SCOUTING IRELAND GROUP COUNCIL (CHARITY TRUSTEES) ANNUAL REPORT CHARITY COMMISSION FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
This form should be completed and submitted to CCNI as part of your annual return. Please read the notes before completion. Should you need further help contact your Support Officer or The Scout Foundation N.I.
Please read the notes at the end when filling in this form. When complete the form should be signed and scanned then uploaded up on to the CCNI website when completing your annual report.
1.Charity Name as listed on the Charity Register 11[th] Belfast Scout Group Scouting Ireland 2. Any other names the charity is known by 3. Financial year the report is for 1[st] September 2022-31[st] August 2023 Eg. 01-Sep-20 to 31-Aug-21 4. CCNI Charity Registration Number NIC 106012 5. The address from which the Charity Operates 191 upper Newtownards Road (usually your Scout hall) Belfast This should be the address that the charity used when registering unless it has changed. BT4 Current Trustees 6. The names of all our Trustees at the date this Seamus Dawson report was approved plus any who stepped down as a Martine Fisher trustee during the year Paul Browne Brenda O’Neill Trustees who stepped down 7. A summary description of the purposes of the charity
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The aim of Scouting Ireland is to encourage the physical, intellectual, character, emotional, social and spiritual development of young people so that they may achieve their full potential and as responsible citizens, to improve society.
The Charity’s purposes are: The advancement of education The advancement of citizenship or community development
8. The name of any person, or body of persons, permitted by the trusts of the charity to appoint one or more new charity trustees and a description of the method used to make such appointments* _If there is any individual or organisation with the_ N/A _power to appoint charity trustees, such as another charity or a government department, provide their details, the relevant powers, and methods of appointment._ 9. Include details of any funds held by the charity as a custodian trustee This is mandatory for charities preparing accruals accounts. N/A*
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10. Charity’s Main Activities and Achievements during the year.
The following is a copy of the report made to the Group’s AGM in November 2023 by the GSL Paul Browne:
Yet again it is my privilege to set out my annual report as Group Scout Leader, in this instance for the year 2022-23.
The Group has continued to thrive and attract members, young and old. In particular, we have attracted leaders across all 4 sections. In beginning this annual report, I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the support of the Education Authority, our County Support Officer, Sinclair Trotter and the staff in Scout Foundation NI.
Turning to membership, leadership, programme etc.
Membership: Our membership once again was maintained at a very healthy level and we ended the year with 25 Beavers, 36 Cubs, 46 Scouts and 23 Venture Scouts. The Venture section continued to have large numbers with an increase in membership by 3 from the previous year. Once again, the numbers in the Scout Troop continued to be maintained at a high number and as reported in previous years, this poses challenges for the Scout leaders in terms of running troop meetings and logistics in terms of transportation.
Leadership: Each section continues to have a cohort of active leaders more than sufficient to deliver the programme for their respective section. We recruited Paula McAlorum and Jenny McAuley to the Cub Pack, Elaine Woodhouse as a Beaver Leader and secured the services of Michael Walsh as an Assistant Venture Scout Leader on his return from time spent in Holland. Jenny McAuley was unable to remain with us and Ronan Cunningham has now taken up employment “Down South”, which limits his availability somewhat.
Fiona Devine joined the Group as Group Secretary, following last year’s Dinner Dance.
Programme: All sections continued to provide an active programme as detailed below:
The Beavers climbed Divis, paddled canoes, undertook an overnight at the hall, took part in the County event at the Colin Glen, had a visit from an Australian Joey leader (Australian equivalent of a Beaver Leader), took part in the East Belfast annual Lantern Walk and were represented when the Chief Scout visited the Group. What a busy active year!
The Cubs also hiked on Divis mountain, took part in the East Belfast Lantern Parade,
participated in the visit from the Chief Scout, held a sixer and seconder overnight camp at the County’s centre at Ballyhornan, visited N’Ards airport, stayed for a Pack weekend at Ballyhornan and then held a summer camp in Castlewellan Forest Park.
The Scouts continued with the normal pattern of troop activities, including The Penguin Hike, a weekend in Ballyhornan, a PLs weekend, a successful and well attended Easter Camp at Crawfordsburn (39 Scouts in attendance) and a great annual camp at Zellhof, Austria, with 31 scouts attending. The Scouts visited the Salt Mines, the longest mountain toboggan run in Europe, swam in the local lakes, cycled, met with foreign scouts, visited Berchtesgaden, and experienced a full-blown Alpine storm which resulted in an emergency evacuation of the tents in the very early hours! The Troop won the County Quiz and the Columbanus shield for the 23[rd] time thus qualifying to take part in the Phoenix Competition in Larch Hill, Dublin, attaining a creditable silver place.
The Venture Scouts, in addition to their regular Sunday night meetings, volunteered with “Haven”, a homeless charity, went for a weekend at Ballyhornan, took part in the County 10 pin bowling event, cycled to Comber, visited Clip N Climb, undertook a first aid course and held a post exam mini-camp at Crawfordsburn. The Summer Expedition was to the Netherlands, based at Scout Centrum Buitenzorg outside Amsterdam and was attended by 18 Venture Scouts, two leaders and two Rover Scouts. The programme included a visit to the Walibi Holland Theme Park, Kayaked around Amsterdam and visited the delights Amsterdam had to offer!
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Equipment, Hall and Minibus: Once again, there was no significant purchase of equipment, hall development or work undertaken to the minibus.
Conclusion: As in previous years, I am satisfied that we continue to operate the Group in a proper and scout like fashion. We are conscious of our responsibilities towards the young people in our care, to our leader team and to the association we are proud to be a constituent part of, namely Scouting Ireland. We try to play our part in paying our fees on time, attending meetings and ensuring that our members benefit from active Scouting activities. We continue to set ourselves targets in order to maintain and improve our performance across all aspects of our programmes and activities and in this I feel we succeed.
Paul Browne
Group Scout Leader
Leadership Team
| Paul Browne G.S. L Beaver leaders Feena Regan Emma Fisher Nicola McConnell Caitriona Mallaghan Claire Gilmore Elaine Woodhouse Resigned August 2023* |
Brenda O’Neill Deputy Cub Leaders David Campbell Stephen Smith Conal McNamara Catherine Cox Stephen Ward Olivia Dawson Paul McAlorum Jenny McAuley* |
G.S.L Catherine Cox Asst. G.S.L Scout Leaders Venture Leaders Niall Browne Tim Cunningham Peter Lavery Michael Walsh Ronan Cunningham Robin Dane Shea Murphy Brendan Browne |
|---|---|---|
Group Council Chair: Martine Fisher Secretary: Fiona Devine Treasurer: Seamus Dawson Co-opted members: Fiona Nugent and Philip Roddy
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11. How is the Group doing financially?
A review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the year:
In the financial year 2022 to 2023 the Charity had an income of £64,429 and an expenditure of £66,222.
12. How has the Group ensured members have not come to harm?
All volunteers receive training in Safeguarding, Programme (youth work) skills and adventure skills. There is oversight of all activity by the Group Leader and the Group Council. Parents are regularly communicated with. All activities are carefully planned and the appropriate equipment used.
13. How has your Group ensured that any private benefit to your volunteers has been incidental to the public benefit of your work?
Volunteers gain additional transferrable skills but this is incidental to the work that they do and are the skills that they require to undertake that work.
14. A statement that the Trustees have had regard to the CCNIs guidance on Public Benefit.
We the Trustees of 11[th] Belfast Scout Group, Scouting Ireland can confirm that in setting our objectives and planning for the year that we have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance on public benefit to ensure that the activities have helped to achieve the charity’s purposes and provide a benefit to the beneficiaries.
15. This report was approved by the Trustees (Group Council) on
Date:28[th] November, 2023
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16. Signature of Trustees. (This should be signed by 2 Trustees approved by the Group Council)
Trustee 1: Martine Fisher Date: 28[th] November 2023 Trustee 2: Paul Browne Date: 28[th] November 2023
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NOTES FOR COMPLETION OF THE TEMPLATE INCLUDE:
1. Enter the name of your Charity here as it is listed on the Charity Commission NI register. E.g. 29th Derry, Garvagh, Scouting Ireland
2. Enter any other names your charity is known as.
3. This would normally be the Scout Year i.e. 1st September to 31st August
4. Enter your Charity Commission NI Registration Number here. If you have forgotten it you can find it out online at http://www.charitycommissionni.org.uk/charity-search/ or by contacting Scout Foundation NI.
5. Enter the address that you gave CCNI for your Group. This should be the address of where you meet.
6. List the names of Trustees (Group Council Members) that held the position of trustee at the date this report was approved by your Group Council. Also list separately any Trustees that stepped down during the year.
7. This section is pre-filled in for you using an answer previously agreed with CCNI.
8. N/A
9. N/A
10. In this section list the main activities carried out by your Group (Charity) in the last year. Items could include a summary of: The number/type of camps, hikes and outings; environmental projects; cross community work/projects; joint work/projects with other organisations, list efforts to recruit new members, adult and young people, etc. This work is carried out by how many volunteers in your Group.
List the achievements of the Group e.g. the number and type of badges awarded e.g. Special Interest or Adventure skills; the number of Chief Scout Awards; the number of An Gaisce or Duke of Edinburgh Awards; the number of Explorer Belts; any adult awards awarded during the year; have your or people in your Group won any awards as a result of the work the Group undertakes.
Have you refurbished your Scout Hall or built a new one?
How have these activities helped young people? You could mention engagement, participation, teamwork and leadership skills, planning skills, a place to go, a sense of achievement and confidence, a sense of challenge, etc.?
Finally, how do you ensure that you are open to all young people?
11. Tell CCNI how the Group is doing financially - include your income and expenditure figures for the reporting year. These should be the same amounts as in your accounts. Tell them about any fundraising that you undertook or grants received. Also list any debts that the Group has and how the Trustees plan to get rid of them.
12. This section is pre-filled in for you using an answer previously agreed with CCNI.
13. This section is pre-filled in for you using an answer previously agreed with CCNI.
14. Enter the name of your Charity here as it is listed on the Charity Commission NI register and the date the report was approved by the Group Council.
15. Enter the date that this report was approved by the Group Council.
16. Two trustees must sign the form.
You can use another format for your Annual Report e.g. your own Groups annual report, but all questions listed here MUST be answered including those marked * that do not apply to SI Groups.
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