Sale Central Scout Group Annual Report 2021 Scouts |Contents|| |---|---| |Group Chair’s Report|4| |Group Treasurer’s Report|5| |Group Scout Leader’s Report|6| |Quartermaster’s report|8| |Sale Central (Pankhurst) Beavers (Woodbourne Road)|9| |Sale Central (Howard) Beavers (Raglan Road)|10| |Sale Central Parker Cub Pack|11| |Sale Central Kilvert Cub Pack|12| |Sale Central Scouts Sec�on|13| 2 # **The Annual General Mee�ng will be held during the Group Family Camp at Bispham Hall Scout Estate, Crank Rd, Billinge WN5 7DT on Sunday 11th September 2022 at 12.15pm** ## **Agenda** 1. Welcome and introduc�ons 2. Apologies for absence 3. Approval of the Minutes of the previous mee�ng of the previous AGM. 4. Presenta�on of the annual report and Accounts _Members of the Group Execu�ve Commi�ee will be available to answer ques�ons._ 5. Approval of the Group Scout Leader’s nomina�on of the Group Chair 6. Elec�on of the Group Secretary 7. Elec�on of the Group Treasurer 8. Elec�on of members of the Group Scout Council to the Group Execu�ve Commi�ee 9. Approval of the Group Scout Leader's nomina�on of members of the Group Execu�ve Commi�ee 3 ## Group Chair’s Report This was another unusual year for Scou�ng in Sale. Covid-19 loomed over a large part of the year and many changes were needed to ensure that the individual groups were able to resume mee�ng face to face. Thanks to everyone involved in comple�ng risk assessments, upda�ng signage and ensuring that social distancing took place. Without this important work, the Group would not have been able to con�nue as before. As the restric�ons were eventually eased, the popularity of the face to face weekly mee�ngs was soon back to normal levels. Long wai�ng lists for every sec�on soon resumed and volunteers generously gave their �me and energy. go-kar�ng. Many hundreds of badges were awarded throughout the year to recognise the individual efforts of each and every member to develop and learn new skills. The sec�on leaders were very keen to get back to holding events and the October half-term provided a great opportunity to have the first Group wide event for nearly two years. The Halloween themed event saw Woodbourne Road Scout Hut converted into a spooky maze and a giant marquee put together for a number of stalls and disco. It was especially pleasing to see the important fundraising work undertaken for other deserving chari�es such as the Poppy Appeal, RNLI, Trussell Trust and the Friends of Walton Park. parental support, Covid-19 grants and corporate dona�ons such as the Co-Opera�ve Community Fund. with the costs of uniforms, subscrip�ons and camps to those that needed it. This was generously funded by Glancy Fawce� and Arnold Clark. A special thanks to Colin who spent many hours maintaining the two huts to a very high level, in addi�on to his role as a sec�on leader. Thanks to everyone involved with Sale Central Scouts that allowed the Group to thrive, including all the leaders, the volunteers, the Group Scout Leader, the parent helpers, the Exec Commi�ee and the District Commi�ee. ## **Gavin Stark** Group Chairman 4 Group Treasurer's Report S•ltC*ntr•l Scouts. AtCOUMS 2021 SALE CENTRAL SCOUT GROUP Charrties Commission Ref: 520239 ACCOUNTS FOR PERIOD ENDING 31st DECEMBER 2021 T¢xal Income for Period: E53.607.D) Total Expenditure for Period: £33XIIO.CiI Operatiry Surplus: £20,597.CO Prepred lyr. Kristina Hammond. Group Treasurer Rewew/krLrtinised by: Michael Har&n& District Treasurer •A7J ¥731 FOTAI Sli SJ17 Sjll ## Group Scout Leader’s Report ## Scou�ng Year: 1[ st ] January 2021 – 31[ st ] December 2021 A�er 9 months of prac�cally no Scou�ng whatsoever, 2021 was set to be an even more challenging year than 2020 had been. The false dawns of December 2020, when it looked like we may finally be permi�ed to restart real Scou�ng had only demoralised a beleaguered volunteer force even more so when we were again forced into virtual Scou�ng at the start of 2021 Rather than the adult volunteers suppor�ng the young people, the situa�on had become reversed, it was only the fact that so many young people were a�ending Zoom mee�ngs that some Leaders didn’t throw in the towel. Having tasted real Scou�ng, albeit ‘socially distanced Scou�ng’ and to then have it ripped from under our noses proved too much for some, there was now a genuine fear that when/If we ever returned to Face-to-Face mee�ngs, we would not have sufficient volunteers to accommodate the need. It wasn’t un�l April that we were able to realise that young people were coming back to Scou�ng in their droves, at a rate that far surpassed the pre-pandemic levels, yet our volunteer team had been reduced to such an extent that, despite being allowed to resume Scou�ng in some form, sec�ons were forced to remain virtual, simply due to insufficient volunteers. Remaining volunteers were pulling double and triple shi�s to give some semblance of normality whilst the latest strain of Covid was ravaging both the paid and voluntary workforce. However, as Spring turned into Summer, the Scou�ng programme started to reseed itself, a number of Parents threw their hat in the ring and the next genera�on of Leaders joined the stalwarts and Scou�ng began to happen again. Even during the Summer break, there was no certainty that we wouldn’t be forced into lockdown again, and if we had been, then in my humble opinion, Scou�ng as we had known it in pre-pandemic �mes would not have returned for many tears, our volunteers were simply exhausted, I cannot stress enough how difficult it is, even for trained professionals, to re-invent a programme, originally designed for the great outdoors … and make it s�ll work on a phone, tablet or computer screen. Even when able to meet up Face-to-Face, to run ac�vi�es at a “social distance” demands incredible crea�vity and painstaking diligence … if I didn’t know and appreciate the amazing team of volunteers before 2021, then I certainly got to know them throughout 2021 and if I had it within my power to bestow a medal of honour onto each of them, then it s�ll would not reflect the level of respect that I have for each of them. back into Scou�ng. We met some young people who we had never physically met before, despite speaking to some of them online for nearly 18 months, week in, week out. We had new members who were hungry to learn, unfortunately we had some empty spaces too, young people who had seen sports clubs and suchlike, return to “normal” way ahead of Scou�ng, what normal, Footy mad Cub wouldn’t go for a kick-about with friends as opposed to more screen �me? pandemic, despite the loss of our major source of income. The majority of Parents generously agreed to con�nue paying subs despite the fact that we could only offer online mee�ngs in return, I cannot thank those Parents enough for their show of faith in what we were striving to achieve. Along with this generosity, we also received grants from local government to replace lost revenue from being 7 able to rent out our premises. We had minimal running costs and very few camps, this enabled us to plough some much-needed funding into our building maintenance, which, although much of it was carried out by our awesome building manager Colin, we were also able to ensure that local Due to the extreme circumstances, my much-needed departure from the role of Group Scout Leader simply did not happen. We are s�ll very thin on the ground from a volunteer perspec�ve, and I genuinely fear that the impact of my departure may prove to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, so, although my departure is not cancelled, it is postponed for the �me being. survived a most challenging �me, not just in our short history, but in the history of Scou�ng, the movement has rarely suffered a period whereby we could not offer our _raison d’_ êt _re_ . Even during the dark days of two World Wars, Scou�ng and Scouts could at least make a posi�ve contribu�on to society, yet during 2020 and 2021, we could do nothing other than to act responsibly by staying at home, which ironically is what Scou�ng is designed to discourage. have no doubt whatsoever that had it not been for some amazing individuals, who, had their own concerns and their own fears, managed to reinvent Scou�ng despite all the lakes and rivers running dry, I am not sure that we could have survived if the drought con�nued, but it didn’t and because of the efforts of our volunteers, when the rains did arrive, there were s�ll fish in the sea … and not just Sale Central emerged from the Pandemic as the biggest group in the District, and we con�nue to grow into 2022, we are even bigger than we were in pre-pandemic �mes and that is en�rely due to our volunteers, not just those who you bump into at Sec�on mee�ngs but also the unsung heroes who work behind the scenes, our Execu�ve Commi�ee and those who work at District, County and even at Na�onal level … ordinary men and women who have ordinary lives and who may work 9 to 5 before transforming into Scou�ng Superheroes and this is why I say to you all, no ma�er what you can offer Scou�ng, it will be gratefully received because without People like you, me and all the adults you see in Scou�ng … our young people simply would not have the opportuni�es that Scou�ng offers … and we need more. Yours in Scou�ng ## **Dave Hannigan** Group Scout leader Sale Central Scout Group. 8 ## Quartermaster’s report We have had to replace a few of our tents this year as they had been well used over the years and had signs of wear and as the group s�ll is ge�ng bigger all the �me we needed to buy more, we bought some tables for camping trips as the hut is being used and they need tables as well, we have been doing a lot of maintenance on the cookers tents and general equipment . ## **Wooodbourne hut** The hut has seen a vast make over during the last 18 months with new toilets, new electrics and a complete paint of the hall and areas. The main hall floor has been sanded, repaired and varnished, we have had a new security light fi�ed to the main door with a sensor for when leaving the building, general maintenance is ongoing and as the grounds . Next 12 months we need to change a number of fence panels around the grounds ## **Raglan rd** The main hall has had paint-over, new ceiling �les in areas were needed and a full rewire. Security lights fi�ed building for when leaving building in the dark nights We do need to arrange two work days one at raglan and one at Woodbourne Yours in scou�ng Colin 9 ## Sale Central (Pankhurst) Beavers (Woodbourne Road) We started our 2021 Beaver mee�ngs on Zoom, where we covered Faith, Global Issues and Safety ac�vity badges. As well as these we worked on our Teamwork and Outdoors Challenge badges. One of the highlights of Zoom for the Beavers was a visit from ‘Dylan’s Rep�le Time’ where we were introduced to a frog, snake, bearded dragon, skink and many others. One of our parents made a Powerpoint for Chinese New Year which we shared and enjoyed. The Beavers took part in a sponsored cooking event in aid of The Trussell Trust Foodbank in Altrincham this term too and they raised an amazing £330. With this we spent £65.60 on food items they specifically needed and donated the other £264.40 as a bank transfer to them. A�er the Easter holidays we had a couple of Zoom mee�ngs and then the moment we had all been wai�ng for – BACK TO FACE TO FACE MEETINGS! We finally met our newest Beavers in person as we had only seen them on a screen. Our last Zoom mee�ng saw us building bird houses and decora�ng them and our first mee�ng back at the hut included an obstacle race. With some restric�ons s�ll in place we had to socially distance ourselves for all our ac�vi�es which took a bit more planning but we achieved it. We covered the Gardener, Book Reader, Health and Fitness and Experiment ac�vity badges and had a very compe��ve Mini Football Tournament. We finished the term with a visit to the Adventure Cave to take part in bouldering and archery. Over the course of this term we were very proud to award seven Beavers with their Chief Scout’s Bronze Award. In September we had more new Beavers join and it was the start of Lightning’s Scou�ng journey. She joined us to demonstrate first aid to cover the Emergency Aid badge and she hasn’t looked back since. We covered our Cook, Money Skills, Crea�ve and Photographer badges and worked on our Skills Challenge badge. It was lovely to be able to take part in the Remembrance Day Parade again and the Beavers did us proud. The Beavers took part in their second fundraising event of the year this term too. They all had a tube of Smar�es to eat and then fill the empty tube with as many 20p coins as they could. They voted on which charity this should be for and raised a brilliant £110.50 which was donated to the Royal Na�onal Lifeboat Ins�tu�on. Can I say a big thank you to the parents that helped at mee�ngs in 2021, all the leaders really do appreciate it. Also a huge thank you from me to Hawkeye, Lightning, Keeo and Bubbles – we may not all be able to make every mee�ng but we all ensure that Thursday evenings are enjoyable for our young people. By the number of Beavers we have and the size of our wai�ng list I would say we are doing a pre�y good job! ## **Ros Bryan (Bobtail), Beaver Scout Leader** 10 ## Sale Central (Howard) Beavers (Raglan Road) pandemic and so we were s�ll not allowed to meet face to face for the first part of the year. We started 2021 in much the same way as we ended 2020, trying to convert the usual Beaver programme over to an online equivalent, whilst keeping it fun and engaging for our Beavers. The Beavers themselves made it very easy, because they would log on, week in, week out, with such enthusiasm. Many of them, we had never met face-to-face and yet they were like old friends. During January, we tackled online Naviga�on covering some quite advanced map reading skills, we also covered communica�ons and food … but mostly we just cha�ed with each other ensuring that nobody felt alone and that everybody s�ll had plenty to look forward to. Beavers or the Leaders and so we con�nued with our online offering, including Disability awareness, and a couple of really great cooking sessions where the Beavers first made a cake in a mug followed the next week by making the most amazing looking pizza’s. It wasn’t un�l June that we got together in person, how strange it was to meet some who had been Beavers for 15 months, who we had never met, it was so lovely though to see those who went to different schools ge�ng along so well because they knew each other through online mee�ng. We took advantage of the summer freedom and held as many mee�ngs outdoors as possible including working on our local knowledge badge. badge, we covered off the new Money badge in one evening, we worked on our Environment badge and our Health & Fitness badge too, we finished off the year with a Movie night where we watched Home Alone. Probably my proudest moment of the year though was the Remembrance parade, seeing our amazing colony so well turned out and respec�ully commemora�ng those who had fallen during past wars. Along with Sunshine (Ciara) and Dave, we had some much-appreciated help from a number of Parents during 2021. I don’t think anybody would have chosen to meet on Zoom as much as we did, and yet those weekly calls were very special �mes where I think we helped the Beavers, and the Beavers certainly helped the Leaders to get through some very dark �mes. Thank You all ## **TicTac (Keri)** 11 ## Sale Central Parker Cub Pack Parker cubs returned face to face in April 21, where they adapted well to the new way of face-to-face mee�ngs. Ac�vi�es ranged from teamwork, problem solving, back to basic scou�ng skills such as map reading learning knots, pioneering and tomahawk throwing. They also covered first aid, gardening and athle�cs badges, The cubs spent a morning at Dunham where they learnt fire ligh�ng as well as shelter building and played wide games. They also spent �me on the water doing canoeing with GRIP Adventure, pack forums held regularly for the cubs to help plan mee�ngs as part of the you shape badge. The cubs also learned how to change light bulbs, lay tables, and iron neckers. The cubs also covered interna�onal nights such as St Andrews night when they had a highlands games night. The cubs also had cra� nights. This is just to name a few of the ac�vi�es done since returning from lock down the cubs only did one night, they covered tomahawk throwing, Archery, fire ligh�ng Para cording, shoo�ng, shelter building, campfire The cubs have a�ended group events as well as district events these have included Halloween spooktacular, Remembrance Day parade, one if the cubs helped lay the poppy reef on behalf of the district. Some of the cubs represented the group by selling poppies around Sale. As part of the Remembrance Day the cubs learnt about how scouts played a part in the war effort. The year ended with a Christmas disco in which they enjoyed playing tradi�onal party games, thanks to Colin for a fantas�c night even though I s�ll need to get revenge for finishing the night with the crazy frog song. I Would like to Thank Emma for all your help and support over the year. And to all the parents who helped on the parent Rota, without the support i could not have run. A huge thank you to Daniel for all his help and support as a young leader, even though he made me feel old by turning 18. Thanks to Ros and Pete for covering on nights when we were short on leaders, and for Dave for being on the other end of the phone when needed. Looking forward to the next 12 months of new cub adventures and challenges. Yours in Scou�ng ## **Akela (Rachel)** 12 ## Sale Central Kilvert Cub Pack Home Safety, Personal Safety, Road Safety, Local Knowledge and Entertainer. We also did some origami, played Taskmaster and Charades and made mini ra�s. Cubs sessions. Before mee�ng in person again we covered our Chef and Collector badges on Zoom. We finished the Summer term with a canoeing session at the Adventure Cave. One Cub was awarded their Chief Scout’s Silver Award this term. It was at this point that Akela handed over the keys and the job of Sec�on Leader to me when she moved away for her work. When we started back in September Bobtail from Woodbourne Pankhurst Beavers joined us as a leader and shortly a�er that Mowgli and Baloo became uniformed leaders too. Shere Khan joined us in November as a Young Leader as well. October saw a number of Kilvert Cubs and leaders go to a long awaited Cub Camp at Dunham and in November we paraded for Remembrance Day. Some of our Cubs took part in a sponsored event this term. They stopped using games consoles, the Internet, etc for a week to do their bit to help the environment. They raised £343 and this will be buying some new trees to be planted in Walton Park, this being done through the Friends of Walton Park. Over this term we worked on our Navigator, Personal Challenge, World Challenge, Outdoor Challenge and Emergency Aid badges. We also had a talent show and parents were invited in to take part in a quiz with the Cubs. We finished off with Christmas games, cra�s and a Christmas movie night. Can I take this opportunity to thank Bobtail, Baloo, Mowgli, Akela, Gary and Shere Khan for everything they have done at Cubs in 2021. ## **Ronnie Bryan (Bagheera), Cub Scout Leader** 13 ## Sale Central Scouts Sec�on Going back to June 2021 we only had 19 members. This was partly due to some of the older scouts moving on, some members genuinely leaving due to lack of interest through a combina�on of us holding so many Zoom Mee�ngs and star�ng basic face to face which, some families were understandably cau�ous about. to those rules. These few mee�ngs were quite simple to allow us to stay within covid rules of social distancing and limi�ng the sharing of equipment. But as the year progressed the restric�ons were relaxed enough allowing us to move into more interes�ng mee�ngs. Fast forward to September ’21, we managed such mee�ngs as, Fire Sta�on Visit, Bike Ride, Photography badge, Teamwork challenge, Personal Challenge, DIY Badge and then we finished the year by going Bowling… all in all, a great term to peak interest and start rebuilding numbers. As a leader Team have hit another speed bump. We haven’t seen Rob in ages & David Chan, who has been brilliant in helping with the Scouts over the past few years, has unfortunately had to take step back as his is star�ng his Masters Degree, couple that with a family and full �me work, he just can't commit to Scouts for the �me being but has told us that he will return a�er his degree so fingers crossed there. This now means that Scouts is run solely by myself and Colin. However, on a brighter note, Pete and Jennie have already kindly agreed to come on board as Parental helpers and have already sat in on their first Scout Planning Mee�ng. So massive thanks to you both. Massive thanks to Colin for everything he does, Big thanks to David and best wishes for his Degree. Let's hope we can keep this momentum going for the future. ## **Ma� Darke** Scout Leader 14