44 Annual. .. Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 # **AGM Agenda - Sale Central Scout Group Trustee Board (Registered Charity 520239)** Dunham Massey Scout Camp, Saturday 15th June 2024 , 5.30pm ## 1. **Introduction** a. Welcome GS b. Apologies for absence c. Approval of the minutes of the previous AGM GS ## **2. Governance Items** a. Adopt a model constitution for groups in POR chapter 5 as our Constitution. GS b. Note our Financial year is 1st Jan to 31st Dec. GS c. Agree the maximum number of Trustee Board Members GS d. Agree the Quorum for Trustee Board Meetings. GS ## **3. Review of the Year** a. Presentation of the Annual Report for 2023 GS b. Presentation of draft accounts GS c. Group Chairman’s remarks GS d. Lead Volunteer’s remarks DH ## 4. **Appointments** a. Appoint the Group Chairman DH b. Appoint the Group Treasurer GS c. Appoint members of the Group Trustee Board GS d. Appoint rep. to the District Scout Council GS ## 5. **District Commissioner** Page | 2 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Group Chairman’s Report I’ve been involved with the Group for five years now, and it’s always great to see how the different Scout Sections continue to grow and prosper each year despite the many challenges faced by individuals and the country as a whole. The efforts of the volunteers and parents make the group what it is today, which is one of the biggest youth organisations in Trafford. Over 100 members take part in our sessions each week. Sale Central Scout Group has been very active in 2023, organising several section camps, a group barbecue and a very popular family camp at Waddecar in the forest of Bowland to name just a few. The group also joined with other Scout groups within Sale for the annual Remembrance Day parade in Worthington Park and the Gang Show at Waterside Arts Centre. Our members have enjoyed some great outings, interviewed many official visitors to the Scout Huts and participated in numerous activities, which together help to prepare the young people of Sale with skills for life - which is the ultimate mission for Scouting. The group has welcomed some additional volunteers during 2023, which is necessary for the group to continue functioning properly. Without the timely participation of more parents at the Raglan Rd hut, there was a very real possibility that a section would have closed down. A special thanks to Emma who helped to coordinate a new team of volunteers at very short notice. We still urgently need new leaders to volunteer at all sections within the Sale Central Scout Group. The benefits of volunteering at Scouts and helping our young people to develop new skills is seen as a really valuable skill set in many workplaces. Volunteers also enjoy friendships, learn life skills such as first aid, receive discounts and have their Scouting expenses covered. Our treasurer of several years, Tina, stepped down at the end of 2023. We thank Tina for her diligence and support. With a new treasurer joining the group shortly, the accounts have been completed by the interim treasurer and leader team. The impact of the rise in utility prices had a negative impact on finances, coupled with a reduction in rental income and grant income. Several measures have been taken to remedy the situation going forward. Behind the scenes, there have been some changes to the way that the national Scout movement is managed, to make it more open to new members and the wider community. These measures will be adopted by the Sale Central Scout Group going forward. ## **Gavin Stark, Group Chairman** Page | 3 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Lead Volunteer’s Report 2023 was the time when Scouting started to find its feet again following the turmoil of Covid, Virtual Scouting was a distant memory for many of our members and completely alien to some of our younger members. Young people were returning to Scouting in droves, absence had made the heart grow fonder for our young members, unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for some of our adult volunteers who had either found the whole concept of virtual Scouting to be something that they could not add value to, or they had simply become burned out trying to reinvent Scouting over Zoom. Sale Central were not alone in this, but the recent closure of 9[ th ] Sale due to them being evicted from their fantastic HQ in order that their landlord could sell the land for development, had a knock-on effect throughout the district, sections in all remaining groups were running at capacity by overworked volunteers, recruitment of new volunteers was an absolute necessity in 2023, if we wanted to maintain our growth whilst accommodating our existing member base. Every year, we submit our Scouting numbers to the Scout Association, and the figures submitted covering the previous year had shown that Sale Central was a popular choice for new members and those looking to transfer, this is almost entirely due to our amazing team of volunteers, from the executive committee who work behind the scenes, ensuring that we have everything that we need to keep Scouting fun and engaging, and also our amazing uniformed Leaders who just keep delivering a programme of activities at such a high level. To all those volunteers, from the bottom of my heart, I want to personally thank you, it saddens me so much that the process to gain official recognition of outstanding service, from the Scout Association is so convoluted, because in my opinion, every volunteer who kept Scouting alive through such a tricky period as Covid, and who then went on, not just maintaining the status quo, but in pushing the envelope even further than ever before, deserves a medal. Before I attempt to review the year, I would like to say a very special and heartfelt “Thank You” to our Leader Team in particular, I will not name individuals but some of our leaders have gone through so much turmoil in their personal lives, issues that impact many of us in our lives but for which we may take a week or two off work in order that we can come to terms with the consequences, but their dedication to their Sections and to the greater Group has been incredible in as much that many people may not be aware of the personal heartbreak that the individual is going through. Family should always come before volunteering and yet for some, volunteering offers an escape from the trials and tribulations of their “other life”. To each of them, whether 2023 has been a good year or a bad year in your personal life, on behalf of the young people who simply look up to you as their Scouting Leader, ignorant of the fact that you may be having the worst day of your life … Thank You. In February, we re-started something that was once a common tradition in Scouting, we made Founders Day (February 22[ nd ] ) a day when all our sections would pose for a Colony, Pack or Troop photograph to celebrate and commemorate our days in Scouting, it is certainly something that every young person should be proud to be involved with. Some of our members demonstrated their talent in the Sale and District Gang Show at the Sale Waterside Theatre, from personal experience, I can vouch for the effort required but also the amazing reward that being a part of the last remaining annual gang show in Greater Manchester gives … long may it continue to provide so much entertainment to so many people, so I would again like to offer my personal thanks to all those who took part and did both themselves and Sale Central proud. Page | 4 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 Following the success of our brilliant Family Camp at Bispham Hall Scout Estate in 2022, we announced that Family Camp 2023 was being planned, originally for Forest Camp (Sandiway), though this was later changed to Wonderful Waddecar (more about Family Camp later). April saw the District parade for St Georges Day, for those, like myself, who like to visualise the impact of Scouting (and Guiding) on our local community, the St Georges Day Parade around Worthington Park is a great barometer, and to see the impact of Sale Central members on those gathered, remains one of my proudest memories of 2023, some of our volunteers even found the energy to run our s’mores stall in the fete that followed the parade. It was by St Georges Day that we had to close applications for Family Camp 23 due to the incredible uptake … we had set a very high bar in 2022, the pressure was now on to maintain. May brought the coronation of King Charles III and also the news that our Group Treasurer, Tina, who has been a great help to the group for the past couple of years was moving out of the area and would be relinquishing her role, my personal thanks go to Tina who had stepped up to the plate upon her retirement as a School admin manager during a few years ago. At the end of May, we held a group Barbeque at Woodbourne Road, the idea of the Group Barbeque is to give Parents the opportunity to actually meet and socialise with the volunteers and to understand that the only difference between them is the preparedness of the volunteers to give up some of their time for the good of the community. I have volunteered my time with Beavers, Scouts, and Explorers, but never Cubs … that situation was rectified at the start of June when I joined our two Cub packs on camp at Dunham … Cubs are awesome, even more so when you don’t see them every week. In July, Beavers from all three of our colonies enjoyed a fabulous day out at Crocky Trail, for me personally this was the first event of an incredibly busy month (20 days) of activities and events with various sections of many groups … just another illustration of the shortage of adult volunteers and the impact it has on those who do volunteer. After the long summer break, Scouting finally resumed in September with one of the first events being our long-awaited Pirate themed Family Camp at Waddecar with something like 190 people to cater for and keep entertained in a safe environment. So many people put in so much work to make this happen, it really is such a testament to their dedication to Scouting that events like this become reality, I get such a feeling of immense pride even being associated with these heroes in neckers, and when you then see the joy that events like this bring to so many people, it makes all the hard work worthwhile … our Family Campers are amazing, for some, this might be their first time sleeping in a tent, spending time with like minded adults who they may not have met before, the unifying factor for both volunteers and parents is the absolute enjoyment that our members have on such big events, especially with Mum or Dad being there, not just watching but taking part in whatever crazy event is running at the time … Family camps generate a feeling of togetherness like no other event in our calendar. If you were at Waddecar in September of 2023 … Thank You, for your patience, for your time, for your buy-in and for your support in helping us to achieve something so special to all our members. Another massive event in September that impacted me personally was the intake of new volunteers, particularly at Howard Beavers, the colony was in dire need of new leaders and Page | 5 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 in Willow, Badger, Toad and Ratty, we got four great new Leaders who took to it like ducks to water, enabling ‘Silly Dave’ to move over to helping out at Scouts whilst leaving Sunshine to provide the continuity at Howard Beavers. Huge Thanks go to Bev, James, Matthew, and Steve, you smashed it out of the park, and to Rainbow, in particular, for mentoring them through the transition. November always starts off in poignant fashion with Remembrance Parade, in the weeks running up to the parade, Scouting and Guiding again get together to support the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and as always, Members and Parents from Sale Central were the backbone of our support, this is a cause that means an awful lot to me personally and once again, I would like to thank all those people who gave up their time to support the appeal. As for the parade itself, the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts of Sale Central did themselves and scouting proud, it is never easy standing respectfully still for a long period of time, this year the service was impacted by the cold and rain … and yet respect was maintained throughout, Thank You all. 2023 drew to it’s inevitable conclusion with the usual flurry of pre-Christmas events and activities, overall, the year has been a great success, it is still frustrating to think that there are thousands of young people locally, on waiting lists to join Scouting, if we doubled our current number of volunteers, it probably would still not be enough, but we could at least make a huge difference to some of those young people who just want to enjoy what we all enjoy. I have saved my final Thank You for even more volunteers who are not directly associated with Sale Central, our District team and our County team … as a non-Scouter, it is often surprising to learn just how many Adult Volunteers give up so much of their own time just to provide 90 minutes of Scouting time to our children each week, as Groups go, Sale Central is quite large, but we couldn’t do much without the army of volunteers that many Parents never even get to see, and that certainly includes everyone at District level and at County level. Yours In Scouting. ## **Dave Hannigan** Group Scout Leader Sale Central Scout Group Page | 6 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Treasurer's Report Our previous treasurer stepped down at the end of 2023 after many years of service, so these accounts are presented by our interim treasurer. We have identified a new treasurer who has agreed to accept the role going forward. The finances for the group were notably weaker than in previous years. This is mostly down to the reduction in income from the Woodbourne rentals to external groups and a significant increase in utility costs, due to the war in Ukraine and the impact on gas prices globally. Over the next accounting period, we expect the energy prices paid by the group to have reduced. Several additional measures have been taken already to balance the accounts going forward. These include an application for Gift-Aid, increases in hut rental charges, increased membership fees and several new grant funding applications. We are also actively encouraging hut users to reduce energy consumption and looking at options to remotely monitor energy usage. The final accounts for 2023 are included on the following pages. Page | 7 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 Page | 8 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Quartermaster’s Report Looking back over 2023, there were many projects to improve the experience of people using the huts, both members and visitors. One of the main projects to start in 2023 was the complete renovation and refurbishment of the previous storage room at the back of Woodbourne Road Scout Hut. The goal is to create a welcoming space that can be used for a range of different activities. Page | 9 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Chetham Beaver Leaders Report Looking back over 2023, I realised how much Chethams actually did and how much they had achieved. Not just in badge work but how they had grown as a colony and as individuals not just in height but in confidence as well. January to April saw Chethams attend the panto with the group, Celebrate Burns night, sampling some traditional Scottish food and drink Celebrate our 1[ st ] Birthday with a pirate themed sleepover. This was the first nights away Chethams took part in. We also attended the st Georges day parade. We were busy with badge work as well, covering Staged badges such as Emergency aid 1, Our challenge badges and activity badges. We welcomed two new leaders to the team Bubbles, and our young leader Chatter who isn't a stranger to Sale Central. He started off as a beaver with us and moved up through the group. May to July was busy again, Bubbles led her first full night with the photography badge, we learned about the green cross code and put it into practice with a little walk around the area. As the nights were lighter we made use of the garden for our activities which is always a hit with the Beavers. We attended the Crocky Trail with Howard and Pankhurst Colonies which was a fantastic day out organised by Hawkeye and Lightning from Pankhurst. We also had our 1[ st ] joint Beaver camp at Dunham Park Scout camp. Where Bubbles gained her nights away permit which is a fantastic achievement. Our last night was on the water with Grip Adventure where we gained more time on the water. We said goodbye to Chip who decided to hang up his necker for a little while. September to December started off with our 2[ nd ] family camp at Waddecar Scout Camp. We covered our Money skills badge, Community impact badge, we had a visit from the vet and worked on our animal friend badge. We had the AA come to visit us. We didn’t let the dark nights stop us in adventurous activities and had a night paddle with head torches! Some of our Beavers gave up time out of their weekend to help sell poppies for the poppy appeal and we took part in the Remembrance Parade, I will say how very proud of them we are as a leader team on this event as it was the wettest parade in a long time and they were all amazing. We invested Malak and Keeo into the group as leaders of Chethams. We had another special moment for one of our leaders as Bubbles was awarded her Wood Badge. Finally we ended the year with a very noisy joint christmas party with Howard Beavers, and our first six Chief Scout Bronze awards were presented by ACC Beavers Tom Dutton. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the leader team for their time, enthusiasm and dedication to Chethams. Also a huge thank you to the parents for your continued support through the year. I don't think you realise how much you help us as a team. One last thing before I sign off, A Beige leader shirt suits everyone. What size are you? ## **Emma Spragg (Rainbow)** ## **BSL Chethams** Page | 10 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Howard Beaver Leaders Report For reasons which may be apparent to those in the know, 2023 was a crucial year for Howard Beavers, in a nutshell, Tictac, Sunshine and I had been running the colony for a number of years with Tictac the Beaver Scout Leader, Sunshine as the Assistant Scout Leader and me as Daft Dave who disrupted all the meetings. Due to Covid, Tictac’s primary form of income had been closed down, though she had very successfully transitioned into a new job in a local School. This gave her the confidence to apply for a role with much more responsibility, which she was offered and accepted, the downside was that she could not reliably be available for Beaver meetings, without Tictac, Sunshine and I would need to rely on Parental support to run meetings but this too became unsustainable, Howard Beavers needed an injection of new blood and I am delighted to say that was exactly what we got (and some) after we returned after the Summer break. Therefore, this report will be broken into two distinct periods of Before Summer and After Summer. ## **Before Summer** We welcomed in the new year with a Log Chew, a meeting whereby all the Beavers get together and say what they would like to achieve in Beavers 2023. We got some great ideas and soon set about working towards the Skills Challenge Award, the Creative Activity badge, the International Activity badge and the Personal Challenge Award, We also got together with other sections of the Group to visit the Sale Waterside Theatre where Sale Nomads were presenting “Jack and the Beanstalk”, unbeknown to us, one of our Beavers who got up on stage at the end of the performance would soon be back on that very stage for another “epic” performance. In February, we again visited the Waterside Theatre, this time to watch the 58[ th ] Sale Scout and Guide Gang Show … oh how we laughed at the… wait … isn’t that our very own Ethan up there? In April, many of our Beavers joined the rest of the group to attend the St Georges Day Parade at Worthington Park … such a great illustration of the strength of Scouting in Sale & District. We continued working on our Camp Craft Activity Badge by practising putting up some tents, we then went on a visit to Dunham Park Scout Camp which for some of us was a great insight into what lies ahead for us on our Scouting journey. In May we also celebrated the coronation of King Charles III with our very own Coronation Party. We took part in a mini hike in which we learned some interesting facts about the Bridgewater Canal. One of the highlights of the final half term before the summer break was when we got raided by the Police … Well not quite raided but we had a brilliant visit by Sergeant Rob Anderson and Sergeant Nathan Moghaddam who even brought a Tactical Response Unit to our hut. Beavers learned so much about Police work and we even got to try on some of the uniform. Page | 11 ## Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 In July, we joined our fellow Beavers from Chetham and Pankhurst to go on a brilliant day out to the Crocky Trail, we also made Dampers, we learned all about Road Safety and we had a brilliant time at GRIP Adventure canoeing on the Bridgewater Canal. Also in July, we joined our other Beaver Colonies for a camp at Dunham Park Scout Camp … it was the most fun ever and for some was their first night away from Mum and/or Dad. As we went into the Summer Break, we were unsure whether Howard Beavers would be able to continue … ## **After Summer** Some of our Beavers joined the Sale Central family camp at Waddecar to round off the summer. Rainbow kindly agreed to take on the leadership of Howard Beavers until Christmas, in addition to running Chethams and her other scouting roles. During the first half term, the Beavers worked towards their Community Impact badge, doing a great job carrying out a litter pick in Walton Park. They also spent time on their Money Skills badge. Behind the scenes, 4 new leaders had been drafted and we made our debut at the beginning of November -Badger, Toad, Ratty and Willow joining the ever-faithful Sunshine. We divided the Beavers into Lodges and spent our first few sessions completing the Teamwork Challenge Badge. This involved all sorts from egg drop, crab football, building marshmallow & spaghetti towers, and an indoor snowball fight. The Beavers also showed amazing teamwork when we joined GRIP Adventure for a canoe session in the dark! We began December with a session of Christmas crafts and our last session of the year was a very festive, very noisy party with Chetham Beavers. We had amazing dance moves, real snow and a visit from Mr Claus himself! Our eldest member was also presented her Chief Scouts Bronze award by ACC Beavers Tom Dutton, as she prepared to move up to Cubs in the new year. Our first half term as Leaders has been a learning curve full of fun, energy and (a little bit of) chaos. I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of co-leaders. We’d like to thank all the other Sale Central leaders that have given their time to help us out, especially Rainbow for all the great advice. Thank you also to all the parents who have volunteered, we wouldn’t be able to continue without the additional help, especially when it comes to getting outdoors. Please speak to one of us if you could consider joining us as a Leader in the future, it’s not as difficult/daunting as you may think, if I can do it anyone can! ## **Bev Anderson (Willow)** ## **Howard Beaver Leader** Page | 12 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Pankhurst Beaver Leaders Report Four new Beavers were welcomed to Pankhurst in January 2023 and we started back with our usual games evening. Badges worked on that month were Health and Fitness, Hobbies and Collector. Some of the Beavers joined others from Sale Central at the Waterside in Sale to watch the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk that month too. Another trip to the theatre in February to watch Sale Gang Show 2023 and see some of Sale Central’s very own performers. We made pancakes on tin cans and also did some parts of our Camp Craft and Communicator badges too. March saw a number of visitors – Bricklands Lego Club ran a workshop for us, a lady called Lesley from ‘Hearing Dogs for Deaf People’ came in with her dog Abney and we also had some helpers coming in to do some Irish dancing with the Beavers for St Patrick’s Day. During April and May we worked on our Faith, Digital Citizen, Photographer and Gardener badges and also had a coronation themed evening. The Beavers and Leaders proudly took part in the St George’s Day Parade in Worthington Park. Woodbourne Scout Hut was transformed in May for a Space Sleepover with the Beavers – a packed weekend of non-stop activities and games which everyone enjoyed. You could say it was out of this world!! June and July saw more badge work – Money Skills, Emergency Aid and Air Activities and some outdoor evenings at Sale Water Park and canoeing with Gripadventure in Sale. Before the Summer term ended we went on a Beaver Day Out to Crocky Trail with the two other Sale Central Beaver colonies and a Beaver Camp at Dunham Massey Scout Camp. Over the term the Beavers had been collecting twenty pence coins in Smarties tubes and voted for the charity of their choice to donate the money to – they picked Ronald McDonald House and raised £104 for this great cause. Some of the Beavers went on Family Camp in September, unfortunately not all the Leaders could make it AGAIN! Several more parts of the Camp Craft and Outdoors challenge badges were worked on as well. We welcomed Malakai to Pankhurst to do his volunteering for his Duke of Edinburgh. In October we also worked on our Disability Awareness, Safety, Personal challenge, and Creative badges. A local PCSO came to visit us in November and talked to the children about keeping safe and we also worked on our Cook badge and had an evening of activities and games to celebrate St Andrew’s Day. Pankhurst Beavers were well represented at Remembrance Parade in Sale too in November. After a number of evening meetings, camps and days out with us as a parent helper, Echo put on a uniform and was invested as an adult Leader by his son Ronan. Caitlin also joined us as a Young Leader as part of her Young Leader Award. We finished the term off with Christmas themed crafts followed by a Christmas party. Over the course of 2023 we very proudly awarded eight Chief Scout Bronze awards to some very enthusiastic young people. Can I take this opportunity to thank the rest of the leader team – Hawkeye, Lightning, Echo, Malakai and Caitlin – for everything they do for the Beavers. It really is a team effort and we could not do it without the help of the parent volunteers too. A massive thank you to all the parents that have helped out when asked this year too. We still have a long waiting list and are always on the lookout for more leaders so please do not be shy in stepping forward! **Ros Bryan (Bobtail), Beaver Scout Leader** Page | 13 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Kilvert Cub Leaders Report January saw us working on our Artist and Book Reader badges, as well as a trip to watch a pantomime in Sale. In February there was lots of entertainment as the Cubs had a ‘Cubs Got Talent’ evening – vocal and instrumental groups, jokes and sports skills and the parents came to watch. Two of our Cubs, Jacob and Fabien also showed their performing skills as they took part in Sale Gang Show 2023, and I even ended up on the stage as part of one of the sketches! We had some visitors to Cubs in March – Dylan's Reptile Time with lots of different creatures to look at and have the chance to hold, a Taekwondo taster session and we also got to help make bug hotels for Walton Park with the Friends of Walton Park. Some of the Cubs even got to plant a tree that had been purchased with money they had raised previously by taking part in a sponsored event with Cubs. Akela organised a Backwoods Cooking sleepover at the Woodbourne Road Hut in March as well. In April the Cubs and Leaders took part in the St George’s Day Parade in Sale. We also worked on our World Faiths badge and did a litter pick at Walton Park. Badges we covered in May were Disability Awareness, Air Activities and Backwoods Cooking and we had an evening at Dunham Scout Camp doing fire lighting and backwoods cooking. We made use of the grassed area at the park and practised putting the tents up and down. This was just in time for the Cub Camp I organised in June as part of my Nights Away qualification. We continued with the outdoors theme and had a ‘sports day’ at the park in June and also did some shelter building, preparing for a hike and worked on our Navigator badge. We went to Sale Water Park for a hike in July and covered some of our Naturalist badge. The last two weeks of that term were canoeing and a ‘No Mowgli Party’ as she jetted off around the world on her holidays. Family Camp was in September where a number of our Cubs attended and had a great time with their families. Lottie joined us in September to cover part of her Duke of Edinburgh Award and brought her dad Gary back with her as a Leader, we knew he would not be able to stay away! My daughter Ruby (Hathi) also joined us as a Young Leader as part of her Young Leader Award. A number of our challenge badges had sections ticked off in September and the artistic side of our Cubs was shown in October when they made different items out of paracord and Halloween themed things out of clay. These covered parts of the Artist badge. We had two teams take part in Cub Mudder 2023 at Bispham – they were brilliant and came in 4[ th ] and 7[ th ] places, a very respectable result out of the fifty plus teams that entered. Two local PCSOs came to visit in November, and we also had an evening of climbing at Rock Up near the Trafford Centre. The badges we worked on were Home Safety, Environmental Conservation and we had a pack forum and did some problem solving and team building activities. Some of the Cubs and Leaders took part in the Remembrance Parade too. In December we covered part of the International badge and finished off the term with Christmas crafts and a party. During 2023 we were very pleased to be able to award six of our Cubs with their Chief Scout’s Silver Award – a fantastic achievement. Can I thank all of the leader team – Bobtail, Baloo, Mowgli, Shere Khan, Akela, King Louis, Hathi, Gary and Lottie for all they do for Cubs and a big thank you to the parents for their support too. ## **Ronnie Bryan (Bagheera), Cub Scout Leader** Page | 14 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Parker Cub Leaders Report Parker cubs had another busy year in 2023, cubs worked towards both challenge badges as well as activity badges, 10 silver awards gained. The cubs enjoyed varied activities ranging from team building and teamwork to crafts, cubs also did tent work. The cubs also enjoyed a scavenger hunt around sale water park, a chip shop hike, den making and easter egg hunt at Dunham scout camp. Other activities included a visit to the Bean and Brush, Tea party for the king’s coronation, sponsored silence for the PDSA, £200 raised (note to self-need to do more) The cubs also enjoyed fire lighting, cooking, map reading. Local walks, and litter picks. The cubs continue to enjoy attending canoeing with grip adventure, the year finished with a film and Santa night at GRIPAdventure thanks Glen for making this happen. Parker cubs attended both district and county events, these included cub mudder, cub canoe comp, Gang show, (one cub took part in the show) St George’s day parade and Remembrance Day parade. Thank you to Zoe for your continued support over 2023, and to Emma who covered me when I was away with work. A huge thankyou to the parents who have helped on the parent rota. ## **Rachel (Akela)** Page | 15 Sale Central Scout Group Annual Group Report 2023 ## Scout Leaders Report The beginning of 2023 the leadership team of Sale Scouts was re-assessing with Matt and Colin being the only uniformed leaders, by the end of the year I am pleased to say that we welcomed Jennie and Kes as uniformed leaders with the additional temporary support of Dave as well. Sale Central scouts did a variety of activities this year. We looked at improving our navigation skills and tent skills which the Scouts used well on the successful but wet camp we did in June which involved a hike on the Saturday. Ask your Scout about the Scouts who slept in the flooded tent! We also looked at our World badge and welcomed a guest speaker who had ties with a school in Moldova. The Scouts all sent letters and were eagerly awaiting replies. Sadly we didn't get as many letters back as we hoped, however we learnt a lot about a different country and how culture and amenities can be so varied across the world. We then looked a bit close at home when Matt led a history walk around Sale, learning about JP joules and also the aeroplane crash at Walton Park. The Scouts also concentrated on their chef badge this year with a small group of them each week planning and cooking a meal for their group. They were lucky enough to partake in sausage and mash, curry, and a creamy pasta dish. Sadly, they didn't want to share with the leaders! They took it in turn to do the cooking while the other scouts looked at knife skills, fire skills and pioneering skills with some varied and sometimes interesting structures being built. The Scouts also worked on their first aid skills learning CPR, the recovery position, bandage skills all about treating hyperthermia and hypothermia and how to treat burns. All these skills are good to have but ones you hope never to use! The Scouts also worked on their skills badges with many of them completing chores at home, such as cleaning the toilet and also ironing their shirts ready for Remembrance Day, as part of this we ran the bleep test which definitely knackered the Scouts out everyone put a lot of effort into it and tried their best which is always great to see. As well as helping at home we also successfully completed a litter pick at Walton Park learning to put something back into our community. We ended the year with a night canoe at Grip adventure, which was certainly an adventure that all the Scouts loved! As always, we joined in with District and Group events, it was lovely to be involved in the St Georges parade which is always a lovely day with the parade and then the stalls and fair afterwards. We attended the Gang Show where there was a lot of laughter. And the more sombre occasion of Remembrance Day, as always, the Scouts did us proud showing the respect for armed forces both present and past all over the world even though the weather was challenging. As always, we want to thank the Leaders and parents for the support this past year. We are looking forward to 2024 with a camp planned and Chariot racing also further developing our navigation, survival and hiking skills. ## **Kindly produced by Jennie Dootson On Behalf of the Scout leader team.** Page | 16