## _**Scout Promise**_ _On My Honour, I promise that I will do my best To do my duty to God and to the King, To help other people And to keep the Scout Law_ ## 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual Report 2022/23 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual Report 2022/23 Contents **Agenda for 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual General Meeting 2023 Minutes from previous years AGM 2021/22.** **Group Chair's Report 2022/23 GSL AGM report 2022/23 Financial Report Year Ending 28th February 2023** 2 Registered Charity Number:521753 Version 1.0 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual Report 2022/23 ## **Agenda for 73[ rd] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual General Meeting** ## **Sunday 14th May 2023 – John’s Lee Wood Campsite.** 1. Welcome and introductions. 2. Apologies for absence. 3. Agree minutes of previous AGM. 4. Receive and adopt the Annual Report for the previous financial year. Exec to answer any questions. 5. Receive and adopt the Financial Statements for the previous financial year pending independent examiner's acceptance and approval. Exec to answer any questions. 6. GSL to seek approval of their nomination of the Group Chair . 7. Chair to seek the election and appointment of :- - a. Group Secretary - b. Group Treasurer 8. Election and co-opt members of the Group Scout Council to the Group Executive Committee. 9. Authority for Treasurer to appoint the previously used Independent Examiner for the coming year. 10. AOB 11. GSL - Scouting Awards 12. Close of meeting 3 Registered Charity Number:521753 Version 1.0 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual Report 2022/23 ## **Minutes for 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual General Meeting 2022** ## **11am, Sunday 8th May 2022 – John’s Lee Wood** **Present:** Bethan Dodge, Peter Dodge, Lorraine Price-Jones, Matthew Price-Jones, Sean Williams, Rebecca Chick, Paul Chick. District Representative and Group Parents/Carers. 1. The Scouters in Charge (Bethan and Peter Dodge) opened the mee�ng at 11:00 and introduced the key people 2. Apologies received for absence: - Paul McMorran, Alastair Paterson 3. Agree minutes of previous AGM The minutes of the 2021 (Zoom) AGM were accepted. 4. Receive and adopt the Annual Report for the previous financial year (just ended) The annual report for 2021/22 was received and adopted. 5. Receive and adopt the Financial Statements for the previous financial year (just ended) The financial statements for 2021/22 were received and adopted. 6. Elec�ons and Appointments - a. Group Chairman Paul McMorran was nominated as Chair by Bethan Dodge, seconded by Rebecca Chick - b. Group vice Chairman Paul Chick was nominated as vice-Chair by Lorraine Price-Jones, seconded by Bethan Dodge - c. Group Secretary No Secretary was in post, and an appeal for a new secretary was made at the meeting. 4 Registered Charity Number:521753 Version 1.0 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual Report 2022/23 - d. Group Treasurer Rebecca Chick was nominated as Treasurer by Matthew Price-Jones, seconded by Peter Dodge 7. Appointment of the Independent Examiner for the coming year It was approved for the group treasurer to source and appoint the same accountant as 2021/22 8. Elect and/or co-opt members to the Execu�ve Commi�ee The following were elected to the Executive Committee: - Sean Williams Lorraine Price-Jones Matthew Price-Jones Bethan Dodge Pete Dodge Alastair Paterson Andy Stone 9. Agree subs for September 2021 It was agreed to delegate the agreement to any subs revisions to the Executive Committee 10. Scou�ng Awards & Inves�tures. Various members were invested including the Network section leader, Paul Chick. Various members were presented with awards. 11. AOB Nothing reported 12. Close of mee�ng Meeting closed 11:32 5 Registered Charity Number:521753 Version 1.0 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual Report 2022/23 ## **Report of the Chair of the Group Scout Council** Dear fellow executive committee members, leaders, parents, and supporters, I am pleased to report that the past year has been another successful year for our scout group. Despite the challenges posed by re-starting Scouting post the COVID-19 pandemic, we have continued to deliver a high-quality scouting program to our members. Firstly, I would like to thank all the members of our executive committee for their hard work and dedication over the past year. Your commitment to the group has been outstanding, and it is through your efforts that we have been able to overcome the challenges we have faced. I would like to thank the outgoing previous Chair, Paul McMorran for his exceptional service to the group and also to the outgoing previous Secretary Ant Unwin. Our leaders have done an exceptional job in re-starting Scouting and ensuring that our young people continue to have access to a fun and educational scouting program. I would like to thank them for their tireless efforts, which have been much appreciated by our members and their parents. This year has seen a very busy year of HQ maintenance to ensure scouting can continue at the HQ for many years to come. - Most of the HQ has been re-wired and emergency lighting fitted. - Many of the external doors and fire doors have been replaced. - Windows and external fascias have been replaced. - Stairs to the stores have been replaced. - A lawn mower has been purchased for maintaining the grass levels for outdoor Scouting. - Group Kit has been inspected and a programme of repairs and replacement has been put in place. - A full asbestos survey has been completed and areas of asbestos have been safely removed from the HQ. - After suffering bout after bout of vandalism, CCTV has been fitted to the HQ which has reduced the attacks dramatically. The Exec has appointed a local Solicitor to negotiate a new long term lease with the Parish Council. Now the Parish Council elections have concluded we can push for a signed lease that will enable the Scout group to carry on Scouting and also push for funding from various grants which need a suitable lease in place to fulfil their requirements. The Scout Group is working with other groups in the community including the Groby Juniors Football Club to store their equipment for match days on Quarry Park, and also The Bike Project, where the Scout group is a drop off point for the charity that then give bikes and training to asylum seekers and refugees. We have 6 Registered Charity Number:521753 Version 1.0 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual Report 2022/23 collected over 75 bikes so far, of which over 70% of them have been given to people who really need them. I am pleased to report that our finances are being managed carefully, and we are trying very hard to minimise the rise in costs to our members as the costs of the Group increase. The improvements carried out so far have been funded by a number of grants. Particular thanks go to Rebecca Chick for her hard work in obtaining those grants. Future fundraising and grant applications are urgently required to finance the immediately needed improvements :- - Flat roof replacement is urgently needed. It has come to the end of its life and can no longer be repaired. This will cost in the region of 10k-12k - Refurbishment of the end of the building that houses the toilet facilities. This will be a major project. - Various parts of the Group’s camping kit needs to be repaired and replaced. This year will be the 73rd year of the 73rd Leicester (Groby) Scout Group and we are looking forward to celebrating this with the village. In conclusion, I would like to thank all our members, leaders, parents, and supporters for their continued dedication and support. Together, we have achieved great things over the past year, and I am confident that we will continue to do so in the future. Thank you. Yours in scouting, Paul Chick Acting Chair. 73rd Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Executive Committee . 7 Registered Charity Number:521753 Version 1.0 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual Report 2022/23 ## **Report of the Group Scout Leader.** ## **GSL AGM report 2022-2023** This year as a group we have been back to normal meetings and activities as pre covid. Holding 2 group Camps and the older sections, Explorers and scouts, having their first week summer camp in 3 years DofE which Dennis started for us last year has continued with them doing their first practice silver hike and planning for their assessed hike later in the summer. We are very fortunate to have a very active group within Groby (Beavers - 24, Cubs - 28, Scouts - 22 and Explorers - 38) offering traditional scout meetings and activities.. We would like to thank the Exec on the work they have done this year. Particularly the ongoing building maintenance, new windows at the front of the HQ and ⅔ of the building being re-wired. Ongoing work continues with the re-roofing of part of the building, I am sure you will all have noticed the ceilings being removed in areas of the HQ. Looking ahead we plan to renovate the toilets and group room area to ensure Scouting can continue into the future. This will mean major funds need to be raised - upwards of £40,000. To continue this work we need more help with Leaders and Exec members. We need more helpers on section nights so we can continue the excellent programme we already offer and enable us to increase numbers, as we have waiting lists in all our younger sections. We also need more people in our exec. We have a good core of people but need more help to share the work - getting building quotes, applying for grants, helping with basic maintenance of the building as well as help planning events such as our 73rd birthday which is coming up this year in June. To start the fundraising we have a Family Funday to celebrate 73 for 73 on the 17th June followed by a Chef and Spice curry evening on the 2nd October. Look out for the wish list as well which will be coming your way soon. If you are able to help in any way however small please come and see us. YIS Peter & Bethan Dodge Scouters in charge 8 Registered Charity Number:521753 Version 1.0 73[ rd ] Leicester (Groby) Scout Group Annual Report 2022/23 ## **Financial Report - Year Ending 28[ th ] February 2023** We began the year with a very healthy bank balance of almost £46K, mostly due to grant funding received during the Covid 19 pandemic. A planned overspend in the year of £9,000 means we finish the year with just over £38K across all accounts. Over £5,000 of this is earmarked to pay annual capita�on to the Na�onal Scout Associa�on, a further £5,000 will pay the final invoice for the HQ electrical upgrades, and we need around £10K to replace the HQ flat roof. This leaves our cash reserves depleted. Membership income has returned to pre-pandemic levels, though with the ongoing cost of living crisis we were forced to slightly increase monthly subscrip�ons. The rental income from the Guides is inflated as it includes payment from the previous accoun�ng period. We received the final payment from the City District Building Fund, a total of £10,000 across 3 years. Online fundraising is slightly higher than in recent years. The Amazon Smile online fundraising scheme ceased in February 2023 but we are due a final quarterly payment plus a one-off addi�onal dona�on from the scheme based on average dona�ons for the past 12 months. Easyfundraising will con�nue as normal. The Group was selected to be one of three benefactors for the Co-op Community fund, running for 12 months from October 2022. The dona�on will be paid in October ‘23 and is expected to be in the region of £3,000. A few further sales of unwanted items plus dona�ons for the use of the HQ and equipment brought a miscellaneous income of £300. As the Sec�ons and Group as a whole returned to ‘normal’ Scou�ng post pandemic, income for Camps, ac�vi�es and trips increased significantly when compared to the past few years. The Group now also offers the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme. All camps, ac�vi�es etc are budgeted to break-even and we have been largely successful with this, the surplus showing in the accounts is advance payments for camps in the next financial year. The cost of running sec�on mee�ngs and our members' successes mean the sec�on costs and badge purchases are also significantly higher than in recent years. The cost of running and maintaining the HQ con�nues to be our largest expense. Our u�lity usage has returned to pre-pandemic levels, but costs did not rise as we were in the final year of our 3 year fixed rate contract. A new contract has been nego�ated but even with this in place we will incur a significant rise in u�lity bills in the future. The installa�on of CCTV Cameras helped us halve the cost of our building & contents insurance and has reduced the an�-social behaviour at the HQ. The ongoing program of HQ refurbishment has seen the front entrance and rear fire doors replaced, the windows and wooden panels at the front of the HQ replaced, the uneven stairs to the Stores replaced and the HQ Electrical system updated. At a li�le over £21,000 this has been a huge financial undertaking by the Group. Moving forward the Group needs to carefully manage its funds. Monthly subs will increase a li�le in the new financial year to cover the rou�ne costs of running the Group and the HQ. The flat roof will be replaced and work to finance the refurbishment of the Toilets and Leaders room will commence shortly. A claim for Gi� Aid for the past 3 years is under-way and further funding opportuni�es are constantly being explored. As always, a final thank you to our young members, parents, adult helpers, leaders and volunteers. Without everyone’s ongoing support Groby would not have the ac�ve, successful and financially secure Scout Group we are. Rebecca Chick Group Treasurer 9 Registered Charity Number:521753 Version 1.0 (L ry J * (o t￿¢0 00 Q(N 00 MCLV ¢cs Ci o 888 888 In r r*) Lf> tx C OC•0 888 inpmOID 0￿0 (ll ¢D £ J S&L>L)L)O O ￿ ffi t)) ¢£1 ONO S CT) O ffi O Ir> * a) In c) 171 O ¢vi o (N o) sr C* Q o ro In ci o)v CL Z LL £ 0 (0 4&u L)(JLU )couwa (L ry J * (o t￿¢0 00 Q(N 00 MCLV ¢cs Ci o 888 888 In r r*) Lf> tx C OC•0 888 inpmOID 0￿0 (ll ¢D £ J S&L>L)L)O O ￿ ffi t)) ¢£1 ONO S CT) O ffi O Ir> * a) In c) 171 O ¢vi o (N o) sr C* Q o ro In ci o)v CL Z LL £ 0 (0 4&u L)(JLU )couwa