2021-12-31-accounts

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			2021		2020
			g		£
RECEIPTS
Gifts,donationsandothervoluntaryreceipts
Income from group activities	3	7,048		7,255
Subscription	4	6,170		4,787
Donations and grants	5	19,354	32,572	18,467	30,509
Receiptsfromtradingactivities
Hire of equipment
Non-charitable trading	6	7,074	7,074	8,837	8,837
TOTALRECEIPTS			39,646		39,346
PAYMENTS
Paymentsdirectlyforcharitablepurposes
Expenses for group activities	7	8,517		5,741
Motor&travel expenses		5,326	13,843		5,741
Paymentsforpublicity,fundraising,
Managementandadministration
Non-charitable trading	8	4,430		3,206
Office expenses	9	36,552	40,952	21,224	24,430
			54,795		30,171
Otherpayments
Loan repayments and interest
TOTALPAYMENTS			54,795		30,171
(Deficit)/surplus for the year			(15,149)		9,175
Cash funds atptJanuary,2021			57,181		48,006
Cash funds at31 stDecember,2021			42,032		57,181

	2021	2020
Monetary assets	g	g
Bank current account Petty cash	40,560 1,472	56,635 546
	42,032	57,181
Debtors	Nil	Nil
Liabilities- current
Accruals	Nil	Nil
Liabilities- future
Loans	Nil	Nil
Liabilities- future and contingent		Nil

Income from group activities
	2021	2020
	g	g
Maintenance section Guides maintenance Capitation section Section activities	2,447 1,651 1,772 1,178	2,452 1,273 2,190 1,340
	7,048	7,255
Subscription
	2021	2020
	g	g
Sections	10,084	9,241
Less Memberships collected for the group	(3,914)	(4,454)
	6,170	4,787

5.	Donations	2021	2020
		g	g
	General donations	1,185	8,467
	Grants	16,335	10,000
	Gift Aid	1,834
		19,354	18,467
6.	Non-charitabletrading
		2021	2020
		g	g
	Gang show		3,575
	Gala day
	Christmas bazaar/raffle	98
	100 club and coach income	2,745	2,603
	Bonfire	3,342	561
	Scout shop	338	367
	Sundry	551	1,731
		7,074	8,837
7.	Expensesforgroupactivities
		2021	2020
		g	g
	Section activities	5,494	2,573
	Training education	40	30
	Capitation/maintenance	2,983	3,138
		8,517	5,741

8.	Non-charitable trading expenses
		2021g	2020g
	Fundraisingexpenses	1,725	1,026
	100clubprizes	1,562	1,491
	Scoutshop	1,143	689
		4,430	3,206
		2021g	2020g
9.	Office expenses
	Repairsandmaintenance	22,990	11,102
	Ratesandwatercharges	772	584
	Telephone	717	723
	Lightandheat	1,626	1,608
	Insuranceandsundries	9,125	6,848
	Printing, postageandstationery	1,292	359
		36,522	21,224

Annual Reports and Statement of Accounts Year Ending 31[st] December 2021

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held On

Sunday 2[nd] October 2022

at 12.30 pm at Thurmaston Scout HQ

APOLOGIES

---

CHAIRPERSONS REPORT

------TREASURERS REPORT

---

GUIDE COMMISSIONERS REPORT

------GROUP SCOUT LEADERS REPORT ------ELECTION OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FOR 2022 ------ANY OTHER BUSINESS

1

MINUTES OF THE 2021 AGM

Minutes of the AGM, 78[th] Leicester (1[st] Thurmaston) Scout Group held virtually via zoom on 30 June 2021.

Present : Mr Glynn Hartop, Mr Richard Warrington, Mr Tim Beaver, Miss Lauren Pickering, Mrs Kerli Bolc, Mrs Caroline Corley, Mr John Corley, Rev Tim Day, Mrs Elizabeth Lowe, Mrs Selina Thraves, Mr Colin Crane, Mrs Jane Crane, Miss Georgina Crane, Mr Jack Palmer, Miss Vicky Garrett, Miss Katie Hall, Miss Alice Hall.

Apologies : Mr Stuart Sharp, Miss Paige Nuttall, Mr Carl Pickering, Mr Reece Pickering, Mrs Alice Morris (Joined meeting at 7.40pm), Miss Amber Hussain

Mrs Susie Pickering, , Miss Harriett Thraves, Miss Alice Hartop, Miss Rachel Grocock-Matts, Mrs Susan Warrington, Ms Bijal Bhagwan.

The meeting opened at 7.30pm

Glynn welcomed everyone to this year AGM and thanked everyone for attending.

Matters arising from Previous Minutes:

Mrs Selina Thraves pointed out some typing errors to some names.

Report from the Chairman of the Group Executive Committee :

Glynn Hartop (Exec. Chairman), gave his annual report as previously submitted and included in the report distributed to those in attendance. Glynn reiterated that the HQ had been updated as far as electrical and building work, also that procedures and updates had been made to make the HQ acceptable and a safe place for everyone to be in regards to COVID regulations. Glynn thanked everyone for their hard work and a massive ‘Thank you’ to all Leaders for organising zoom meetings over the last 15 months and keeping members engaged. Glynn explained that the Group had bought a mini bus, which now can be used and hired. He was looking forward to seeing the Groups and meeting them back at HQ.

Richard Warrington extended his thanks to Colin Crane, David Woods, Jane Crane, Coops, Georgina Crane, Andrew Horsley who have been working very hard on the HQ and Grounds.

Selina Thraves thanked Alice and Katie Hall for painting the walls of the Guide Room.

Scouts Treasurer’s Report:

Please see report in AGM notes. Stuart Sharpe was not available to comment, however, Glynn Hartop said if any questions or comments to follow he will forward them.

Thurmaston District Guide Commissioner’s Report:

Selina Thraves spoke on behalf of Elizabeth Lowe and herself. Guiding reports were as per the circulated hand out. Selina said that it had been a very strange year. Huge thank you to all the Leaders and Volunteers. Special thanks to families and husbands for their support and understanding. especially when organising many zoom meetings. Selina paid special tribute to the last 5 years working with Elizabeth Lowe as Joint District Guide Commissioners.

Glynn Hartop thanked Selina and Elizabeth for their hard work and commitment.

Group Scouts Leaders Report:

Tim Beavers spoke on behalf of Richard Warrington and himself.

Tim echoed what Glynn and Richard had already said thanking the Leaders for their hard work. The Leader and volunteers, helpers, Exec Committee all do a wonderful job and are very much appreciated, especially organising engaging zoom meeting through the Pandemic. Membership is down which is mainly due to lockdown and the Pandemic restrictions, but without the Leaders using ways to engage and make interesting ways through zoom, more members would have left. Tim is aware that some Scout groups have closed completely and not survived.

The building is in much better condition, and the groups that are already back using the HQ are very impressed, so he is looking forward to the time when all Groups are back at HQ and hopefully back to ‘normal’.

2

North East District Report: Caroline Corley read out the Report from Bijal Bhagwan

‘I'm sorry that I can't join you tonight, but I am working.

It's been another strange year. Who knew that we would still be under restrictions this summer?

Well done to all the Leaders and the Exec for keeping things going. It's great to see that almost all your Sections are back. I'm sure the team will continue to go from strength to strength and any parents listening will surely want to join in the fun.

Have a fantastic summer and I look forward to seeing what you get up to in the year ahead.

Thanks,

Bijal’

The 2020 Exec. Committee resigned from their posts

Election of Committee for 2021

Richard confirmed that the following had been spoken to regarding their continuing role on the Executive Committee.

Chairperson : Glynn Hartop (Appointed by GSL) Treasurer: Stuart Sharp – Proposed by: John Corley Seconded by Kerli Bolc Group Secretary : Paige Nuttall – Proposed by Kerli Bolc Seconded by John Corley Nominated Members: Hillary Billings – Community Liaison Rev Tim Day – Local Church Elizabeth Lowe/Selina Thraves – Thurmaston District Guide Commissioners

All above proposed by Lauren Pickering seconded by Kerli Bolc

Elected Members:

Kerli Bolc (Assistant Treasurer) – Proposed by Lauren Pickering, seconded by Richard Warrington Lauren Pickering (Network Co-Ordinator) – Proposed by Vicky Garrett, seconded by Carline Corley Alice Morris(Guides) – Proposed by Caroline Corley, seconded by Richard Warrington Co-Opted Members:

David Wood – Maintenance Pete Ward – Transport Kurt Brown – Transport Colin Crane – Maintenance Jane Crane – Maintenance Andrew Horsley – Grounds Proposed by John Corley Seconded by Lauren Pickering

Any Other Business:

Caroline Corley passed on congratulations to the 13 x Long Service people she has sent their badges out to and the 6 x Wood Bead Badges that have/will go out.

John Corley said that the Uniform and Badge shop will be coming online shortly.

Caroline Corley thanked everyone for contributing to the Scouting Charity Shop on Narborough Road. The group will be receiving funds shortly which are due. Vicky Garrett asked about the funds. Caroline explained that as the Scout Group is connected with the shop and contribute services, they receive £15 per member. The shop is happy to receive donations.

3

Rev Tim Day expressed his thanks to everyone involved. He said very well done to everyone keeping going and getting back face to face.

The date of the next AGM is 13 June 2022

Glynn closed the meeting at 7.56pm

---

CENSUS FIGURES

Scout Membership	As at 31.12.18	As at 31.12.19	As at 31.12.20	As at 31.12.21
Beaver	22	21	20	17
Cubs	21	24	16	33
Scouts	23	23	18	25
Explorers	14	4	5	12
Network	18	18	23	22
Leaders	22	22	23	20
Instructors/Helpers	9	9	9	9
GROUP TOTAL	129	121	114	138

2021 REPORTS

100 CLUB & MINI BUS

The 100 club, now a ‘transportation’ fund, continues to run and has seen a successful year in raising continued funds towards the support of funding for sections for transport, as well as additional funds towards a minibus.

Jane Crane manages the 100 club on the Groups behalf and huge thank you to her and all those supporting it.

There are some spare numbers and if you’d like more information on the 100 Club, or to simply ‘purchase’ a number please send an email to Jane via: - [e-mail]

4

GROUP SCOUT LEADERS REPORT

The past year has seen Scouting in Thurmaston get back to business as usual and we seem to have shaken off the hangover caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Collectively the Scout Leaders, Assistants and helpers have maintained two Beaver Colonies, two Cub packs, a Scout troop and Explorer unit. Further, the Network unit (although not officially part of Thurmaston Scout Group) continue to meet at our HQ and support our wider activities.

Membership numbers remain high with only Tuesday Cubs having minimal numbers, all other sections are near to or at full capacity which shows that Scouting is still relevant and popular in our village. We would expect this demand to increase in the coming years with the Thorpebury housing development having begun to the east side of the village.

In addition to the standard sections we run a a canoe section and Scout & Guide Band. The canoe section meets on a Wednesday evening and has welcomed a new assistant leader this year. The section is open to any Scout or Guide age 11 or older. Apart from standard kayaks the section has a number of open touring canoes and a bell boat so a whole range of on-the-water activities can be arranged. It has once again been a year where sections have taken advantage of this by including an evening on the water as part of their programme.

The Scout & Guide Band (Thurmaston Marching Brass) continues to thrive and this year has seen a new intake of young trainees who are all very enthusiastic. The band is getting back to being busy and fulfilling a number of engagements at both local and national level. A special mention must go to Luke Warrington who is now a professional musician with the Welsh Guards. Luke grew up with Scouting in Thurmaston and was a keen member of the Scout & Guide Band having become an instructor with the band as well as running the Explorer section before he signed up. Our congratulations go to Luke on passing out as a musician with the Welsh Guards, all involved with the group are very proud of you and your achievement which is a fantastic example of the opportunities that Scouting provides.

On a wider scale the group maintains a good relationship with our sponsor Thurmaston Church as well as the Royal British Legion. Both organisations support the group in whatever way possible and the three organisations continue to collaborate well together in supporting village events.

Fundraising has been an issue this year. We had to decline multiple opportunities to raise funds through running the car-parking for the Leicestershire Schools Cross-Country events, due to lack of support. Gang show couldn’t be run (a very major fundraiser) due to the lack of certainty at the time of planning around Covid-19 restrictions. The Lights-Up event was a scaled-down version of what it normally is for the same reasons but the group did support it and some funds raised. We hope to run all our usual fundraising events as usual moving forward, however, these are dependent on the support of enough volunteers which we are severely lacking presently. A letter to parents appealing for help will be coming out in the near future, sadly if enough volunteers are not forthcoming then the Executive Committee will be forced to increase subscriptions to cover the shortfall.

Our thanks go to all of our Section Leaders, Assistants and helpers who all do an outstanding job in keeping Scouting alive and healthy in Thurmaston despite very busy lives themselves. Without this dedicate group of individuals there would be no group to run and they all not only volunteer their time willingly but run fantastic programmes for their section members.

Richard Warrington & Tim Beaver

Joint Group Scout Leaders

5

CHAIRPERSONS REPORT

Good afternoon all

Firstly can I say that this has been a very challenging year for the Group. We have seen the Groups come back to face to face meetings again after the very difficult times from the COVID period. We have coped extremely well and as I expected everyone has done their very best to give the young people who come here the very best experiences possible.

We have also managed to complete some more projects that needed to be done i.e the outside lighting, wiring etc. There is always something that needs doing and I would like to thank the maintenance team for completing these.

I would also like to thank the Exec committee for all their hard work. A big thank you must go to Alice Hall for jumping in the last minute to do the minutes for the exec meetings, and then I would like to thank Darren Gartside who has now taken up this post. I feel that I must also thank Rev Tim for his time and commitment. He has moved away from the village but was a prominent member of the Committee.

The committee has seen the introduction of the two new Girl Guiding Commissioners, Alice and Katie Hall, who are doing a fantastic job.

Lastly, I must say a massive thank you to the two guys who have taken up the post of GSLs. Richard and Tim, you are doing a brilliant job. Keep going, the Group is very grateful for all the hard work you are both doing.

The Exec Committee and I are also so very grateful to all the Leaders for their continued dedication and time that they give.

Yours in Scouting

Glynn Hartop Exec Chairman.

6

		78TH LEICESTER (1ST THURMASTON) SCOUT GROUP	78TH LEICESTER (1ST THURMASTON) SCOUT GROUP	78TH LEICESTER (1ST THURMASTON) SCOUT GROUP	78TH LEICESTER (1ST THURMASTON) SCOUT GROUP	78TH LEICESTER (1ST THURMASTON) SCOUT GROUP
			GROUP SUMMARY- END OF YEAR REPORT 2021
				Income(in)			Expenses(out)
	Sections subscriptions			5,147.21		Capitation & Maintenance	2,983.00
	Capitation,maint and rent in to HQ			5,870.00		Section Activities/Equipment	2,449.28
	Refreshments/Tuck			-		Sponsor & Trips	2,046.56
	Neckers/Badges/Scout Shop/Camp			338.70		Neckers/Badges/Scout Shop/Camp	1,143.90
	Interest			-		Stationery/Postage/Copying	1,291.85
	100 Club			2,745.75		Refreshments/Tuck	77.84
	Donations andgrants			19,354.00		100 Club	1,561.55
	Trips/Section Activities			1,130.00		Insurance	8,112.89
	Miscellaneous			200.00		TrainingCourses	40.00
	Fundraising			3,790.00		Miscellaneous	1,012.60
				-		Vehicle Expenditure	5,326.00
				-		Fund raising	1,725.00
				-		Utilitybills	3,115.00
				-		Property& equipmaintenance	22,990.00
	Total Income			38,575.66		Total expense	53,875.47
	Defecit for theyear			(15,299.81)
	Summary of cash held:
	Balance b/fwd at 01.01.2021:			-		Balance c/fwd at 31.12.2021:
	- Cash held			545.58		- Cash held	1,397.70
	- Bank balances			56,635.43		- Bank balances	40,483.50
				57,181.01			41,881.20
							-
	The 2021 groups accounts have currently not had an Independent Examiners Review of the financial records, this will happen shortly.

7

TREASURERS REPORT

The group’s accounts are currently with our accountants so that they can complete an Independent Examiners Review of the 2021 financial records.

The accounts for the year show a deficit of £15,300.

Income

Income levels have stayed in line with the prior year at £38,575 (2020: £39,346).

Subs had not been increased since 2016, and a decision was made in late 2020 to increase subs in 2021. This was delayed and only implemented from 1 October 2021, the delay was due to the pandemic as we were not running fully until later in the year. We are currently completing a review process in respect of subs levels and fundraising to ensure the group is financially secure in the future.

Fundraising was severely hit by the pandemic and we reduced subs in 2020 and 2021 to assist parents and reflect the fact that we could only hold virtual meetings. This was largely offset by Local government grants that the group was able to claim.

Our funding levels pre pandemic allowed the group to run on a day to day basis and fund smaller one off projects but we had a number of larger projects that required additional funding and we have had to use built up reserves to pay for these projects. Further large projects will need to be funded by fundraising events or grants as we depleted our free funds in progressing a number of projects which took place when the Scout HQ was not being used due to the pandemic.

Expenditure

Expenses for the year amounted to £53,875 (2020: £30,171).

The increase in expenses relates to the spending on a number of larger maintenance projects at the HQ, these equate to around £10,000 of the increase. The balance was then due to a change in how the insurance had to be paid (Increase of approx. £4,000) and the costs of purchasing the group minibus of £5,000.

We are currently debt free but if required we are able to obtain loan funding from Scouts at a national level. Loans will only be taken if urgent maintenance projects need completing that we were unable to fund from our reserves or through grants.

Funds held

Funds held are broken down as follows:

Held by individual sections £22,871 (2020: £24,325) Held in main HQ fund £19,010 (2020: £32,855)

Sections funds

The average funds held by each section within the group equates to £2,500 (2020: £2,700), and is used to fund the purchase of new equipment and section activities. Certain sections need to build up cash reserves to enable them to replace costly equipment, this is especially relevant to the Band and Canoe sections where new equipment can be a few thousand pounds. Each section is required to provide a breakdown of why they hold the level of funds that they do.

8

HQ funds

The main HQ fund is has been allocated as follows:

	2021	2020
Capitation fund	3,655	2,983
Shooting and Archery	275	446
Coach fund	-	5,000
Quarter Master Budget	500	500
Gang Show Budget	500	500
Maintenance Budget	7,000	10,000
Purchase of Defibrillator	-	1,837
Walesby Group Camp funds	985	539
6 Months reserves	6,000	6,000
General funds	95	5,050
	19,010	32,855

As a group we have a policy to hold free funds amounting to £6,000. These are held to cover unexpected costs or a fall in fundraising income.

9

SCOUT SECTION REPORTS 2021

WEDNESDAY BEAVER COLONY

Beaver Scout Leader - Susie Pickering/Danielle Eaton Ass BSL - Ruth Atkins & Lauren Pickering Colony Instructor – Sandra Hunt

2021 started off as 2020 finished, with us still doing our weekly meetings over zoom. Zoom had its positives, where we could still offer the Beavers a weekly meeting whether they got from it the skills that they would normally from our face-to-face meetings or just giving them the opportunity at such a strange time for them to still see their friends on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic there was no Gangshow and as much as it can be hard work and time consuming, I think secretly as Leaders we missed doing it, especially with some of our Beavers moving onto Cubs and us not seeing them up on the stage. Even though it was slightly different it was nice to be apart of the St George’s Day service over zoom.

Even though we were on zoom for half of the year the Beavers still managed to gain numerous badges. Zoom challenged us and made us think of different ways to deliver the evenings but whilst still enabling the Beavers to achieve and learn. Over zoom we did a virtual sleepover, had a reptile owner and many more exciting activities. To say I was excited to get back face to face was probably an understatement and to see the excitement of the Beavers on the first evening made the extra preparation well worth it. Once we were back face-to-face, we did our first ever Bell Boating session with the Canoe section to which the Beavers and Leaders had so much fun, we will definitely be doing it again. One of the main and proud events of the year was being able to be back out doing the Remembrance Day Parade again.

Like a lot of other Groups/sections the pandemic didn’t help with our numbers. We had Beavers moving onto Cubs, but new starters didn’t want to start whilst we were on zoom and for some of them, they had reached Cub age or found something else to do by the time it came round to us going back face to face. As we approached July it was looking like we were possibly going to be down to 1 Beaver at the end of the Summer. With thanks to Donna for her help, we both contacted the local schools and sent our recruitment flyer electronically so they could be attached to their weekly school letters, posters and leaflets being put up around Thurmaston and surrounding areas. I then started to get interest coming in, to which by the end of the year we had 9 members and some on our waiting list.

During the year we have awarded 12 challenge badges, 48 activity/staged badges and 6 Chief Scout Bronze awards. Also, during the year, the awards weren’t just given to the Beavers but the time and dedication the leaders have put in was also recognised with Susie receiving her Bar to Medal of Merit, Ruth receiving her Award for Merit and Sandra receiving her 30 years long service award.

After 38 years of dedicated service, we said farewell to Susie in October, as she made the difficult decision to retire from the section. Susie has brought the section on from when she first took it over and now is her time to do something for herself. We wish her all the best and the door will always remain open. At our Christmas Bowling trip we also said farewell to Lauren who has made the move from Beavers to Scouts. We also wish her all the best and good luck in her new role within the Group.

I would like to say thank you to Ruth and Sandra for their continued support since I took over from Susie in the running of the section, to which the awards that were presented to them were very well deserved. I would also like to say thank you to the other leaders within the Group and the GSL’s for their help and support during the take over period and which continues towards myself and the section. Finally, I would like to say a thank you to the Beaver parents for being so understanding with how we had to do things at the beginning of the year on-line and slowly re-adapting to being face-to-face.

Danielle Eaton

10

FRIDAY BEAVER COLONY Beaver Leader- Donna Leahy

Assistant Leaders – Sarah Bird, Julie Heywood, Sophie Heywood, Eleanor Leahy, Evelyn Bird & Ian Wells Young Leader – Joshua Thraves

Friday Beavers started 2021 as we had finished 2020, at home on Zoom! During the spring period we completed many different themed activities, with the emphasis on games and fun, as the Beaver Scouts were definitely missing the social interaction of being at school. Our themes included the Beaver animal, Australia, Communication, Animals, Dinosaurs, Wild West and Superheroes. We celebrated Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, St. David’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter, including an Easter Egg Hunt hidden by parents around the house, and we read clues out live online.

On 23[rd] April we held our own St. George and the Dragon themed meeting, and then took part in the group St. George’s Day service - two Beaver meetings in one evening.

On 7[th] May we returned to face-to-face scouting. The enthusiastic cheer from Beavers and parents alike when we discussed the plans the week before was heart warming, and after a year online it was lovely to see everyone in real life again. Due to good weather we were able to hold our meetings outdoors and we completed our Gardener and Global badges, decorated bug houses and made jelly fish. We went on a nature walk around Watermead, and a scooter hike too. The one evening that we were unable to meet at the headquarters and there was wet weather we held back on Zoom, and started the new Money Skills badge that had only been introduced that week. Friday Beavers will be some of the first Beaver Scouts in the country to have gained the activity badge.

During the summer we held an Olympics evening and tried lots of different sports. We hiked to Barkby, made kites and cooked outdoors. Bell Boating was a massive success, and the Beavers loved taking part. A big “thank you” to Jez, for running the activity.

During the autumn we learnt about the Beaver animal, completed mini pioneering challenges, visited St. Michaels church, took part in a glow stick trail, a Halloween party, an international evening about Denmark, learnt about Remembrance and took part in the village Remembrance Sunday parade. A visit to the Aladdin pantomime in Loughborough was enthusiastically enjoyed by the Beavers and leaders alike. Festive crafts and our traditional Santa Hat walk in the village completed our year.

It has certainly been (another) strange year, and we are so glad that we have been able to return to face-to-face scouting. That said, as a leadership team we have certainly gained new skills, and some of the activities that we completed online will definitely be used again. Despite it looking ‘on paper’ that we have lots of leaders, we are very rarely all available on the same Friday evening due to work and family commitments, and helping the newer leaders continue to develop their leadership skills is a priority for 2022.

During 2021 we have awarded over 120 badges including 4 Chief Scout Bronze awards.

Friday Beaver of the Year for 2021 is Taetum White-Fisher.

Thank you to everyone who has helped Friday Beavers during 2021.

Donna Leahy

11

TUESDAY CUB PACK Section Leader – Amber Hussain Assistant Leader – Micky March

No Report Submitted.

THURSDAY CUB PACK Section Leaders – Samantha Sharp and Kurt Brown – Helpers Ed Hartop and Kerli Bolc

We started the year continuing with our online scouting program which proved quite challenging to come up with interesting ideas that would keep the cubs motivated and enjoyable, considering that almost all of them were still having to do virtual learning at school too.

The termly ‘activity boxes’ with weekly packages inside to complete either over google meet or independently on a week where we had no live meeting continued to thankfully keep the Cubs engaged.

We enjoyed a varied programme during the period including virtual cooking together, model making, musical instrument making, Astronomy tasks and even some unique photography skills learnt and shared; We especially enjoyed the patterns produced with long exposures and glow sticks!

The cubs continued to gain badges over the lockdown period of the year, but we were all relieved to meet up face to face, albeit with some challenges faced with social distancing activities!!!

Gradually as the year progressed there was some relaxing of restrictions culminating in finally going to ‘green’ where we were able to camp finally! As soon as we were able, we booked the scout hut for a weekend camp which was very successful. This included a bike ride to Abbey Park and although the ride back was a bit soggy (British weather) our spirits were high.

Whilst this year has been challenging, I am pleased to say that the program delivered, and the dedication of our leaders/ helpers have kept the kids inspired and interested enough to attend the meetings regularly throughout.

I believe going forward we have a lovely group of cubs that will make excellent role models for new members joining. They all get on well and support each other. They undoubtedly enjoy almost all the sessions put on for them, as they partake in all activities with enthusiasm and obvious enjoyment.

Samantha Sharp

12

SCOUT TROOP

Section Leaders – Carl Pickering, Kim Suffolk, Jack Palmer, Lauren Pickering and Terri Derbyshire – Section Helper Hiten Mistry

The section has moved forward since coming out of lockdown.

It was nice to get back to face to face with the members, some we had never really met before excepting on Zoom meetings

Throughout the year we again kept our numbers up and remained at a constant 20 members.

Gold Awards were given to Alfie Pole, Ethan Wade, Harrison Munday and Thomas Smart they completed the expedition in Staffordshire

We managed some investitures with new scouts

Our normal Scouting activities began to resurface, and we started with many outdoor activities including hiking/shooting/archery/canoeing this was to give them back what they had missed for many months.

The Leaders also got back into the groove by teaching lots of basic Scouting as a lot of the members are quite young and had missed being led by the older Scouts who had now moved to Explorers, we now have a very young Scout Section

But throughout the year the members attended the weekly meetings both on Zoom and face to face they completed all tasks we gave them,

We still managed to give out many badges for all activities completed throughout the year.

St Georges day was different instead of a big parade in the city, we again held our own Thurmaston Scouts Service virtually for the 2[nd] year in a row and all promises were renewed by the section members and leaders. It was in conjunction with Thurmaston’s own Church St Michaels and all Angels the service was led by Father Tim Day and Richard and Tim our 2 Group Scout Leaders

The Remembrance Day service was held and was back to normal as a parade through the village

I would like to thank Kim//Terri/Jack/Lauren and Hiten for their help throughout the year. But was a sad end of year Hiten sadly gave up his woggle after 10 years, he will be missed by the section leaders. Terri due to working for the NHS and her own illnesses had to miss the face to face, we hope to see her back later in 2022

Leaders and helpers are still needed to ensure the continued existence of the Scout Troop, if anyone wishes to help even if only on odd evening, then please contact any one of the Section leaders.

We are looking into the future as soon as we can to try to set up a parent’s rota to help on the section night with running activities and getting the drinks ready. This would only mean 2 parents per week (so with the numbers we have once every 10 weeks or so) Thank you to all the members, parents/carers for their invaluable support throughout this unusual year so that we were able to continue through this stressful year and hopefully keep the members engaged

Friday Scout Leaders

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NORTH EAST EXPLORERS Section Leader – Chris Downie/Lauren Pickering Assistant Leader – Jack Palmer

2021 allowed the Explorers to get back to meeting, face to face.

The section is encouraged to design their activity programme themselves to be able to accomplish results and share responsibilities. The programme of activities was geared around accomplishing the Chief Scouts Platinum Award. This included preparations for hikes, a camp and learning new skills.

New members joined the section from the Scout Troop and new section Leaders Lauren Pickering and Jack Palmer took over running the section when current Leader Chris Downie took a step back.

The section thanks Chris for his leadership and wishes him good luck for the future.

Richard Warrington

NETWORK Co-ordinator - Lauren Pickering

Looking back at 2021, Network was very different as it was for many scouting sections!

We had to get used to meeting face to face again along with preparing and planning all section evenings around the COVID rules and guidance – it took some getting used to for sure!

We kept a steady membership at 22 and hoped to increase this throughout the year as we managed to complete more varied activities We see Network Scouting as the perfect stop gap for those that do not want to leave Scouting but are not quite ready to take on a Leadership role however many of the members are already leaders at sections within 78[th] and also further afield in the county!

We also hope that, even though we weren’t able to last year, we would like to assist the local British Legion in counting and recording donations for the Poppy Appeal as we have in previous years

North East District Network are stronger than ever, and we hope to continue this growth throughout the upcoming years

Lauren Pickering

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CANOE SECTION Section Leader – Jez Pole

No Report Submitted.

BAND SECTION

Bandmaster – Richard Warrington Asst Bandmaster - Steve West Musical Director – Darren Green Guide Liaison - Vicky Garratt

The past year has seen the band return to a near normal routine of rehearsal following the pandemic. The young musicians were keen to get back together and continue where they left off in 2020.

The social aspect of the band and meeting friends of all ages is something that was missed by everyone involved.

We continued to do some additional one-to-one rehearsals for those who wanted to which helped them progress even further.

With the world opening once again so too were the options to go and perform.

The band performed at the Great Central Railway at a 1940’s weekend which did a Remembrance type event. The band members also got the opportunity to ride the trains and enjoy the event.

Later in the year members performed the construction of the Drum Head for the annual Festival Of Remembrance on stage at the De Montfort Hall.

The band performed at Leicester Tigers just before Christmas and were given tickets to watch the match too!

We closed the year by putting on a Christmas Concert, once again, which has become an annual event in our calendar. The event at St Michaels and All Angels had a packed audience and allowed the band members to showcase their talents.

Trombonist Luke Warrington commenced his Army basic training and subsequently completed it followed by a prestigious pass out parade in May. Next stop was phase 2 training in Portsmouth at the Royal Corps of Army Music.

The Traditional Youth Marching Bands Association held some ‘train the trainer’ style events for senior band members and leaders which covered teaching techniques, conducting and other essential topics. These involved musicians from the Royal Corps of Army Music.

2021 also allowed us to prepare for a recruiting campaign which we started in earnest at the beginning of 2022 with a very successful influx of 14 new trainee members from the Scout and Guide Group.

2022 looks set to be even busier as we look to take part in more events and hopefully retain our new trainees.

As Bandmaster I remain proud of the achievements and effort put in by all the members, especially under such strange circumstances with the pandemic. I would like to thank the Scout & Guide Group and all those concerned with the running of the band for their continued support, enthusiasm, and undoubting ambition to give youngsters the opportunity to achieve so many life skills, and much more.

Richard Warrington

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If you would like to get involved, have a question, like to volunteer or have a child who would be interested in joining one of the Scout sections please get in touch by contacting us at [e-mail]

Or contact us direct: -

Tim Beaver – Joint Group Scout leader - Email [e-mail] Richard Warrington – Joint Group Scout Leader – Email [e-mail]

Our Group offers sections to cover all ages.

6-8 years Wednesday or Friday. Make friends and try new indoor and outdoor activities

8-10 ½ years – Tuesday or Thursday. Learn practical skills while having adventures with friends

10 1/2 -14 years – Friday Build confidence, resilience and a sense of adventure

14-18 years - Tuesday Take the lead, work together, and embrace new experiences.

18-25 years – Thursday Hone employability skills and achieve top awards

The Group also provides additional activities with a Canoeing section and a marching band too which are open to all sections and ages!

We’re proud to help young people develop skills for life What are you waiting for? Start their journey…………….GET IN TOUCH! Send an email to [e-mail] today!

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