Lees Wood Scout and Guide Activity Centre (Registered Charity: 810314) LEESWOOD SCfjLfr¢ cA)IbE Reports for the Annual General Meeting For the 2024 year to be held on 29th April 2025 a charity which operates as 'Lees Wood Scout and Guide Activity Centre" sltuated on land known as 'Lees Wood" at Fir Tree Hill, Chandler's Cross, near Rickmansworth in the county of Hertfordshire. The land comprises 17.34 hectares147 Acres) of woodland and is freehold property jointly owned by the District scout Councils of Watford North and Watford South, the adjoining field purchased in 2010 is owned by the charity'Lees Wood Campsite. and brings the total freehold area of the whole site to approximately 70 acres. The charity operates according to the Policy, Organisation and Rules of both 'The Scout Association, and 'The Guide Association,. SECRETARY.. Mrs Catherine Farman BOOKING SECRETARY: Mr lan Leach LEES WOOD CAMPSITE, CHANDLERS CROSS, REPORTS AGM 2025
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 2024 Charity Trustees (see below) G Raven (Camp Warden) Vacant (Chairman) C Farman (Minute Secretary) A Small (Treasurer) l Brunt- nominated by Watford North Vacant - nominated by Watford North D Fayer- nominated by Watford South J Wright nominated by Watford South J Banks nominated by Girlguidlng Hertfordshire, South West Division G Batchelor nominated by Girlguiding Hertfordshire, South West Division A Hampton (Fundraising Lead) CO-OPT MEMBERS lan Leach (Dep Warden), and Roger Sands CHARITY TRUSTEES The two Scout District Lead Volunteers and District Chairpersons of Watford North, and Watford South and the Girlguiding South West Herts Dlvision Commissioner are the Charity Trustees and as such are ex-officio members of the Lees Wood Campsite Management Committee. CUSTODIAN TRUSTEES The Scout Association Trust Corporation, Gilwell Park Chingford London E4 7QW BANKERS CAF Bank Limited, 25 Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ Metro Bank. 113 High Street, Watford, Hertfordshire WD172DQ INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TaxAssist Accountants, 117 High Street, Chesham, Buckinghamshire HP5 IDE htt www.leeswood,or
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 2024 Jack Mawhlnney- Dlstrirt Lead Volunteer, Watford North Scouts As we reflect on 2024, it's clear that Lees Wood has had another brilliant year. We marked 60 years of adventure, growth, development- and of course, muddy bootsl The phrase "Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints,, attributed to Chief Seattle in the late 18005, feels especially fitting as we look back. l joined the Lees Wood trustee board last year. following my appointment as District Lead Volunteer for Watford North on 23rd April. IYS been a busy and exciting year. We welcorned Keith, the Watford North District Chair. to the board, and were pleased to welcome back Anne Johns, Girlguiding Hertfordshire - South West Division. too. A huge thank you goes to our instructors and service crew who give up their own time to deliver the activities we all love and to care for our much-valued site. On behalf of the trustees, I'd like to extend our sincere thanks to Graham, lan, Nick, Sean and Bruce for their continued hard work and dedication. A special mention to Bruce, who recently joined Graham's team and has already made a huge contribution by rewriting every single risk assessment for the site- no small feat! As 2024 drew to a close, we saw Mark and Debbie step down as Activity Co-ordinators after an incredible 10 years of service. We're very grateful that they remain on the service crew, and I'm sure you'll all joln me in thanking them for their years of effort in organising instructors, running courses, and keeping our equipment maintained and in good order. We were fortunate to fill the role qulckly, and are pleased to welcome Fran Rogers, who is now working alongside lan to ensure groups continue to enjoy great activity sessions. This year also brought another increase in visitor numbers and actlvlty bookings- a fantastic reflection of the team's hard work. We introduced Axe Throwing for Scouts, Guides, Explorers, Rangers. and Adults, and made some positive changes for 2025: while prices remain the same, we've added evening one-hour activity sessions and introduced free camping for leaders. One of our biggest milestones was celebrating Lees Wood's 60th Anniversary. While not many of us were there back in 1964, the names and efforts of those who helped establish and grow the site are far from forgotten. Fundraising continues for our new volunteer centre, and we're hugely grateful to Ali Hampton for leading and coordinating the campaign. We're all looking ahead to 2025 with excitement and optimism - and we can't wait to see what the next chapter holds for Lees Wood. Thank you, Jack Mawhinney On beholf of the Lees Wood Trustees
Wardens Report 2024- Graham Raven 2024 was a busy year for the team at Lees Wood with camping and building bookings returning to previous levels. Looking ahead. bookings are at present exceeding our expectations and 2025 looks promising. With new safety policies introduced by the Scouting Association we have appointed a new Assistant Warden (risk) and have rewritten all our policies, procedures and site risk asse5srnents to bring us in line with the new expectations. In line with the mantra of Providing Skills for Life we have an ambitious plan for training more of our tearn in the core skills so that we can provide a robust, in-house training facility for local groups and leaders. I was hoping that we would by now be in a position to start work on our new Crew Quarters, however so far this has not been forthcoming due to funding setbacks but I'm hopeful that this will see some traction this year as we explore new avenues and formulate new plans wlth our new Trustees. Our 60th Anniversary Camp held last summer was an enormous success with over 1000 attendees enjoying a fun filled weekend and enjoying everything Leeswood has to offer. including the unpredictable great British weatherl Yet again we have seen the impact of winter on our precious woodland, with the loss of over 30 mature trees being lost to the ravages of storm Darragh, the team here have worked tirelessly in removing and processing the timber to get us ready to reopen safely. As always, I must publicly thank our dedicated team for their continued focus and reliability, without them my job would much harder.
Treasurers Report 2024-Amanda Small The Accounts have been drawn up on a 'receipts and payments, basis consistent with previou5 years. The Trustees of the Charity as at the 31" December 2024 are the Chairmen and District Lead Volunteers of the Watford North and Watford South Scout Districts and the Girlguiding Hertfordshire, South West Division Commissioner. "Lees Wood Camp Site" will be referred to as the Charity in these notes. The trading name of the Charity is "Lees Wood Scout and Guide Activity Centre" The property is owned jointly by the Watford North and Watford South Districts and not the charity. The value of the freehold site will therefore be an asset in each district's own accounts. However, the field does belong to the Charity and is included in our assets at purchase price. The Charitls main income is normally raised by fees paid byScout/Guide campers for outdoor and indoor accommodation. The re-development project has started and the fund-raising cornmittee are working hard to raise funds for this. The Charit5 outgoings are kept to a minimum consistent with the maintenance of a good and safe campsite. Running costs including utilities, insurance and admin were covered by the income that we received. We are still very concerned about the increased costs of utilities and we are keeping a close eye on these costs. On a personal note, I would like to express my sincere thanks to lan Leach for processing the day-to-day banking and record keeping and to the Management Committee, and other volunteers for their continued help and support. Also, thanks to Ali Harnpto.n and the fund- raising team for all their hard work. This site and its success is due to the hard work of volunteers, thanks to all of them.
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FIX Ass•ts as at th• 31st D¢c4ffi. 2024 6uidonce flgures for the followirKJ been tixsessed as follows.. l. From the insured values. which w£rt re.Vald professbonolty in 2002 ard the f i9ures are index linked 2. Th¢ land is owntd jointly by the Watford North and Worford South District Scout cvun¢il8 and is not aTr osset of Lees W+xd Slte. 3. The rew f ield is I&Ied ot the purclhtse price in 2010 and is the property of Lets Wood Comp Site Vt)lue Cofiten7s & Equipmenl Fre¢k*)Id Property known as ihe f leld £75,Cl)O 8uildirgs ond tquiwntnt: C¢]rnp of f Ic¢ and crew qLKJrters Flighi Oaks, a Ihxk lod9C Toilet block Stor¢ hut and workshop Providore a staf f quttrtert (excluding Stock) Star+din9 timber Climbin9 woll 6arage excludin9 vehicles 8eech Wood Brd1j I 8eech Wood BuildiThJ 2 Toilet block 2 (Adiocent to cor wk) Willis Hut Beech W¢x>d 8uildin9 3 (Toilet) 8oulderir8 80 8eover Fort New Storoy ConTainers Molor Vehicles (Sit¢ use . Fordson Tractvr reg FJH9C John Deere mower Siromer A3C 304 Tractor Fire Saf ety Equlpm¢nl £75.462 £254.7CQ £113.196 £47.162 £15,088 £29.188 £0 £9.429 £75.462 £16,860 £17,747 £12.W) £3.494 £2.0 £2.C<KI £4.308 £8.479 £12.114 £1.407 £8.479 £6.340 £0 £0 6.298 £6.661 £0 £0 £3.000 £0 £300 £500 £i.000 £3.770 £13.214 £2.000 £73.762 £755.096 U¢bllltl41 (d wlthln OM p) There are no liabilitiu du¢ within one yedr. LiabllItl du4 nw• than OM ond contEn9¢nt Ilabllitl•s. There tye Ni IoT9 terni or contiryent liabilities. This R¢porl and Accounts w¢r¢ opyov¢d by the IAorwment Commlitte, subJecT to IAdependefit ExomiMtIDn. at their rneeliry held on the 25th Febnwy 2025 and si9ned on thelr beholf by
Le¢s Wood - b¢vmqff fvnd rnlslng at 31112124 2024 2025 Total f)¢velopment Fundralsln9 SW Herts &Jldes Cury Nl9ht albelI Day Amiversary Comp 2024 Amiverstry Cdmp raff le 4Md trees Rickmansworth Ch Roff le Holyrood P4Yish Camp 5teward$hip £200.00 £625.93 £3.936.78 £3.639.1)0 £5.00 £200.00 £5.000.00 £200.00 £625.93 £3.936.78 £3,639.00 £5.00 £200.00 £5,QOO.00 £0.00 £0.00 £13,606.71 TOTAL INCOME £13.606.71 Devel¢pm4nt Exwdltu Development fundraising exp £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £O.LX) TOTAL EXPB4DITVRE £0. Account balance £13,606.n £13.606.71 £13,606.71
Independent examirter's report to the tru5teÈs ol Lee5 Wood Cèmp51te IRCN- 8103141 I report on the ?ccounts of Lee5 Wood Crimpsite for the year ended 31 Decembet 2024, whlch are soi out on pages 6 to 9. Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner Tho charity S Ifusiee5 are re5pon5ible lor tho preparation of the accounis. The charity s trustees con5itJer ihat an audit 15 not requited for this year under seciion 144121 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Acil and rhat an inllependeni ex)mnatIOn Is needed. It is rny responsibility to.. exarnine the accounis under section 145 of the 2011 Act., to follow the procedure5 laid down ln the gener31 Dircctions given by Ihe Charity Commission under Section 1451511bl of the 2011 Act. and to 5t3te whether parti£ul3r Fn3tier5 hAve come to rny aiiention. Basls ol Independent examiner's report My examination wa5 carried oul in accordance with ihe genÈr31 Direction5 given by the Chafity Commission. An e%3mtnaiion Include5 a review ol the accountinE records kept by ihe charity and comparison ol Ihe atcount5 presenied with those records. It also intlude5 consideration of anv unusual Item5 or disclosures in the accounts, hnd seeking explanaiions from you cls Irustces concerning any such m3tters. The procedures undertaken do not provide <ill the evidence thal would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given bs to whetlier ihe riccounis present a 'true ènd fair view, Ènd the report is lirniled io those matters set out in Ihe staiement below. Indepersdent exarnlneT'S Statement In connection wilh my examination, no mèiier has come to my atteniion.. Ill which gives me reasonable cause io believe that in any material respect the requirÈment5'. to keep accouniin8 records In 3ccordonce wilh section 130 of ihe 2011 Aci.. aTid to prepare account5 which 3ctord with Ilie actounting reiord5 and comply with the accounting requiremen15 01 Ihe 2011 Att have noi beEn mei; or 121 io which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the a£counis lo be reached. Amit Joshi FCCA 28" April 2025 O TaxA88151 Accountani T•xAs5i31 Accounl#iits l A T11 ¥A%4141 Ar.enL5lltHnl8 Franrhi_8tt nwnpd bnd BLK*inghdmshiro. HP5 IDE MertlDill5hplLI NP39HH DITodOi' Afflil Juslii FCCA O n1494 IT8900 alliiipshi@iaxag515t.co u 0 01442 2b8 000 miTioshi@thAa&5iSt..Uk c1)nY No thh&7t5JO VAT Rnp No 122 OlC6 U.