## **ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SALE CENTRAL SCOUT GROUP** ## **FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR JANUARY 2020 - DECEMBER 2020** ## **30TH OCTOBER 2021** **At 5.45pm Woodbourne Road Scout Hut, Sale** ## **Agenda** ## **1. Chair’s Welcome and Apologies for Absence** **2. Minutes of the last AGM - Approval** **3. Matters Arising from the Minutes** **4. Chair’s Report** **5. Group Scout Leader’s Report** ## **6. Section Reports** - a. Beavers - b. Cubs - c. Scouts d. Quartermaster **7. Treasurer’s Report and Adoption of the Accounts** **8. GSL’s Nominations for:** - a. Group Chair - b. Members of the Group Executive Committee ## **9. Election of:** - a. Members of the Group Executive Committee - b. Group Secretary - c. Group Treasurer - d. Grou p Scrutineer ## **10. Agree Quorum for Group Scout Council, Group Exec and Sub-Committees** ## **11. Agree the number of members that may be elected to the Group Executive** **12. Adopt the Constitution of the Group** **13. District Representative** **14. Any Other Business** Thank you for joining us this evening! ## **Chair’s Report** What a year 2020 was! It is probably one of the most challenging years that the group has faced in a generation, but the way that the leaders adapted and faced up to the unique situation was amazing to witness. At a time when some schools were struggling to adapt to a new set of circumstances, all the Sale Central groups were able to move quickly online and create a new programme from scratch to inspire and challenge young minds. It wasn’t easy and a new set of skills was needed by the leaders, who were able to successfully rise to the occasion. A highlight of the first lockdown was the virtual camp, complete with a campfire and songs from Dave via Zoom to tents in gardens and living rooms all over Sale. With the enforced lockdown underway, it was the perfect opportunity to undertake some important structural improvements to both of the scout huts, including an electrical rewiring, kitchen improvements and the installation of LED lighting, all expertly overseen by Colin. Some of the highlights of the year were the Scouts who still managed to earn hundreds of badges in 2020 from home, especially those who won their Chief Scouts Awards. The group made a small financial surplus last year. We received a large grant from the Co-Op Community Fund and another grant from Trafford Council. This allowed for the group to continue the activities in spite of everything that happened. I want to take this time to thank all the volunteers, the Scout leaders, the parent helpers, the Exec committee members and the District committee for all their hard work and devotion that make the Scout group a success. A special thanks to Dave Hannigan for all the additional administration work required this year, completing numerous risk assessments, updating payment records and making the spaces Covid secure. The group is always looking for extra volunteers, and anyone who wants to give something back to the community will find it a very rewarding activity. ## **Gavin Stark** ## **Group Chair** Treasurer's Report A(COUNTS FOR PERIOD ENDING 319 DECEMBER 2020 T¢xal for Pm1= t44.795.(rJ Total EYpeTrjiw￿ fwPuv)d- £36.618.O) oper3ts.rq Surplus= +£&177. Prepared ty.. Da￿en Wi5her. GrowTiea5wer Review/Scruuni5ed trf. Scouts"_ Sale Central There was a small surplus of approx £8K which is in large part down to the parents keeping up subs payments through COVID (Subs of £9.4k) and grant support of approx £22K. On the expenditure side, we managed to have another good year on hut maintenance – keeping up the momentum from 2019 with a number of big projects. ## **Darren Wisher** **Group Treasurer** ## **Group Scout Leader’s Report (2020)** I have no doubt that had I been writing this report on the 1[st] January 2020, I could not have predicted the impact that Covid-19 was about to have on Scouting, the Country or the World. We had heard reports of an infectious condition in a province of China, but we had heard similar things in the past. 2020 started in a similar vein to how 2019 had ended, we took things for granted, Scouting was how Scouting had been for the majority of the 112 years that had preceded 2020. The Younger Sections enjoyed a Pantomime at the Waterside Theatre. We had a swimming gala in which Raglan Road Beavers managed a very creditable joint 3[rd] place overall and Woodbourne Cubs continued their incredible winning streak from Cub Mudder 2019 to being crowned Joint Winners overall in the Cub section swimming races. We had our annual trip to the Sale & District Gang Show, now back at the Waterside. Beavers had an awesome Harry Potter themed Sleepover. And then … It is far too easy to take negatives out of the remainder of the year … Scouting was put on hold on the 16[th] March 2020 but it was only going to be for a month or so right? 2020 was our 15[th] Year as Sale Central Scout Group, we had plans for a great Family Camp to celebrate our 15[th] Birthday, we continued with our plans, this was simply too big to miss. As March turned into April which rolled into May, it was becoming quite obvious that normal was being redefined, meetings were being held on something called Zoom, virtual meetings where everyone had a 3 inch by 2 inch piece of screen and could be muted en-masse at the click of a button. People look at me like I am mad when I tell them what hard work this was … to take a programme of an organisation whose big Unique Selling Point is “Put away your devices and get outdoors” and to turn that programme into something that resembled “Don’t go outdoors, stay in with a device and remember to have fun” … if all we had to do was redesign the programme, it would be asking the impossible but to then ask our Leaders to actually deliver that programme, to be enthusiastic about something that none of us signed up for. Some of our Leaders couldn’t even use a calculator in 2019 and here we were, asking them to write, produce and present their own interactive TV shows. In the outside world, May apparently became June and apparently the Sun was warm … and our highly anticipated Family camp … became a virtual Family Camp … and it was BRILLIANT. Leaders lead sessions for all age groups, Parents were now accustomed to sitting close by got front and centre, we had numerous virtual activities throughout the day, virtually camped in our gardens or our sheds or our bathrooms, we had a virtual campfire with what can only be described as a virtual synch-along (due to Zoom lag, each song actually sounded like an argument) … but it was simply wonderful and lifted the spirits of everyone involved. It wasn’t what we had planned, but deprivation made us appreciate what we were missing … and if I ever get old 😊 that is what I will take away from 2020 … that we learned to appreciate what we previously took for granted. Our Leaders were now getting cocky … “No, you can’t have a live satellite link to Australia.”, “No, the Group will not invest in 30 Virtual reality Headsets.”, “No, there is no such thing as a Gastroscopy Badge.” Usually, the School holidays would save us and give us time to recharge our batteries, but some sections even held drop-in sessions throughout the (so called) “Break”. September brought a chink of light, the local readiness level changed from Red to Amber meaning that with conditions, we could stand outside within earshot of each other, Covid was very much still out there but were Parents, Young People and Leaders prepared to risk it? Our overall response made me very proud, we weren’t prepared to risk furthering the spread of Covid-19, many of our Leaders work in Schools and with vulnerable Children … no matter how great the urge, safety prevailed, and our virtual meetings continued throughout the year. I cannot close without giving a special mention, first of all to those young people who stuck with us throughout, without your attendance, Leaders would not have continued despite being so far out of their comfort zone. Some Young People simply could not cope with Virtual Scouting, that is completely understandable … Neither could many “old” people. Some of the biggest heroes to come out of 2020 from a Scouting perspective were the Parents of our Members, sitting patiently through another Scavenger hunt game or another Quiz, often getting involved and occasionally getting quite uppity when getting a question wrong 😉 The biggest thing that I think we took from 2020 was the confirmation that we are a community, we all did so many things for the good of our collective young people, we offered Parents a subscription holiday … I think revenue from subscriptions actually increased which is absolutely amazing … obviously the group lost an awful amount of revenue from the hiring of our premises, but this was countered by some very generous grants from local government and others. Obviously, the Covid story doesn’t end there, tune in to next year's AGM for the next instalment of Scouting versus Covid-19. I feel very humbled to have been the Group Scout Leader of such a great group throughout what has undoubtedly been their most challenging year … I am so very proud to say that Covid-19 gave it its best shot … and we owned it. Thank You to so many people who made that happen, from our ever supportive Executive Committee lead by Gavin, Jennie and Tina to the most amazing set of uniformed leaders Colin, Matt, David, Rob, Rachel, Emma, Rebecca, Ronnie, Ros, Pete, Kerryann, Hannah, Keri and Ciara and not forgetting our fantastic Young Leaders Isaac and Daniel and two ladies who you rarely hear about but who are critical cogs in the machine … Mary and Nadine. In light of my pride, it may seem a strange time to mention that I am stepping down as Group Scout Leader, it really has been a privilege to serve the group as GSL, however, my appointment was only ever intended to be a short term measure. My passion and my strength has always been on the front line, delivering activities for young people, this conflicts with the role of GSL and due to a shortage of volunteers, I feel that my time can be better served leading activities as opposed to leading leaders. Sale Central is desperate for adult volunteers to lighten the load on those who currently volunteer, the more people that step forward, the lighter the load for everybody … so, even if you can only offer to manage hut bookings or help out with occasional maintenance tasks, or just be that extra set of adult eyes and ears once a month, you would be as appreciated as those who run the front lines or who keep the group running on the Exec committee. Volunteers are merely the custodians of the group, the group belongs to the young people and their supportive families … but without those volunteers stepping forward … the group cannot continue to exist. I will be maintaining my role until a suitable replacement can be found or until the Easter break (whichever comes first). **Dave Hannigan Group Scout Leader** ## **Beavers - Section Reports** ## **- Raglan Road Beavers Section Report 2020** It is quite incredible to look back through our Online Scout Manager as to what we were doing and with whom. Our typical Tuesday night attendance was around 20-22 Beavers, ably overseen by Tictac (Keri), Sunshine (Ciara) and Keeo (Dylan) with occasional help from Rainbow (Emma) and Dave. Initial activities included celebrating Burns night as part of our International Badge, we also did Air Activities and Communication Skills. We also attended a Pantomime at the Waterside Theatre along with Cubs and Beavers from other sections of the group, we took part in (and came joint third in) the District Swimming Gala, we attended the Sale & District Gang Show, again at the Waterside Theatre and probably the highlight of the year for those involved, we held a Harry Potter Sleepover at the Woodbourne Road Hut. 2020 was building into the most fantastic year … until it potentially came grinding to a halt in mid-March with the announcement that all Face-to-Face activities were suspended until further notice. Raglan Road Beavers swiftly moved over onto Virtual Meetings via Zoom, initially it was a novelty and so attendance was only slightly impacted by the change, however as the initial month rolled into 2 months, 3 months, 4 months … attendance dropped. Contrary to popular belief, many young people did not want “Screen time”, they wanted to be out there doing things, having fun … Thankfully, we had a core group of Beavers who attended just about every virtual meeting, we even had some new Beavers come on board … who had never met the rest of the Colony Face to Face and yet were just as much a part of this amazing group of young people. Our online activities were created on the fly or on the day of the meeting, however we became adept at engaging our amazing attendees with whatever we came up with, as the term continued virtually, we realised that we would need to start delivering programme again as there is no badge for playing Animal Tiles or Scavenger hunting. Whatever we set before our Beavers, they did it with enthusiasm, always supported by their ever-patient Parents who must have often laughed at the online antics but who were there for their son or daughter. In June, the group celebrated its 15[th] Birthday, we had planned a Family Camp to take place at Tatton Scout Camp. Lockdown wasn’t going to stop us and so the camp was moved to a Virtual Camp, Beavers were camping in their gardens or their sitting rooms or just turning their beds into dens, Leaders from across the group took it in turn to run activities and young people could drop in or drop out of any activity, as is tradition, the camp finished with a virtual campfire … Zoom certainly does not lend itself to synchronised singing (my excuse). September rolled along and the much-anticipated return to Face-to-Face simply did not happen. We focussed more on badgework during the new term. First Aid online is not an easy subject, but our Beavers grasped it in a heartbeat, teamworking, Worship, International all took some of our time … the highlight of the year for me and for many of the parents of those in attendance would have to be an online rendition of “Last Christmas” which we captured on video … it was truly emotional. My big take-away from 2020 will undoubtedly be the sense of community that surrounds this group, everybody was suffering, whether that be Parents facing financial hardship or concern over the social and educational impact on their children or the young people themselves who, by the end of 2020 had spent the best part of 9 months apart from their friends, away from “Normal” … for Adults, 9 months is an awfully long time, to somebody who is 6 or 7 … it is almost an eternity. But we didn’t allow it to beat us, we made best use of what we had, we couldn’t have played our part without the superhuman efforts of Parents. We definitely came out of 2020 even stronger (as a community) than we went into it. ## **Written on Behalf of Tictac** **Dave Hannigan** **(Daft Dave to our Beavers)** ## **WOODBOURNE BEAVERS 2020** When I sat down to write this report, I was unsure of what else happened other than Zoom in 2020 but when I looked back some amazing memories were made. We started the year with visits to a panto and Gang Show, along with Raglan Beavers and then our unforgettable Harry Potter sleepover. We also entered a team in the swimming gala. Also, in the first term of the year we covered several activity badges – Book Reader, International and Communicator and the staged badge Air Activities. Alongside these we worked on various parts of our Teamwork, Skills and Adventure challenge badges. This term also saw four Beavers achieving the Bronze Award. Then life changed for everyone, and we all got used to Zoom meetings – while trying to still cover badge work we had the job of making the online meetings fun for the Beavers and many a game of bingo and numerous scavenger hunts were had. Malak was the chief quiz maker. The majority of our Beavers remained with us online which was great to see. Some of our Beavers took part in the virtual camps held in April and June and all had a fun time. Beavers and Leaders clapped for the NHS on their doorsteps too. We ran a few online meetings during the summer holidays to keep in touch with the Beavers and July saw four more Beavers being awarded their Bronze Awards, albeit socially distanced on their doorsteps. September saw new Beavers starting their Scouting journey and for me personally my step up to being Section Leader at Woodbourne Beavers and Rainbow’s transfer to being Assistant Leader at Woodbourne Cubs. That term we covered parts of our Creative badge and our Collector badge, while also working on sections of our Skills challenge badge. We had an online visitor telling us about their job in our community as part of one of these badges. Remembrance Day was also marked at home with both Beavers and Leaders in uniform in their gardens. Many badges were delivered by hand to the Beavers and we were very proud of them still managing to achieve all that they did, under the very unusual circumstances. Along with badges various packs were dropped off to cover Christmas activities and a number of prizes for our Lodge competition – Willow the reigning champions at the moment. We finished 2020 with two more Beavers achieving their Bronze Award, bringing the total for our colony this year to 10 awards. Can I take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all the parents who supported us in this very unusual year and continue to do so. None of us were experts on Zoom but by working together I would say we achieved a pretty amazing year. I would also like to thank Hawkeye, Keeo and Bubbles and our Young Leader Malak for the support they have given to me personally in my newest role and to all of the fantastic young people who join us on a Thursday evening. **Ros Bryan, Beaver Scout Leader** ## **Cubs - Section Report** ## RAGLAN CUBS 2020 Raglan Cubs had a busy 2020 in spite of lockdowns. We started the year with a visit to a pantomime and we entered a team in the annual swimming gala. Over the first term of the year we covered the Chef badge, Fire Safety badge, Entertainer badge and Scientist badge and also parts of the Teamwork, Skills, Adventure and Outdoor challenge badges. We were also lucky enough to have Policeman Bob visit us. April saw a camp at home and work on the Personal challenge badge with our first Zoom meeting at the end of the month. From May to July on Zoom we had games nights, bingo, who am I, Scategories and quizzes. The badges covered that term were Hobbies, Gardening, Navigation and First Aid and sections of the Skills, World, Teamwork and Adventure challenge badges. We also took part in a virtual camp in June. In the last term of the year we made armpit fudge, a cake in a mug and tried to get an egg into a bottle! Badge work for this part of 2020 was on Disability Awareness, Astronomer and Home Safety, alongside work on our World, Skills, Teamwork and Adventure challenge badges. Over 2020 three Cubs achieved their Chief Scout’s Silver Award before going up to Scouts. A big thank you to all the parents who supported the Leaders and Cubs over this year, especially while we were on Zoom. ## **Ronnie Bryan, Cub Scout Leader** ## **PARKER CUBS AGM REPORT 2021** Cubs Started the 2020 programme at full speed, attending the pantomime at Sale Waterside with the Beavers, soon after we were taking part in the district swimming gala, where they came joint 1[st] . Then not long after that it was another district event, Cubs cooking competition. It looked as though we were going to have a fun packed year then lockdown happened. We went into lockdown as the Cubs finished their last face to face meeting in March 2020. After a few weeks of waiting the Cub leader team had to step out of their comfort zone and embrace Zoom. This started off by playing games such as bingo, scout fortunes as well as scavenger hunts. Then we realised that zoom was not going away soon so we started on badge work. Badges covered were activity badges such as the Astronomer, world faith, my faith, chef, artist, home safety, communicator; they also covered challenge badges such as the skills challenge and world challenge. We arranged for a couple of guest speakers while on zoom to cover the artist badge and world challenge, world faith and my faith. Some of the cubs worked on badges at home, such as the cyclist badge, gardener, collector. The cubs also joined in the virtual group camp at home. Not what we had planned but a welcome distraction, not sure virtual campfires work though!! Towards the end of the year, we covered Remembrance Day, Diwali where we made Diya holders and some cubs shared how they celebrate Diwali with their families. Our last meeting of a very strange year was Christingle night. Considering we were on zoom we averaged about 18 Cubs. Sadly, we lost some cubs, virtual scouting wasn’t for them. On the positive side we had beavers move up, and cubs who joined us from enquiries. I would like to thank both Emma’s for their support while we were on zoom, and to the parents who became leaders while we were on zoom. Without your support the Cubs wouldn’t have achieved what they did through lockdown. Looking forward to the next adventures of cubs now that we have returned back to face to face. ## **Rachel Lyttle** **Section Leader - Cub Scouts** ## **Scouts - Section Report** ## **Scout Program 2020** With a full complement of Scouts, 2020 was shaping up to be a fantastic year! Not only was this year going to be our 15th Birthday, it also marked my 10 Years as a Leader with Sale Central. As part of the prep towards our 15th Birthday Camp, we filled our first term back by starting our Skills, World and Personal Challenge Awards. We even had time to do some cooking, a night hike and some maintenance nights where we got out, checked and re-folded some of our tents. Then came the Lock Down...and no Camp :( We struggled to get ourselves up and running with a program that could be run via Zoom, but a program that would keep the Scouts interested and engaged. Luckily I like a good Powerpoint Presentation… So, starting in September and running up until the end of 2020, we used these to their full potential. Navigation, Construction, Cooking, Survival, Craft, Chef, Guest Speakers, Entertainers, Quizzes, and a whole range of games! Unfortunately, between their time with us ending and simply because we were on Zoom so much, we went from over 20 Scouts to a consistent group of just 6. Some of them missing their last camp with us! Thankfully, the new year brought us new Scouts moving up from Cubs and we were the first section to venture back to Face to Face Meetings. I am happy to say that between getting back outside with a small camp, a hike, canoeing, pioneering, axe throwing and a trip to Go Karting we are now back up to a Troop of 20 Scouts with many more on the way from Cubs. As great as this is, it does highlight our need for new Leaders/Parent Helpers. We are averaging 2-3 Leaders per week which is just about manageable with our current numbers, but with more and more cubs, our long term goals that were set out nearly two years ago of opening up a second Scout Group at Raglan Rd need to be re-visited. But in order to do this… The number of adult Leaders we have needs to double. I really hope this is something we can push as a group as I have no doubt the Scout Section will continue to thrive as we have no concerns over numbers, both current or future and having two Scout Groups adds the extra benefit of us being able to join forces for larger troop events, allowing more and more friendships and greater experiences to had by all. Thanks to all the Leaders for all the time that they give and for the help they have given me in keeping the Scout Section going during one of our hardest years! Matt ## **Quartermasters Report** Even though the groups were not meeting in person for much of the year, there is always a long backlist of jobs to be undertaken at both of the huts. Some of the main projects undertaken in 2020 were: - Installation of new smoke and fire alarm system at Woodbourne hut - Re-furb of ladies toilets at Woodbourne hut and installation of new pipework - Complete repainting of the Woodbourne hut - New garage doors installed at Raglan Rd Hut after a break in - Replacement of 30 ceiling tiles at Raglan Rd - Repainting the back walls at Raglan Rd - Retiling of the kitchen at Raglan Rd