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2022-05-01-accounts

Greater Manchester North County Scout Executive ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2022 $1 ,IFI*I , i&.tyè,.

County Commissioner Report

I’m going to keep this short as those of you that know me well, know that once I start, I don’t always know when to stop talking. Many of the meetings that I hold over run because of my gift of chatter!

This past year has seen us return to Scouting with renewed vigour and a thirst to support our Youth members. All around us we have been embracing life and enjoying our return to delivering a full and balanced programme.

Our county building, which was empty for 18 months now echoes with the sounds of leaders completing face to face training and the recommencement of our young leadership programme. Our campsites across the County have become hives of activity as groups have returned to camping promoting what we all do best- providing fun, laughter while delivering Skills for Life.

Summer 21 saw us a county begin to prepare for WSJ 23. Initially we were allocated half of a contingent with 2 leaders but with a lot of time and planning we were successful in securing a full contingent 36 young people and 4 leaders who will be off to South Korea to enjoy the opportunity of a lifetime. We have since appointed our WSJ contingent leaders and they are currently in the process of building a strong team with our 36 contingent members.

We are also fortunate that we have adult members who are part of the international and contingent service teams for WSJ 23. As you can imagine they are all kept busy fundraising.

October 21 saw us appoint Kim Carmylle into the role of District Commissioner for Bolton Moorland. I’d like to welcome Kim to the County Team and thank my 5 other District Commissioners Dave, Alan, Lee, Rob and Liz as acting DC for the support that they have given Kim as she grows into the role of DC.

Scouting embraced the challenges Covid 19 presented us with and you as leaders have turned these challenges into achievements. Your commitment to our youth members has meant that as a county we achieved the second highest growth of membership in the Country, which is something all of you should be proud of.

I would like to thank Stephen for being my County Chairman. Stephen runs the County Executive smoothly and efficiently and is a really good counter balance when we discuss the challenges and quick wins that we have as an executive. I am very lucky to have such a supportive County Executive composed of Clive treasurer, Sheila Secretary, Pat, Chris, Anne and Keith Chris T and Kim who endeavour to keep us all safe and efficient.

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And thank you to our County Team, Paddy Chris, Liz, Ann and Pat and our ACCs Chris, Steve and Kathy who ensure that you all have the support that you need to run a balanced programme.

So finally, can I say a big thank you to all of you here tonight, those of you that are busy running meetings, those of you that were unable to attend the AGM and every wife/husband/partner/ grandparent and youth member that supports you the leader to get meet with our youth members every week regardless of the weather. Without you all, I wouldn’t be here tonight to support you in delivering Scouting. Thank you.

Cathy Ward

County Chairman’s Report

The County Executive continue to provide essential support to our County Team and Districts and I very much appreciate all the hard work and good scouting they do “behind the scenes”. It is a great achievement for the Counties membership numbers to bounce back so strongly after two years of little or no Scouting and I thank all the leaders in Districts and Groups for all the hard work that they have put in to make that possible.

We started the Scouting year with selection weekends for the County contingent attending next year’s World Jamboree in South Korea. Having attended all the selection weekends, I was hugely impressed by the qualities and enthusiasm shown by all our contingent members, I take enormous encouragement and great pleasure in seeing the contingent coming together as a team, ready for the Jamboree. Congratulations to Darren, Norma, Amanda and Billy on being selected as the Counties Contingent leadership and good luck for all that’s ahead.

Over the last year I have managed to get together with all the District Chairmen. This was a longplanned event but only managed this year and I hope we can continue to help support and encourage each other. Welcome to David in Bolton South with Farnworth, Claire in Bolton Moorland, and thank you to Sue, Michael and Garry for sharing all your experience with our two new Chairman. A particular thanks to Michael for all the support he has given Praw’s district as acting Chair, whilst still keeping ahead in Bury and Ramsbottom.

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The County building has started to come back to life and the meeting rooms and kitchen are all looking good. Our attention now turns to the first floor and an upgrade to the bedrooms and facilities. Chris, Andy and Rachael have made good progress and I thank them and all their teams. For the future, it would be useful to attract grant aid and funding, so if there is anyone in the County who has skills with such applications, I’d love to hear from you.

I look forward to a very busy year ahead, safe in the knowledge that we have the skills and knowledge in our executive teams to meet all challenges.

Stephen Allan

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Deputy County Commissioner Programme

With everything going on in PRaWS, I haven’t had much time to visibly spend on my DCC role but we have managed to provide a County Mystery trip for the Beaver Scout Section. My thanks to Mole in particular for opening up her District event to the County and organising the trip.

We also organised a County Skills Day in the summer at Ashworth Valley. Although numbers attending were lower than hoped, everyone had a fantastic day learning new skills and picking up new information from our resource desk. Again, my thanks to the organising team.

Liz Farr

County Transformation Lead

As some of you will know we have some changes coming over the next 12-18 months, Cathy has asked me to lead these changes in the County, supporting Districts and Groups to move to the ‘new world’, the areas of change are :

We are in the understanding and planning phase at the moment so early days but I look forward to supporting the County, District & Groups to implement the changes over the coming months.

Liz Farr

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County Treasurer’s Report

The CAF and NatWest Bank Accounts are all functioning well with a minimum of two signatories on all payments. We have now updated our mandates and have any two from four authorised signatories for all expenditure payments. As I alluded to last year, activity since restrictions were lifted following Covid has increased my workload some ten-fold since this time last year with Jamboree monies coming in and scouting activities now in full swing but this is what it should be like. Communications with HQ are still difficult but it is starting to ease as new staff are employed following redundancies and losses during the pandemic.

The year being reported is the first full year of trading since taking over the County Scout Shop. Nearly all sales have been on-line and we have now moved to essentially a cashless system. During the year we had sales of around £1000 each month and over the year showed a surplus of around £1,500. The online activity was supported by Alan Sharkey who also undertook an electronic stock take for me at year end. Thank you, Alan for your endeavours. Monica Fowler as always has been a stalwart in running the Scout Shop on a day-to-day basis – thank you Monica. Finally, on the Scout Shop, I must offer my thanks to all the helpers who ‘man’ or ‘pack-up’ parcels for the Shop throughout the year.

Now looking at the financials, income exceeded expenditure in the financial year to 30th April 2022 with our reserves increasing by some £24,500 to around £148,000. The increase in reserves is associated with Jamboree fundraising and monies transferred from Districts / Groups / Sections which have been transferred to the County for ‘safe keeping’ while new bank accounts are opened for these entities. These funds are classed as restricted funds and will be paid back in due course. This year the surplus on normal activity was approximately £4,500 compared to a deficit of £5,600 the previous year.

Income in the financial year was nearly 80% of the last pre-pandemic year 2019/20 and was more than double last year’s income. As last year, we again received some £10,700 in the form of Covid grant aid. Without which, we would have shown an overall deficit. Expenditure this year was just under £75,000 with operational scouting expenditure just under a third of this figure. The vast majority of the operational figure was associated with the first Jamboree payment, together with costs of the Scout’s Monoply event in October 2021 and pre-costs for the Beaver trip to Chester Zoo just after year-end in May 2022. Total administrative costs amounted to more than £52,000 included the cost of replacing the two gas boilers and overhaul of the central heating system at over £10,000, adult training costs of £7,500, the purchase of Online Scout Manager licences costing nearly £11,000 and the Scout Shop stock purchases of £10,000 (reported previously) with £13,000 covering HQ utilities, minor repairs and insurance costs.

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From the County Levy of £7.50 per young person (unchanged from 2021 and still below the levy of £9.50 in 2020) we raised £27,630 (£20,470.50 in 2021) from 3,684 (2,721 in 2021) members. This level of membership is still some 20% lower than the most recent peak pre-pandemic of 4,672 members in 2020. The County is rebuilding its numbers and we hope we will recover the ground lost in the next two years. After all our young members and adult leaders are our most important asset. Without them we would not be here.

One aspect I have never reported on is the HQ building at Middleton, the property is our largest valued asset with my estimate around £750,000. In recent years we have heavily invested in the property in an attempt to get it in a good condition and attract local business to use the site for meetings and training activities in conjunction with Cardinal Langley School use. Much of this work has been coordinated by the Building Team who are unpaid volunteers headed by Andy (Eddie) Edwards and Rachael Barron. We should express our thanks to all who work on our behalf and benefit of Greater Manchester North County Scout Council’s young people.

Finally, at year end we had total monetary reserves of £148,000 of which some £42,000 are restricted funds. Giving a figure for our un-restricted funds at around £106,000 over the past 3 to 4 years these un-restricted funds have reduced by about £5,500 annually to a level I personally feel happy with. Even though there is still uncertainty as we move out of Covid with the added war in the Ukraine, I believe the Executive will feel we have ample reserves moving forward.

Clive R Fenn

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DCC Active Support AGM Report

County Shop: - Key focus

After the successful implementation of Phase1 for the GMN County shop I think it is important to reflect briefly on some of the important steps as we move forward to Phase 2 .

Phase 1: -1st year 2018:

Phase 1a: -2nd-3rd year 2018-2022

Massive thank you to all concerned as I consider that getting through COVID, opening the digital shop and eventually the reopening the HQ shop is a major success.

As we move forward into the 4th year of the GMN shop we are entering the Phase 2 of the plan.

Main Goals and plans for Sept 2022 onwards:

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I do know the above sounds quite challenging but we are now entering a phase which will be more crucial as we move forward. Some of you will not be happy with the changes but we feel as and HQ team and County shop management team that these changes are required to move forward with our goal of making our shop the number one go to Scout shop outside Scout HQ which people use in the UK. This will be our phase 3 target.

Building Team

Opening up after COVID meant that the building needed some TLC. The priority has always been to get the downstairs into a good usable safe condition, at the expense of the upstairs. However, this is now being addressed. Also, along with the rest of the country, the impact of the Fuel crisis is yet to be fully realised.

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Successes

Eddie and the team have had 2 successful open weekends crewed by volunteers doing numerous tidy up activities and reorganisations of the HQ plus the general day to day activities supported by Rachel and the team.

New kitchen emergency exit fitted new signage new blinds approved emergency plumbing all upstairs rooms cupboards ripped out shop refit and new shop door

Improvement Activities still outstanding

There are some immediate issues which need a fix such as the roof above the Gladstone building is leaking and the carpets and flooring are in need of some TLC, upstairs emergency lighting and corridor lighting still out of commission, new beds required upstairs. Then we will be able to offer a full range of activities at the HQ.

Other activities

Climbing and Water Activities GMN run are still suspended unless run at the HQ. All equipment has now been transferred to Bibbies. Assessors now have permits after a successful event held this year. D of E from GMN is still being coordinated by Ann, this along with top award support need to be readdressed as we move forward.

My thanks to all the team whom supports GMN activities and give up their time to make Scouting great.

Chris Taylor

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County Training Manager

This year has felt like a new start with face-to-face Scouting really getting underway. We were delighted to run a number of courses.

Management and Supervisory courses aimed at Group Leaders and District Supporters are designed for adults to be equipped with leadership and people management skills that are so important for our meetings with young people.

The modular courses have been successful and in running them at several places across the County has resulted in awarding 186 Wood Badges – the premier award for Adult Leadership.

Every Scout Group and District has Trustees to ensure their Leadership manages the provision to young people and through their training we can expect this support to continue.

The training that every should adult undertakes – Safeguarding, Safety and First Aid skills is now mandatory for all adults and because its gives us skilled adults we can be assured that our young people are safe and do what Scouting is all about, having FUN and ADVENTURE.

I also record the expert support and skills of our team of Trainers, and Training Advisors that, often behind the scenes, train, record and validate our adults showing their commitment to the development of our young people.

Pat Farr

County Appointment Secretary

Good Service Awards received from Aug 2021 – April 2022

The award process is working well now in the simplified online format. However, for any award to be considered, every volunteer must be up to date with their mandatory training units and the training required for their specific role(s). This includes all leaders and administrative volunteers. If anyone has a completed PLP please make sure that this has been converted into a Wood badge, where required.

Listed below are the details of those Good Service awards received since August 2021

Name Award District
Rod Lloyd SW Bury & Ramsbottom
David Butterworth BSA Bury & Ramsbottom

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Tygga Wright SA Pennine
Richard Gahan SA Bury & Ramsbottom
Austin Thornber (Cub Scout) Meritorious Conduct Award Bolton Moorland

In addition to these we have had 15 other awards across the County

I’m sure there are many more worthy people out there. If you know anyone who has completed a minimum of 5 years’ service and holds a Wood badge for their role, or anyone who has held an administrative post for 5 or more years, with appropriate training, then they are eligible for consideration for an award. If you know of someone or would like further information, then please contact me.

During the coming months, the Compass database is due to be migrated to a new system. It is essential that everyone’s records reflect their service and training before the new system is operative. Please pass this message out to all our volunteers.

Anne Williams – County Awards Recipient secretary@pennine.gmnscouts.org.uk

ACC Scouts

What year we have had! Our Scouts from all across the county have been making good use of the “return to normality” to get out and about camping, conducting expeditions, day trips to far flung attractions and pretty much everywhere else you could imagine to find a troop of Scouts. It has been great to hear stories from Scouts who not only have travelled to places such as Switzerland, Austria and Red Rose jamboree but also those who have stayed closer to home for their overnight experiences this year. We have amazing camping facilities on our doorstep at Ashworth Valley, Bibby’s Farm, DogHill and Giants Seat all within the county boundary and I have had the pleasure to visit all over the past 12 months to see our Scouts having a great time with their mates, the smiles on their faces are so infectious it’s a pleasure to be a part of this (even if it’s just a small part) this is why we do what do.

My year has seen me visit a number of troops to present Chief Scouts Awards which I love to do as it gives me the opportunity to hear about all the hard work our “kids” are putting in to their own self development and it gives me the chance to be inspired by all the amazing adult volunteers and young leaders that spend their week nights ensuring these awards are attainable to all. I thank every one of

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you and I hope you know how AMAZING you all are. I have supported leaders with obstacles to their training and also advised adults and young leaders on how to get the best out of their programmes (they know what they’re doing they just needed a nudge to be confident).

I have also had the pleasure of organising the now annual “Monopoly Run Manchester” event aimed at Scouts and Explorers spending the day running around the Manchester city region completing various tasks and hoping to be declared the winner. We had Scouts attend from as far away as Aberdeen, Milton Keynes and Norfolk and our County Scouts did an amazing job with GMN teams coming in joint 2[nd] and 4[th] place so a huge well done to them and also to all the GMN leaders who volunteered on the day.

We cannot escape the sad times over the past twelve months and I have been supporting a number of charities and Scout troops who are supporting the refugees coming out of Ukraine, a wonderful occasional badge was commissioned and our CC has authorised the wearing of this badge as an occasional badge, a huge thanks to Cathy for this. The badge has raised thousands of pounds which has all gone to directly support those displaced by the war.

Thank you to all our volunteers who have made my job easier by you all being so amazing and full of the enthusiasm that is evident in the number of Scouts we have within the county, if they didn’t enjoy it then they wouldn’t be here!

Steve McNee

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ACC Cubs Report

I met with the ADCs for the first-time face to face in May 2022. Unfortunately, only two districts were represented but it was discussed and agreed that we would not offer any County Cub Activities this year. The ADC’s would concentrate on supporting the packs within their districts. It was felt that Leaders in general are lacking motivation and enthusiasm following the pandemic and recruiting adult volunteers continues to be very difficult

However, there has been lots of activities at District levels including Incident hikes, district rambles, St Georges Day activity days including renewal of promises and opportunities for nights away at district camps.

With lots of ideas to discuss during our meeting in September for the forthcoming year I am hopeful that more Districts will be represented. I will continue to be there to support the ADCs to provide great opportunities for our Cub Scouts and to ensure our Cub Leaders feel valued and well supported.

Kathy Temple-Heald

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GMN DofE County Adviser Annual Report

Bolton South with Farnworth (includes all ESUs in the District)

Level Active Participants Awards completed since the last AGM
Bronze 21 5
Silver 7
Gold 1

Heywood ESU

Level Active Participants Awards completed since the last AGM
Silver 3
Gold 7
Phoenix ESU
Level Active Participants Awards completed since the last AGM
Bronze 3

Network Age Group for Participants without a DofE Leader (looked after by County Adviser)

Level Active Participants Awards completed since the last AGM
Silver 1
Gold 1

Rouhi ESU

Rouhi ESU
Level Active Participants Awards completed since the last AGM
Bronze 8

Number of current participants active and inactive Gold=32; Silver=37; Bronze=87

- Participant usage number of logins

= In past month =21; In past 2-6 months 34; No login for 6+ months 89

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There are fourteen DofE groups registered in GMN, but only five have active participants. This decline is partly due to Covid restrictions and partly due to more Scouts choosing to do the Awards through their schools.

Ann Chambers

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Acting District Commissioner Prestwich, Radcliffe & Whitefield

Who knew a year ago when we last met what the next 12 months would bring. After some difficult times in PRaWS District, I was asked by Cathy in September 2021 to take on the role of Acting District Commissioner. Firstly, I would like to thank everyone in the District for making me feel welcome, continuing to provide quality programmes week in, week out. I have really appreciated the honesty and openness in conversations & meetings so that together we have been able to resolve issues and move forward. The role of a District Commissioner can be a lonely place but I’m pleased that everyone has worked as a team to develop the district.

We have done a lot of work in implementing correct processes and systems where that was needed, encouraging and supporting where necessary and through it all having a great deal of fun. My time as Acting District Commissioner has now come to an end and a new DC recently appointed. There is still more to do and I have every confidence that the new District Commissioner will do just that.

Sadly the 23[rd] Group has recently closed due to low numbers, lack of adults coming forward to support the Group and Peter’s (GSL) ill health. I would very much like to record my grateful thanks to Keith and the Leaders from the 25[th] who helped Peter run the Group over its last months and also to Peter for his very long service in the District and County. Peter continues to be Local Training Manager.

We have been very lucky in that three of our young people were selected to attend the next World Scout Jamboree in South Korea in 2023. They are now busy fundraising to get them there, we hope they have a fantastic time before during and indeed after the Jamboree. The District Executive approved a donation of £250 each towards their fundraising.

PRaWS put on a District Fun Day in the summer when Groups laid on events to raise funds for our three Jamboree participants. A great day was had by all and an additional £340 was donated to each participant.

Liz Farr

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District Commissioner – Bolton South with Farnworth

In Last year’s report, we made a promise to the district on four points.

  1. Delivering more skills into the district Thanks to the Whole District Team, we undertook this at the District Skill Day last year at Bibby’s Farm. We also continue to support groups or sections who ask for help or need some support.

  2. Recruiting more Adult Volunteers

Census shows we have increased on adults joining the district by: 2.1% keeping our appointment chairman busy.

  1. Funding District Scouting.

We have helped x2 groups this year with funds and have plans in place to continue subsidising the District Camp in 2023. We also supported our Jamboree contingents with a donation.

  1. Keeping everyone safe

Thanks to everyone for keeping on top of training and DBS checks. We have seen an increase of outdoor events and nights away and thanks to everyone for keeping all safe.

Again, year on year we are humbled by the dedication of our inspiring adults. This year saw the 1st Rumworth begin its taster sessions. The 1st Rumworth is based at Rumworth School and delivering Scouting as a special skill set to those pupils. A huge thanks to the district leaders for giving up their Monday for the District Taster we offered to

the school. We are also in talks with Kings School, whom are very open minded in bringing Scouting to that area.

As for census figures, we are up across all sections since pre-covid and close to our pre-pandemic numbers in young people and adults.

This year saw us return for the St Georges Day Parade. This outdoor event again saw the weather turn up for us and we had some amazing feedback, mainly from parents, who passed on many messages in regards to feeding back on the awards. It was good to see leaders receiving awards and being thanked.

Lastly, I’d like to pay tribute to all the leaders, exec members, helpers and everyone involved within Scouting. The past few years have been difficult and the support you gave young people and the growth the district has seen is something we will never forget. Thanks for everything you do.

Rob Pimblett

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Pennine District Commissioners Report

It’s been a year of recovery for the Pennine District. As we entered March 2021, we were just out of the lockdown but Zoom meetings were still rampant and some groups hadn’t started back. The group I run didn’t start back in our hut until after Easter and I am sure others were the same.

But from there, it got better and better. I’ve looked at the census figures for 2021 and compared them with 2022. We had a 19% increase in young people over that period – which is almost 1 in 5. This is fantastic in two ways – firstly that we were able to keep so many during the pandemic and that we have managed to regain so many since it. We are still not yet back to the 2020 figures, but to be honest, with all the changes at group level, I don’t expect us to get there any time soon. All groups apart from one have now restarted and that one is planned to start in July.

The biggest impact has been on the leader numbers. We dropped a long way and are finding it hard to regain our numbers from 2020. I think everyone recognises this and we are all are pushing hard on recruitment. I know TSA have some new initiatives which Pennine will be looking closely at over the next few months.

But enough of the doom and gloom. Scouting is still well established in the Pennine District and we are all enjoying getting back to normality – especially now that summer has arrived (as I write this, a heavy rain cloud is overhead – but I don’t care. As DC I have to approve Nights Aways and I am seeing an increasing number of these landing in my inbox. This all bodes well for scouting. As a GSL I am looking at my group’s numbers for now and in the future and I have already had to close my forward waiting list as we are full for anyone over the age of 4. I am also seeing an increase in days and evenings out – indicating a healthy growth in section activities. All good stuff.

We have started two Squirrel Drey’s at the 1[st] Heywood and the 7thA Rochdale and they are doing fantastically well. I visited one evening and was delighted by the fun and enjoyment that the Squirrels and the leaders were having. We plan to open more Squirrel sections during the coming year and I can only see this getting better.

The 9[th] Heywood have completed the rebuild of their Scout HQ. I visited it and it is superb. If you get a chance for a visit, please go.

Awards are still coming through. I was proud to see silver Wolf awards for Stephen Walthall, Doug Sutton, John Salisbury, Alan Hart, and, Gail Walthall. We also had silver Acorn awards for Norma Brandon, Chris McLaren, Sandra Roberts, Neil McClure, Paul Forrest, and Mark Hollis. There have been

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many other awards as well; far too many to mention in this short report. Congratulations to everyone – they are all well deserved.

Of course, none of this would be possible without our great leaders. From the occasional helpers up to section leaders and GSLs; I see happy smiling faces and it is obvious that everyone involved enjoys being there and sees Scouting as something essential to our future. So, a very big THANK YOU from me to all of you. Without you all, we would not have Scouting in Pennine.

I’ll close the report here and stop rambling on. I wish you all Happy Scouting for the future.

Alan Sharkey

Bolton Moorland District Commissioner’s Report

Following a year of change for the District, in April 2021 we were allowed to come back to face-to-face meetings. Even so there were some restrictions still in place, but we coped and what a joy it was! Some groups were still unable to return as they couldn’t gain access to their meeting place, some chose to delay further just to be certain we would be back and stay back, but in general, as a district, we have recovered well. That can only be due to the hard work by all our leaders, the young people, and the parents. So many risk assessments, so many updates on what and when and how but we did it.

Inevitably there have been some casualties and these are mainly due to lack of leaders. However, there has been some imaginative thinking by groups, and as a result some have found new premises to meet that are better than where they were before. Sadly, we have closed 1 Explorer Unit and another group has not been able to reopen all sections.

We have provided financial support to groups as well, paying capitation for some and supporting refurbishment of a building where the group does not have access to the funds to do it themselves.

In July Paul Mather resigned as DC. Following a search and recruitment campaign by the County, I was appointed as DC at the AGM in October 2021. I was told by several people outside the district that I had a lot of work to do, as we were a broken district. I absolutely disagree, I have found a district that provides amazing opportunities for young people, some inspiring programmes, and leaders who very quietly work together without any fanfare. I’m also very grateful that I have a group of people happy to work with me and support the district, brimming with ideas. I took on the role with a tiny Executive, no treasurer, no Chair, and a minimal District Team. We now have a nearly full District Team, and we most certainly have more than any of the original districts had for a very long time plus a new Treasurer and a Chair.

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This year we changed how we celebrate Scouting and St Georges Day. Originally, we planned a fun day at Bibby’s. This quickly evolved into a District badge day for all sections, including Explorers. With over 400 young people present, our parade of flags around the campsite was of a size that it took over 6 minutes for the entirety to pass a given point. It was a joy to be able to support the renewal of promises, with many parents and friends present. The Beaver promise was also signed in BSL. The Cubs collectively renewed theirs in Makaton. The highlight is always the presentation of awards. There were tears when David Allen’s family was presented with his 70-year award posthumously. It was also a great joy to present an award for Meritorious Conduct to a young cub who despite complex medical needs had been fundraising for the Alder Hey Childrens’ Hospital ‘Wish upon a star’ campaign.

This year we also have 8 young people selected to join the Greater Manchester North Contingent to the WSJ in South Korea in 2023, and a further 3 leaders (one of whom will turn 18 3 weeks before they leave) going as part of the International Support Team (IST).

So, while the past year has been a year of change and upheaval, hopefully the ripples are settling and we can look forward to being able to provide fantastic opportunities for young people, and have a lot of fun along the way.

Kim Carmyllie

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World Scout Jamboree 2023 Report

The county Jamboree Journey started last May with the allocation of 2 patrols (a patrol consists of 9 young people and 1 leader) for the 2023 Jamboree in Korea. As the county led a whole unit consisting of 36 young people supported by 4 leaders to the 2019 Jamboree in West Virginia reaping many benefits to Scouting within the county during and after the Jamboree, it was considered essential that we applied for an additional 2 patrols with the aim of supporting a full unit from within the county.

In late June, we received the exciting news that the county’s bid had been granted and Unit 52 from Greater Manchester North Scout County was conceived.

Selection of leaders was very much influenced by the young people who had attended the last Jamboree. Nineteen adults with an adult Scouting role within GMN applied and after two selection rounds, the four leaders were chosen. The leadership team Daz Widdrington (Leader), Norma Brandon (Deputy Leader), Amanda Whitehead and Billy Pullan as Assistant Leaders.

One of the hardest things we’ve had to do

The four leaders were then tasked with running a selection process for young people. Overall, eight live recruitment evenings were held throughout the six districts, one being recorded. Attendance was great on most of the evenings and it was heartening to have 66 young people apply for the 36 places at the deadline date of 2[nd] January 2022.

The selection process was run over three selection days and consisted of a number of team challenges completed throughout the day. The aim was to recruit a diverse group of young people reflective of the county scout membership who demonstrated their aptitude to work as members of a team. Thank you to the many members of the county who ran bases or supported a team during that event, the standard was very high, scoring was difficult and despite dealing with the many challenges that the Covid restrictions threw at us, the process was fair and resulted in an even split of 18 male and 18 female young people. Selection 36 from the 66 applicants was one of the hardest things we’ve ever been asked to do.

All young people involved in the process were informed by close of business on 30[th] January whether they had been successful, and our first meeting was at the end of that week in Friday 4[th] February when the county commissioner presented their UK scarves and their Jamboree journey began.

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Fundraising

The Jamboree journey consists of some camps, some socials, some Scouting activities and a lot of fundraising. The young people and the leadership team are challenged with raising £4000 to attend the Jamboree and have to come up with a plan to meet this challenge. We’ve asked everyone to keep a fundraising diary and we have been astonished at the commitment of the young people, their parents, their families, their scout groups and scout districts and their friends in supporting the amazing effort.

Unit 52 has to raise a total of £160,000 by the end of May 2024; fundraising started in February and the unit has raised over 45% of the total needed – at least two of the young people have already exceeded their target of £4000 and are continuing to raise the funds to help other members of the unit. Seven of the young people have also been successful in applying for assistance from the National Jamboree Dream fund, meaning their totals have been reduced from between 40% and 7% of the total sum due. The response of the general public has been terrific and a number of councils have also looked very favourable on grant requests from parents and scout groups. There are a number of requests still to be submitted.

By the end of September, each member will have been required to pay £1200 into the Jamboree fund, with further payments in November, January, March and May. It’s a pretty gruelling schedule – but most parents and young people have found some way of garnering support from their local area and most of the young people are confident that they will meet the payment schedules provided they continue to receive support from their scout group and district.

The young people have fundraised at spring and summer fairs, bag packing, bucket collections, fitness classes, village days, the Heywood 1940s-day, Coffee mornings, cake sales, Afternoon teas, Movie Nights, Quiz Nights and refreshment stalls. Billy organised the Heywood Summer Fair and invited all the Jamboree members to run a stall, this was very well supported by stallholders and local people. People have been very generous and very supportive.

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We’d like to hold a Christmas black tie event with the young people serving their families and friends but don’t have a room large enough with a kitchen to allow us to do so. If anyone can help us bring the idea to fruition, that would be fantastic.

County contribution to the Unit:

The first payment of £400 was due at the end of February 2022. This initial was paid by the county, with the participants repaying the £400 sum over their payment plan. This payment plus lots of initial outgoings means that the county does have to substantially support the Jamboree Unit in its first year. The team are very grateful for this support. This support is very much appreciated as is the mentoring and support of the unit leadership team.

First Challenges

Our first challenge was to make some decisions and design our Unit badge. We met at the end of February at the PRaWs district HQ in Whitefield. The young people brainstormed a unit name and concluded that Bees with Seoul was a great name and from that developed our unit badge (in the footer). We are all very proud to wear it.

We also decided that we’d like to go to Naples to visit Pompeii as a practice at going through an airport and dealing with another country. With the price of flights increasing significantly, this is proving hard to do as group flight prices are not reflective of the internet cheap pricing strategy.

Paperclip Challenge

On the camp at St Annes in May, the young people split into their patrols and visited local towns and retail centres. Their challenge was to upgrade their paperclip into something more valuable. All patrols returned with items far more valuable than their paperclip and all had gained in their confidence with dealing with members of the public.

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Red Rose Camp

As a lot of the young people had no camping experience over the last 3 years due to the Covid restrictions, it was thought imperative that the unit members attend a 7-night camp to help them to prepare for the 3 weeks of the Jamboree and pre-Jamboree event in Seoul. The objectives were also to gel them more as a unit and to start to understand how they will be supporting each other whilst ensuring they get the most of their Jamboree experience next year. Many lessons were learned as the temperatures on camp were similar to those, we are likely to experience in Korea. I think everyone learned that they’d need more Powerpacks to keep their mobiles charged and that sitting in the shade

is much more preferable once the temperature gets up towards 30 degrees C.

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Socials

We’ve also held a few socials – a planning day with Bowling, a meal out at Kimji Korean Restaurant in Ramsbottom and a hike with a BBQ in order to encourage the young people to make friends with each

other. The socials tend to be more ad hoc dates with the camps fully scheduled.

Unit 52 DIARY DATES

8th October 2022: Monopoly Run Manchester

14th – 16th: October 2022: Training camp 3

5th – 6th November 2022: Sleepover/Movie night, Brookside, 19[th] Bolton Scout HQ

13th – 15th January 2023: Late Christmas Camp, County HQ, Training Camp 4

24th – 26th March 2023: Training Camp 5, venue TBC

30th June – 2nd July 2023: Training Camp 6, venue TBC

1st – 12th August 2023: Actual dates for the!!!25th World Scout Jamboree!!! Travel dates yet to be confirmed.

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We would very much like to do a weekend trip abroad to testing going through an airport and being properly away from home too – but flight prices for next year have increased considerably and we are having difficulty doing this within our training budget.

All of our fundraising and meetings are on our Teamup calendar https://teamup.com/ks9t7bib61niad1ryd

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LT70(KWJ6- Exarninees Report to the Trustee5 Uuly 20191 England & Wales Template I: Unqualified report for a non-company charity preparing receipts and payments accounts with a gross income of £250.000 or less in the relevant financial year Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Greater Manchester north county Scout CounciL I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Greater Manchester north county for the year ended 30th April 2022. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees of the Greater Manchestèr north county you are rèsponsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 I'the Act'l. I report in respect of my examination of the Greatèr Manchester north county accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Art and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the app￿cable Direcbons given by the Charity Commission under sectitsn 14515llbl of the Act Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect. accounting records were not kept in respert of the Ilnsert Scout Group/District namel as required by section 130 of the Act.. or the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understsnding of the accounts to be reached. Signed.. / Name:Robert Mcintyre Relevant professional qualification or membership of professional bodies lif any).. Address'.10 MayfieLd Avenue, Farnworth Bolton Date'.26" lune 2022

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