# **Wistaston Scout Group (35[th] South West Cheshire) Registered Charity No: 520281 www.wistastonscoutgroup.org.uk**
## **ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31st 2020**
On March 16[th] 2020 Scouting, as we knew it then, came to a grinding halt when the Scout Association pre-empted the impending national lockdown by suspending all face to face scouting. We did return for about three weeks prior to Christmas before everything stopped again.
So for the majority of 2020 Scouting has been confined to Zoom meetings. The whole scout programme is based around outdoor activities with camping at the centre of everything. That is something that is impossible to replicate via Zoom, although we tried very hard to do that. The consequences of lockdown on the group have been numerous and varied. We have lost about 25% of our youth membership and those who have stayed with us have missed a huge chunk of the programmes which normally would lead to the Chief Scout’s bronze, silver and gold awards.
For the scout troops it has meant missing out on the annual summer camp not only in 2020 but almost certainly in 2021. This is the pinnacle of the scouting year which the annual programme is geared around. When we do resume face to face scouting and can camp, we estimate that half of our scouts will not have camped as scouts and the leadership team will have a huge task to make up the lost time, in reality it is the young people who will have suffered.
The ingenuity of our leaders has been almost limitless in creating online meetings for all sections during the lockdown There have been many examples ranging from Bob’s Badges (organised by Bob Humphries), a weekly video demonstrating how our members could gain badges at home, through to two virtual camps. For these the camp started as usual on Friday evening and the kids were encouraged to sleep at home but not in their beds. There was then range of activities during Saturday and Sunday. Food was prepared by the members at home no doubt under the watchful eye of parents for the younger ones. Saturday night saw a traditional camp fire followed by the ever popular leaders social once the youngsters had gone to bed. The first virtual camp was so successful that we repeated it later in the year. Thanks to everyone who helped organise the camps and also to all; the youngsters who avidly took part.
Online section meetings were held on Zoom. It is fair to say that a lot of youngsters had some issues with this, mainly because their schooling was also held via Zoom and the phrase “zoomed out” was heard regularly. Despite this many of our youngsters were able gain badges during lockdown and for that they must be congratulated.
In 2019 the group created an impressive ribbon of poppies which was displayed in the scout compound on the run up to Armistice Day. The poppies were created from the bottoms of plastic bottles, sprayed red and fixed to chicken wire. In 2020 we were approached by the Memorial Hall management team and asked to mount the display outside the Hall which we were only to willing to do. The reaction has been amazing and plans are now under way for a much larger display in 2021 in the Parish at an, as yet, unannounced location.
Once again, the group is grateful for the continued support from the Parish Council. In the 2020 budget the Council gave the group an allowance towards the cost of a new frame tent. This was duly purchased but has as yet remained unused. We hope that there may be opportunities to use it at a camp in late 2021.
Finally I must pay a huge thankyou to our leaders (including our young leaders) for the amazing work they have done to provide scouting during an immensely difficult year. When thanking the adult leaders I must include their wives, husbands, partners girlfriends and boyfriends for their continued support. It cannot have been easy to carry on with a normal household when the “other half” has been glued to the computer for a couple of hours a week for section meetings and then for all the preparation time needed to arrange the section activities. Thanks to you all and hopefully we will get back to some semblance of normality in the not too distant future.
## John Bennett
Group Scout Leader 07825 091114, gsl@wistastonscoutgroup.co.uk
## **SURPLUS AND LOSS ACCOUNT - 2020 Year To Date**
|**INCOME**
**Subs**
Current Year - 2017
12,972.00
£
Previous Year - 2016
-
£|**12,972.00**
**£**
**11,088.91**
**£**
**7,117.67**
**£**
**-**
**£**
31,178.58
£
**31,178.58**
**£**|**EXPENDITURE**
**Utilities**
Electricity
393.30
£
Water
261.81
£
Gas
609.00
£
Phone/Broadband
-
£|**1,264.11**
**£**|
|---|---|---|---|
|**Fundraising Etc.**
Fundraising
517.31
£
Donations
571.60
£
Grants
10,000.00
£||||
|||**General**
Training
10.00
£
Insurance
1,316.96
£
Capitation
5,888.00
£
Subs Expenditure
134.43
£
HQExpenditure
2,342.52
£|**9,691.91**
**£**|
|**Miscellaneous**
Gift Aid
4,522.81
£
Camps & Activities
-
£
Floats/Cashing Cheques
2,040.00
£
Interest
4.36
£
Explorer Rent
472.50
£
Centre Hire Income
78.00
£
Other
-
£||||
|||**Equipment**
Scout & Guide Shop
909.84
£
Camping Gas
-
£
General
108.71
£|**1,018.55**
**£**|
|**New HQ Funding**||**Sectional Expenses**
**Floats/Cashing Cheques**
**Fundraising Expenditure**
**Camp & Activity Expenditure**
**Gifts**
**Other**
**New Equipment Expenditure**|271.48
£
1,900.00
£
-
£
-
£
-
£
5.98
£
850.00
£|
|**TOTAL**
**Opening Balances 01/01/2020**
Cash
-
£
Natwest
16,374.63
£
Britannia
5,571.77
£
Unbanked Cheques
-
£
Assets
Liabilities
-
£
Total
**21,946.40**
**£**||||
|||Net Surplus
**Current Balance**
Cash
-
£
Natwest
27,546.82
£
Britannia
10,576.13
£
Unbanked Cheques
-
£
Assets
-
£
Liabilities
-
£
Total
**38,122.95**
**£**|15,002.03
£|
||||16,176.55
£|
|||||
||||**31,178.58**
**£**|
|||||
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