During this financial year a sum of £2,500.28 was transferred into the Group current account at Barclay’s, to ensure previous fundraising proceeds are available to the Group. This amount should not be confused with the fundraising activity detailed later in this report.
In addition, the Group received a bequest (£106k in 2016) that caused the Trustees to divide the deposit account to provide protection under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, originally moving £51k into a CAF account. A further £33k was moved from the Barclay’s deposit account to the CAF account in 2023, to ensure the total amount banked across all Barclay’s accounts was below the £85k protection limit.
The Scout Association orders a census of the young people in Scouting for the end of January every year and based on this, “Capitation” fees are payable to the centre. The money goes through the Scouting District and the Scouting County before arriving at Headquarters with fees taken at each level. The Group also applies a “Group Levy” for the Group Headquarters (Concorde Hall). Parents pay a membership fee, often referred to as subscription or subs, for their child. This fee is set by their Section Leader to cover day to day activities, the Group Levy, and the Capitation fee. The money is banked by the Section and then
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the Capitation and levy is transferred to the Group, for the Group to pass on the Capitation. This means there is the movement of money within the Group without change of monies within the organisation.
In addition, the Group often contributes to Section activity costs, either paying costs directly or contributing into the Section accounts.
The accounts have been drawn together by the Group Treasurer, Justin Manly. Quickbooks has been employed to manage the day-to-day Group accounts.
Quickbooks currently receives feeds from all of the Barclay’s accounts, though the CAF account, Lloyds (100 Club) account are not currently included. Copies of all receipts relating to Barclays accounts
transactions are held within Quickbooks, with the following exceptions:
- Telephone/Internet (Plus Net)
- Electricity (EDF) _– Previous supply to August 2022_
- Electricity (Opus) _– New supplier from September 2022_
- Epsom and Ewell Council (lease payments and rubbish collection)
Note: As these are all direct debit payments initiated by them and they are clear on the statements, we have paid the appropriate fees for these services.
Justin Manly, Treasurer
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## INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES** for the year ended 31 March 2023
## **Income and Expenditure**
|**Note**
**Income:**
Activities
**4**
Fundraising
**5**
Donations & Grants
**3**
Bank Interest
Membership Fees
**2**
**Total Income**
**Direct Charitable Expenditure:**
Miscellaneous
Water Rates*
General Rates
Energy
Telephone & Internet
Accountancy
Building Maintenance and repairs
Cleaning
Lease
Bank Charges
Insurance
Capitation
**2**
Copyright and Royalties
Depreciation
**Other Expenditure:**
Activities
**4**
Fundraising
**5**
**Total Expenditure**
**Net (expenditure)/income**
Transfer between funds
**Fund balances brought forward**
**Fund balances carried forward**
**9**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Total**
**FY 21/22**
-
£17,194.67
£17,194.67
£3,948.04
-
£3,446.93
£3,446.93
£2,079.76
-
£18,807.40
£18,807.40
£23,507.83
-
£112.41
£112.41
£9.49
-
£8,313.97
£8,313.97
£6,050.13|
|---|---|
||-
**£47,875.38**
**£47,875.38**
**£35,595.25**|
||-
£1,580.11
£1,580.11
£603.93
-
-
-
£467.89
-
£559.20
£559.20
£136.50
-
£6,975.98
£6,975.98
£5,791.22
-
£502.85
£502.85
£454.46
-
£1,200.00
£1,200.00
£1,200.00
-
£4,101.43
£4,101.43
£3,360.16
-
£1,220.00
£1,220.00
£2,137.83
-
£182.00
£182.00
£182.00
-
£149.01
£149.01
£139.00
-
£1,340.48
£1,340.48
£1,088.61
-
£4,205.25
£4,205.25
£4,016.25
-
£338.76
£338.76
£308.98
£5,917.00
-
£5,917.00
£5,917.00|
||**£5,917.00**
**£22,355.07**
**£28,272.07**
**£25,803.83**|
||-
£26,758.78
£26,758.78
£7,108.57
-
£624.00
£624.00
£444.00|
||-
**£27,382.78**
**£27,382.78**
**£7,552.57**|
||**£5,917.00**
**£49,737.85**
**£55,654.85**
**£33,356.40**|
||**(£5,917.00)**
**(£1,862.47)**
**(£7,779.47)**
**£2,238.85**
**£190,938.17**
**£190,938.17**
**£189,159.74**|
||**£183,158.76**
**£183,158.76**
**£190,938.17**|
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
## **BALANCE SHEET** at 31 March 2023
|**Notes**
**Fixed Assets**
**6**
**Current Assets**
Debtors
**7**
Cash at bank and in hand
**Appendix 1**
**Current Liabilities**
Creditors
**8**
**Net current assets**
**Net assets**
represented by
**FUNDS**
**Unrestricted Funds**
General purpose fund
**9**
**Restricted**
Building project
**9**|**FY 22/23**
£16,324.29
£15,012.50
£158,580.76
£173,593.26
£6,758.79
£166,834.47
**£183,158.76**
**£183,158.76**
-
**£183,158.76**|**FY 21/22**
£22,241.29
-
£168,696.88|
|---|---|---|
|||£168,696.88
-|
|||£168,696.88|
|||**£190,938.17**|
|||**£190,938.17**
-
**£190,938.17**|
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS** at 31 March 2023
## **1. Accounting policies**
## **Accounting convention**
In accordance with the Charity Commission guidelines, the accounts have been prepared under a receipts and payments method.
The accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with applicable accounting standards.
## **Depreciation**
Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets at rates calculated to write off the costs of each asset evenly over its expected useful life, as follows:
Leasehold Land and Buildings - over the period of the lease Fixtures and Fittings - over seven years
The carrying values of tangible fixed assets are reviewed for impairment, if events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable.
## **Leasing commitments**
Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to income on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
## **Cash flow statement**
The Air Scout Group has taken advantage of exemptions under the provisions of Financial Reporting Standard No. 1 (revised) for small companies and not prepared a cash flow statement.
## **Grants**
Grants in respect of capital expenditure are credited to a deferred income account and are released to income over the expected useful lives of the relevant assets by equal annual instalments. Grants of a revenue nature are credited to income to match them with the expenditure to which they relate.
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS** at 31 March 2023
## **2. Membership**
|**Membership**||
|---|---|
|Beaver Scouts
Cub Scouts
Scouts
Explorer Scouts
Capitation Rebate
Sub Total
Section Levy
Recovered Income Tax|**Capitation**
**Membership**
**Fees**
**Net**
**FY 21/22**
£1,050.50
£1,905.82
£855.32
£768.33
£1,193.75
£2,057.53
£863.78
(£98.75)
£1,337.00
£2,762.01
£1,425.01
£1,340.02
£668.50
£1,588.61
£920.11
(£18.22)
(£44.50)
£44.50
£42.50|
||**£4,205.25**
**£8,313.97**
**£4,108.72**
**£2,033.88**
£1,335.00
(£1,335.00)
(£1,275.00)|
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
Returned Fees
**£5,540.25 £8,313,97 £2,773.72 £758.88**
The Section Levy is an internal charge to the Sections based on an agreed formula to contribute towards the costs for the running of Concorde Hall and other associated Group costs. This internal charge is levied on the Sections at the same time as the collection of Capitation based on the annual census returns. The money for the Section Levy is merely moved from Section bank accounts to the Group bank account.
## **3. Donations and Grants**
|Pre School
Other Hall Hire
Grants
Donations|**FY 22/23**
£17,282.40
£1,525.00
£0.00
£0.00
**£18,807.40**|**FY 21/22**
£11,925.83
£915.00
£10,667.00
£0.00
**£23,507.83**|
|---|---|---|
Revenue recorded under Donations and Grants has dropped from FY 21/22. During the previous period the Group received government ‘Covid’ grants that had protected the Groups loss of revenue from the hire of the Group headquarters (Concorde Hall) during that period. The current FY 22/23 revenue from hire of the hall has returned to the forecast levels.
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS** at 31 March 2023
## **4. Activities**
|**4. Activities**||
|---|---|
|**GROUP**
Camps
Day trips
Activities
**BEAVER SCOUTS**
Camps
Day trips
Activities
**CUB SCOUTS**
Camps
Day trips
Activities
**SCOUTS**
Camps
Day trips
Activities
**EXPLORER SCOUTS**|**Organiser's**
**costs**
**Proceeds**
**Net**
**FY 21/22**
£2,210.00
£0.00
(£2,210.00)
(£600.00)
£622.75
£0.00
(£622.75)
(£1,096.40)
£1,437.00
£0.00
(£1,437.00)
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£995.50
£982.59
(£12.91)
£123.54
£746.13
£228.63
(£517.50)
(£940.06)
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£352.33
£393.95
£41.62
(£435.95)
£12,679.33
£10,894.36
(£1,784.97)
(£303.09)
£0.00
£0.00
0.00
£315.72
£1,202.76
£633.35
(£569.41)
(£517.33)
£5,703.67
£3,600.00
(£2,103.67)
£700.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£809.31
£461.79
(£347.52)
(£406.96)
**£26,758.78**
**£17,194.67**
**(£9,564.11)**
**(£3,160.53)**|
|Camps
Day trips
Activities||
## **Accrued Activities**
|**GROUP- Camps**
**SCOUTS- Camps**|**Organiser's**
**costs**
**Proceeds**
**Net**
**FY 21/22**
£9,212.50
£0.00
(£9,212.50)
£0.00
£5,800.00
£6,758.79
£958.79
£0.00
**£15,012.50**
**£6,758.79**
**(£8,253.71)**
**£0.00**|
|---|---|
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS** at 31 March 2023
## **5. Fundraising**
||**5. Fundraising**||
|---|---|---|
||Internal Fundraising|**Organiser's**
**costs**
**Proceeds**
**Net**
**FY 21/22**
£624.00
£1,230.00
£606.00
£898.00
£0.00
£930.00
£930.00
£699.00
£0.00
£982.92
£982.92
£0.00
£0.00
£304.01
£304.01
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£21.02
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£17.74
**£624.00**
**£3,446.93**
**£2,822.93**
**£1,635.76**|
||100 Club
External Fundraising||
||Scouts
Lord Mayor's show
Rotary - KIX
Other Fundraising
Beaver Scouts
Other Donations
Cub Scouts
Other Donations||
## **6. Tangible Assets**
|**Leasehold**
**buildings**
Cost:
At 1 April 2022
£145,070.29
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2022
£122,829.00
Charge for the year
£5,917.00
At 31 March 2023
£128,746.00
Net book amount:
At 31 March 2023
£16,324.29
At 1 April 2022
£22,241.29
**7. Debtors**
Payments and accrued income|**Leasehold**
**buildings**
£145,070.29
£122,829.00
£5,917.00|**Fixtures &**
**Fittings**
**Total**
£23,332.93
£168,403.22
£23,332.93
£146,161.93
£0.00
£5,917.00|
|---|---|---|
||£128,746.00
£16,324.29|£23,332.93
£152,078.93
£0.00
£16,324.29|
||£22,241.29|£0.00
£22,241.29|
|||**FY 22/23**
**FY 21/22**|
|||**£15,012.50**
**£0.00**|
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS** at 31 March 2023
## **8. Creditors**
amounts falling due within the one year.
|Accruals and deferred income|**FY 22/23**
**FY 21/22**|
|---|---|
||**£6,758.79**
**£0.00**|
## **9. Summary of Net Assets by Funds**
|Fixed Assets
Net Current Assets
**Net Assets**|**Unrestricted Funds**
**Restricted Funds**
**Total**
**General purpose**
**Building Project**
£16,324.29
£0.00
£16,324.29
£166,834.47
£0.00
£166,834.47
**£183,158.76**
**£0.00**
**£183,158.76**|
|---|---|
## **10. Other Financial Commitments**
At 31 March 2022, the charity had annual commitments under non-cancellable operating leases as set out below:
|operating leases as set out below:|||
|---|---|---|
||**Land and**|**Buildings**|
||**FY 22/23**|**FY 21/22**|
|Operating leases which expire more than
five years|£182.00|£182.00|
## **11. Trustee Expenses**
There were no Trustee expenses during the year. (2022 £ nil)
## **12. Water Rates**
Water rates are £nil due to an issue with the direct debit payments with the provider. These have been resolved. Current balance on the water provider account shows a balance in credit, though it is expected payments will resume in FY 23/24.
## **13. General Rates**
General Rates include:
- An annual payment to Epsom & Ewell Borough Council for refuse collection.
- An annual payment to Epsom & Ewell Borough Council for garden waste recycling services
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8[th] /14[th] Epsom (St Barnabas & St Joseph’s) Air Scout Group 2023 Report
## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023**
## **Bank and Cash**
## **Appendix 1**
|**GROUP**
Current Account
Barclays
Savings Account
Barclays
CAF acct
CAF Bank
**BEAVER SCOUTS**
Current Account
Barclays
**CUB SCOUTS**
Current Account
Barclays
**SCOUTS**
Current Account
Barclays
**EXPLORER SCOUTS**
Current Account
Barclays
**100 CLUB**
Current Account
Lloyds|**FY 22/23**
**FY 21/22**
£20,466.76
£26,102.19
£41,315.85
£78,560.54
£83,786.05
£50,785.00
£3,092.44
£3,086.53
£1,704.83
£1,161.93
£3,092.12
£1,249.62
£3,168.71
£3,902.79
£1,954.00
£3,848.28
**£158,580.76**
**£168,696.88**|
|---|---|
Justin Manley Group Treasurer
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