**TRUSTEES’ANNUAL REPORT for the year ending 31st MARCH 2024 Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC103714 http://www.cathedralscouts.com** ## **CONTENTS** ## **Page** **1. Front Cover** **2. Contents** **3. Structure, Governance and Management** **4. Trustees and Executive Committee** **5. Leadership Team and Youth Shaped Scouting** **6. Purpose and Public Benefit** **9. Membership** **10. Group Details** **11. Trustees Declaration** ## **Structure, Governance and Management** The Scout Association was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1912. Its powers include the appointment of local bodies for the management of its affairs in any particular part of the United Kingdom; under these powers Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group is one of the groups registered to provide Scouting in the City of Lisburn. Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group is an autonomous Charity affiliated to The Scout Association and is recognised by the Inland Revenue as a Charity. ## **Group Trustee Board, Leadership Team and Scout Council** The members of the groups Trustee Board are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). The law applicable to charities in Northern Ireland requires the Trustee Board to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. The Trustee Board typically meet at the beginning of every other month and review - Group membership including any requirement to recruit new members and new volunteers, - Group finances and predicted cash flow - Equipment needs - Fundraising - Safety - Other matters as appropriate The Executive, as necessary, will organise sub committees to look at particular subjects and may co-opt non executive members onto these sub committees as required. The Group Trustee Board is not responsible for the scouting program; this responsibility falls to the leadership team, however certain members of that team are also members of the group Trustee Board to ensure there is efficient two way communication between the two bodies. Both bodies report to the group’s AGM where all members’ Parents, Scout Patrol Leaders, Explorer Scouts and Adult Members have the right of attendance. This body is known as Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group Scout Council and it has the right to vote on approving or challenging Financial Accounts, electing certain members of the Executive Committee and amending decision that are not constrained by the Policy, Organisation and Rules of the Scout Association. The group follows the Policy, Organisation and Rules (P.O.R.) of the Scout Association. These are regularly updated and can be found at http://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/search?cat=480 ## **Partners** Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group has a partnership agreement with two independent charities: Lisburn Cathedral - for the use of their building and grounds Lisburn & District Scouts - to run and provide Explorer Scouting in a partnered Explorer Unit. ## **SafeGuarding** Because the majority of our members are under 18 years of age, safeguarding their wellbeing is a fundamental concern to all members of Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group and we have a robust system in place to ensure the welfare of our young people. This includes the referral of any incident to an outside independent reporting structure within The Scout Association. The Group Scout Leader is responsible for ensuring the internal structures follow both P.O.R. and guidelines given by the Department of Education. ## **Trustees and Executive Committee as of 31st March 2024** Chair Paul Millar Trustee (Group Lead Volunteer) Andrew Stacey Trustee (Treasure) Karen Brown Trustee (Secretary) Trevor Graham Trustee (Explorer Scout Leader - Partnered Explore Unit) George Griffin Trustee (Scout Leader) Jill Maguire Trustee (Cub Scout Leader) Kiara Kennedy Trustee (Beaver Scout Leader) Eugene Mohan Trustee (Parent Representitive) Rory Muldrew Trustee (Youth Representitive) Callum Mohan **The Trustees have studied the N.I. Charity Commission’s statutory guidance on the Public benefit requirement and consider that they have complied with it in full.** **Other with rights of attendance at Executive Committee Meetings as non-voting attendees.** Members of the Scout Association District Lead Volunteer Mr Colin Hewitt District Chair Mr Harold Baird Non Members of the Scout Association Rector Lisburn Cathedral Dean Sam Wright - or his nominee The above 3 named are not Trustees of the group ## **Trustee Appointment** Trustees may be Ex-offica, Elected, Nominated or Co-Opted in accordance with P.O.R. This is covered by Rule 3.23biii which can be found in appendix 1. The positions of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary are nominated and voted for by members of the Scout Council at the AGM for up to 3 years. ## **Leadership Team** For all scouting matters, Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group (L.C.S.G.) follows the Policy Organisation and Rules (P.O.R.) of The Scout Association. It is led by a Group Scout Leader (GSL), Each section is led by one or more section leaders who are assisted by Assistant Leaders, Section assistants and Young Leaders. There is a further team of skill providers who regularly work with most sections in their area of expertise. ## **Group** Group Lead Volunteer Mr A. Stacey ## **Sections -** Beaver Scout Team Leader Mrs M. Simpson Beaver Scout Team Leader Mr E. Mohan Cub Scout Team Leader Miss K Kennedy Scout Team Leader Mr G. Black Scout Team Leader Mrs J. Maguire Explorer Scout Team Leader Mr G. Griffin ## **Team Members - All Sections** Mrs K Lindsay, Mr D Simpson, Mr J. Kennedy, Mrs L. Kennedy, Mr A. Kennedy, Ms Lyndsey McAuley, Mrs Rachel Skelton Mr R. Duncan, Mrs L. Murray, Mr M Stacey, Mr B Murphy, Mr Sam Duncan, Mr Callum Mohan, Mr A McKinley, Mr H. Johnston. **Skills Instructors** Mr J Lyster, Mr D. Foreman Miss R Murray ## **Young Leaders -** The Group have Young Leaders placed with Beavers, Cubs and Scouts as part of the Leadership team ## **Youth Shaped Scouting** Young Leaders, with the aid of Cub Sixers and Scout Patrol Leaders, help to ensure that youth shaped scouting is at the heart of the scout program. They run sectional meetings that give feedback on subjects, activities and events that our young people wish to take part in. Young Leaders attend leadership planning meetings and are viewed as valued full members of the leadership team. ## **The Purpose of Scouting - What we Do** Scouting actively engages and supports young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society. ## **Purpose and CCNI -area’s of fit** Scouting actively engages and supports young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society. - Scouting advances education, citizenship and community development, and operates in areas of crossborder / cross-community, cultural, sport/recreation and youth development - it has by design a direct impact on children (5 - 13 year olds) and youth (14 to 25 year olds). ## **Public Benefit - as registered with CCNI** 1. The benefit which flows from our purpose is that young people are empowered to make a positive contribution to society through being engaged and supported in their personal development, including physically, intellectually, socially and spiritually. 2. This benefit is demonstrated through Scouting making a positive impact in our communities; preparing young people to be active citizens; embracing and contributing to social change; being as diverse as the communities in which we operates. These are evidenced by feedback from our beneficiaries and the wider community. 3. There is no harm arising from our purposes. Scouting operates within a framework of safety to enable young people to take part in adventurous activities safely. 4. Scouting’s beneficiaries are children and young people. 5. The only private benefit from this purpose is that Adult Volunteers are trained to deliver the programme, but this is incidental and necessary because it is needed to operate in today’s society working with young people. ## **Achieving our Purpose - Public Benefit.** Scouting develops young people in many different ways, it develops:- leadership skills, independence, team work, confidence and skills for life as well as providing challenges, fun and excitement. It’s fundamentals lie at the heart of everything we do and starts with the scout promise. There are many variations to wording to suit different ages, the many different cultures and beliefs that exist in the United Kingdom and the Island of Ireland. Fundamentally they all say the same thing. That scouts have a duty to self, faith, country and others. The most common version of the promise for each section is at the beginning of the section report. ## **The Values of Scouting** As Scouts we are guided by these values: Integrity - We act with integrity; we are honest, trustworthy and loyal. Respect - We have self-respect and respect for others. Care - We support others and take care of the world in which we live. Belief - We explore our faiths, beliefs and attitudes. Cooperation - We make a positive difference; we cooperate with others and make friends. ## **The Scout Method** Scouting takes place when young people, in partnership with adults, work together based on the values of Scouting and: enjoy what they are doing and have fun; take part in activities indoors and outdoors; learn by doing; share in spiritual reflection; take responsibility and make choices; undertake new and challenging activities; and make and live by their Promise. Although LCSG is an independent charity, it is part of, and cooperates with, the wider scouting family and our local and national communities. Over the year, different sections have entered scout events and competitions organised by Lisburn and District Scouts, County Antrim Scouts and ScoutsNI, details of some of these can be found in the individual section reports. Traditionally we have always attended the annual Remembrance Day parade and Service of Remembrance, organised by the Royal British Legion, along with other local uniformed youth organisations. This year was no exception and we had Scouts and Explorers from all sections of our community take part in the parade and service. Our Explorer scouts volunteered with local charities for between 3 and 12 months. Badges in Scouting are earned rather than given and all sections saw their members gain their Chief Scout’s Awards. These awards are not easily gained - in the younger sections, members must earn all their challenge badges as well as a number of activity badges, whilst in the older section, Explorer Scouts, they must complete everything that’s involved in gaining a Duke of Edinburgh award. plus complete a number of other scouting challenges to gain their Chief Scout Awards. The Scout Association is one of the UK’s biggest providers for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and our Explorer Section continue the long tradition within the group of entering members for all three levels. One member of Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group gained the top award in scouting by gaining their Queen’s Scout Award ## **Commitment to Training** Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group has always provided a programme aimed to build not only skills for life for its youth members and adult members, but also to boost their self confidence and self esteem by providing challenges and opportunities. This is often achieved by providing adventurous activities run by suitable qualified, skilled and experienced Leaders or external providers. Training included renewal of REC2 1[st] Aid qualifications for 10 Leaders and Skills providers as well as 3 leaders working toward NGB awards. ## **Internal Expertise** The group has a number of members with National Governing Body award holders. These include personal and coaching qualifications This includes 4 qualified climbing coaches who provide climbing experiences for all sections and Would usually run regular sessions for Explorers who have chosen climbing for their Duke of Edinburgh award skill or physical challenge. A number of leaders are also involved in providing supervision and assessment to both group and nationally run Duke of Edinburgh and Queen’s Scout Expeditions. **Group Membership** As of Census 31st January 2024 the group consisted of the following ## **Youth Members** |**Youth Members**|| |---|---| ||| |under 18 years old|Total| |Beavers|**7**| |Cubs|**14**| |Scouts|**26**| |Partnered Explorers|**24**| |Total|**71**| ## **Young Leaders** A total of 3 young leaders volunteered with the Beaver, Cub and Scout Sections, Young Leaders are Explorer Scouts, who wish to take on a leadership role. All young leaders with L.C.S.G. take part in Leadership training. |Leadershiptraining.|||| |---|---|---|---| ||||| |Scout Network - 18 to 25 Year Old|Male
|Female
|**Total**| |Network (no other role) Note 1|1|
1|
2| |Network (with other role) Note 2|6|
1|
7| |NETWORK TOTAL|7|
2|
**9**| Note 1 - because of scout census reporting - the 2 Scout network members with no other role were not included in census figures Note 2 - The seven Scout Network members with another role are included in the Adult Leader figures below ## **Adult Leaders** |**Role**|**Male**|**Female**|**Total**| |---|---|---|---| |Group Leaders|1|1|**2**| |Beaver Leaders|2|2|**4**| |Cub Leaders|2|4|**6**| |Scout Leaders|6|1|**7**| |Explorer Leaders|3|0|**3**| |Leaders regularly helping with multiple
sections|0|0|**0**| |Skills Instructors with no other role|2|1|**3**| |Total|16|9|**25**| ## **Group Details Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group** Scout Groups registered with The Scout Association within Northern Ireland are often referred to under the umbrella name of **ScoutsNI** Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group are based at the Church Halls of Lisburn Cathedral found at 24a Castle Street Lisburn BT27 4XD All sections meet during normal school term times between September and June. They meet as follows Beavers Monday 18:15 to 19:30 Cubs Tuesday 18:15 to 19:45 Scouts Tuesday 20:00 to 21:30 Explorers Wednesday 20:00 to 21:30 The Group also run a cross-sectional archery session. Archery Monday 19:45 to 21:15 Additionally to this camps and events take place throughout the calendar year as organised by the Leadership Team. ## **Important Registered Details** Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group was formed officially on 30th March 2009. It has the following identification registration numbers with bodies listed below The Scout Association 10016944 Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC103714 Inland Revenue XR77549 The Group operate two current accounts with **Ulster Bank Limited** in order to manage it’s financial affairs. Bank Accounts |Bank Accounts||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||| |||**Account 1 - Group Account**||**Account 2 - Activities Account**| |Account Name||Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group||Lisburn Cathedral Scout Activities| |Sort Code||98-09-60||98-09-60| |Account Number||21566014||21567095| ## **FINANCIAL REPORT Accounts Approval** The accounts were approved and ratified by Lisburn Cathedral Scout Group Scout Council at the Group Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 18th June 2024. ## **Independent Examination** The accounts were independently examined in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland ## Preparation of Report The Report was prepared on behalf of the group for the Charity Commission of Northern Ireland by Andrew Stacey – Group Lead Volunteer ## **Trustees Declaration** ## **The trustees declare that they have approved this Annual Report** Signed___________________________________ Date__27[th ] June 2024__ Mrs Karen Brown - Group Treasurer Signed___________________________________ Date__27[th ] January 2024__ Mr Paul Millar - Group Chair