Worcester District Scout Council DC Report 2021 It would be fair to say that the Worcester District Scout Council financial year ending March 2021 saw significant changes and disruption. Our young people, our parents, our leaders and our executive had all been affected by Covid 19 in some way, whether that be selfisolating, shielding, working from home or home schooling. The challenges just kept coming. When lockdown happened and the Scouts took the decision to suspend all scouting activity, we really did not know what this would mean for our Movement, but we adapted and our leaders and young people rose to the challenge. At the time of our last AGM we had no idea that another 2 lockdowns would come our way and just as we returned to scouting, we had to head back to the world of virtual sessions and activities. Once again our leaders and our young people rose to the challenge, although we knew that the mental wellbeing of many of our members suffered and for some, struggles to return to a sense of normality. They were supported by our Group Scout Leaders and Group Executives and I personally want to thank and applaud each and every one of you for again facing this challenge, not once but 3 times and I am proud to say that our groups are all back to face to face scouting as we head through a new scouting term. As a result of the lockdowns and the move to virtual, Scouting in Worcester took a significant hit in terms of our numbers based on the 2021 Census. Census – The highlights for Worcester District. - Youth membership down 21% - Adult membership down 3.4% - Beavers down 21.4% - Cubs down 20.2% - Scouts down 7.6% - Explorers down 35.6% - Network down 31% - We now have 994 YP in district which is a reduction of 264 - We now have 360 Adult members which is 14 down on 2020. - Worcester now at 1354 members (down 278) Whilst unsurprising, these numbers reflected the fact that we lost just over 270 members over the 12 month period. Whilst that in itself could be seen to be a disappointing reflection of Scouting in the District, I am pleased to report that most groups are now back up to capacity with lonely new leader numbers constraining our ability to expand. During the year it was necessary to close one of our groups – the 13[th] but plans are already in motion to reopen in the first half of 2022. We started our pilot to relocate Explorers provisioning from District to group operations and are seeing the stabilisation of our numbers as a result. And we saw the commencement of the first new section in over 30 years – the Squirrels – our provision for 4 and 5 year olds and have 2 groups in the first cohort to start to provide this within the district. We have had our young people strive towards their top awards and have awarded not only our Bronze to Gold but Explorer Belt and Queen Scout Awards too. This is in spite of the recent challenges and again demonstrates the adaptability of our leaders and the commitment of our young people and their support network. Our District Team was focused on during the year with Team DC being established. We also brought on board ADCs in Cubs and Scouts who are just starting to make headway with the teams. We had a very active AAC during the 12 month period with backlogs being worked on to bring outstanding AAC interviews down to nothing. Our Faithful Fellowship SAS unit were understandably quieter during the 12 months to March 2021 with many members shielding or being more cautiojs for a number of reasons. Stephanie has decided to step down as Unit Manager and my heartfelt thanks to her and her stalwart leadership. We have a number of nominations to take forward for her replacement Our large events had to be placed on hold for safety reasons and we look forward to being able to properly celebrate a return to face to face scouting with our usual St George’s Day parade in 2022, restrictions and guidance allowing. Remembrance Sunday and Christmas events will be on a very much scaled down basis this year again in line with restrictions and how we can operate within current guidelines and external provider requirements. Our District Executive continued work quietly in the background ensuring that scouting is run in accordance with our guidelines and rules and that there are no barriers to scouting in our District. They support our growth initiatives and ensure all young people wanting to benefit from scouting can. During the year we funded development of the outdoor space at 7[th] Worcester so scouting could continue face to face. We also agreed a major contribution to the provision of time from the county development officer to help grow our numbers across all sections. Additionally we have set funds aside to bring groups back to face to face scouting post covid and have committed funding to securing the final refurbishment of the old Venture hut at 8[th] which is now known as the Den. Amanda Coglan has decided to step down as Chair at this AGM. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Amanda for being a sounding board and a calm voice during challenging times and giving up her time to support the District. I am delighted that my nominee for the next Chair of Worcester District Scout Council has agreed to be nominated. I believe that they will help drive the District forward more proactively in a post covid world. We would always welcome additional members to our exec to ensure we have a well rounded and representative team to take us through the next 12 months of change as we continue to shape the District in line with our current strategy. I hope you will consider nominating yourself or someone that you know, that you feel could enhance the Executive. So that was the year that was. This will be my last AGM as DC as I am stepping down as of this evening. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me in this role – particularly Sid Sidley at County and the GSLs and to my two DDCs Lee and Cam. Your support has been invaluable, and your guidance accepted without prejudice. I wish you all continued great scouting experiences and putting young people, fellowship and youth led scouting at the heart of everything we do. Clare Angel District Commissioner Worcester District Scout Council. 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