## 48[th] Fife (Dalgety Bay) Scout Group Annual General Meeting Pack ## Date: 28[th] May 2026 Time: 7.30pm Venue: Scout Hall, Four Lums Road, Dalgety Bay, KY3 0RY ## Attendees Invited - Trustee Board - Leaders & Section Assistants - District Representatives - All Parents and Guardians of Members ## **Agenda** ## 1. Chairman’s Welcome & Opening Remarks ## 2. Apologies 3. Adoption of Minutes & Chairman’s Report 4. Treasurer’s Report & Acceptance of Accounts 5. GLV’s Appointment of Chairman & Treasurer 6. GLV’s Appointment of Trustee Board 7. GLV’s Report 8. Presentation of Awards ## 9. AOCB ## 10. Closing Remarks ## N.B. - Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available at the hall on the night. - All financial documentation and OSCR returns are published on our website at https://www.dalgetybayscouts.org.uk/ - Supporting content and documents may be found at the rear of the AGM Pack along with the section reports. ## 2024-25 AGM Minutes ## 48th Fife (Dalgety Bay) Scout Group - Minutes of AGM held on 26th June 2025 **Present:** Barry McCleery (Chair), Iain Dick (GSL), Graham Cross (Treasurer), Rob McLeod, Niall Williams, Elaine Pert, Peter Merckle, Lynn Merckle, Keith Armour, Martin Doherty, Katie Docherty, Claire Fernie, Iain Dyson, Charlie Dyson, Andrea Hynes- Whalley, Finlay Whalley, Tailor Aspinall, Claire Greenwood, Debbie McCleery, Ewan McCleery, Matthew McCleery, Gregor Dick, Jess Miller, Richard Broadbent, Luke Broadbent, Angela Ruzzak, Willow Christie, Amanda McLuchie, Alastair Barrowmen, Audrey Davies (Minute taker), ## **Apologies** : Anne Field, Craig Douglas, Sarah Broadbent, Alastair Franklin, Jeremy Meakin, Terry O’Neill ## **Adoption of Minutes and Chairman’s report 2023-2024** ## Proposed by Ewan McCleery and seconded by Elain Pert ## **Chairman’s report:** (Barry McCleery) - Thanks to everyone for giving up their time to attend the AGM. - Group in good health and success is due to huge time and effort put in by volunteers. - Thanks to all leaders and young leaders for all their time given to scouting - Thanks to Claire Fernie our District Commissioner - Last year’s AGM saw the start of the Transformational changes to Scouting and the members of the Trustee Board have settled into their roles of governance of the Charity, leaving Scout leaders to focus more on their groups than administration tasks. - Thanks to Iain Dick (GSL) and Graham Cross (Treasurer) for the huge amounts of work they put into the group and for their support in my role as Chairman - Thanks to all members of the Trustee Board for their support and input. We are a strong cohesive group. - Thanks to Martin Docherty for ensuring that the minibuses are in excellent condition and ready to always use. - Thanks to Ewan McCleery for building on his role as Quartermaster that he started last year ensuring that the equipment is looked after and ready for the leaders to use. - Thanks to our hall pixies, Peter Merckel and Jeremy Meakin for maintaining and fixing all the small issues and flagging up larger issues to the Trustee board. - Thanks to Audrey for taking all the Trustee board minutes. - The group would like to see additional support from parent volunteers for section nights and to have a fundraising group set up to help ensure that plans can be followed through. - _To read the Chairman’s report in full please see pages 4-5 of the AGM pack_ ## **Treasurer’s report and acceptance of accounts** : (Graham Cross) - Planned deficit of £14,000 due to renewing the hall’s wooden floor and building a new external shelter for storage. - The number of new members has dropped however capitation fees have increased, resulting in a decrease of main source income. TB are keen to keep scout fees the same for the following year but will reevaluate this next year. - A fundraising group would significantly support the group and reduce the chance of fees increasing. - Rob McLeod proposed the acceptance of the accounts and this was seconded by Keith Armour. - _To read the Treasurer’s report in full please see pages 6-18 of the AGM pack_ ## **Group Leader’s appointment of Chairman and Treasurer** : (Iain Dick) - Barry McCleery was nominated to continue as Chairman and Graham Cross was nominated to continue as Treasurer and it was asked if there were any other nominees for these roles, to which there were no replies. - Martin Doherty proposed the acceptance of these two appointments and Peter Merckel seconded them. ## **Group Leader’s appointment of the Trustee Board** : (Iain Dick) - All Trustee Board members were willing to stay on with no new nominees. Are there any objections? None recorded. All proposed by Niall Williams and seconded by Alastair Barrowman |–|– Iain Dick|– GSL|–||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||– BarryMcCleery|– Chair|||| ||– Graham Cross|– Treasurer||– Peter Merckle|– Maintenance| ||– Martin Doherty|– Minibus||– Keith Armour|– Parent rep| ||– Rob McLeod|– Admin||– Ewan McCleery|– QM & Youngleader| ||– CraigDouglas|– Admin||– Elain Pert|– Honorarymember| ## **Group Leader’s report** : (Iain Dick) - Group is doing really well with the Squirrels in their 2[nd] year and Explorers expanding to 2 nights as well as the waiting list being reduced. - Incredibly thankful to everyone who volunteers from the Young Leaders to Trustee Board members. - Thanks to all the uniformed Leaders for putting on all the activities that they do to ensure an interesting and varied programme. - Thanks also to the Trustee Board which without them the uniformed scouting does not get the support. - Much thanks go to Barry McCleery for being chair and keeping us on the straight and narrow - Thanks to Graham Cross as treasurer for transforming our accounting ensuring accountability and traceability. - • Thanks also to Martin Docherty who is saving us a fortune in garage bills for the minibuses - _To read the Group Leader’s report in full please see page 19 of the AGM pack_ ## **Presentation of Awards** Chief Scout 15 year service Chief Scout 10 year service Chief Scout 5 year service Chief Scout 5 year service Wood badge Wood badge Wood badge Platinum Chief Scout Award Platinum Chief Scout Award Platinum Chief Scout Award Platinum Chief Scout Award Gold Chief Scout Award Gold Chief Scout Award Gold Chief Scout Award Gold Chief Scout Award Gold Chief Scout Award - Jeremy Meakin - Dave Carey - Taelor Aspinall - Audrey Davies - Jeremy Meakin - Claire Greenwood - Rob McLeod - Connor Docherty - Eilidh Wood - Matthew McCleery - Ailsa McCardy - Luke Broadbent - Willow Christie - Katie Docherty - Charlie Dyson - Gregor Dick ## **AOCB** - Nothing ## **Closing Remarks** Barry McCleery once again thanked everyone for their hard work and for attending the AGM, meeting was closed and refreshments served. ## Chairman’s Report ## Chairman’s Report 2025/26 The last year has been another busy year for Dalgety Bay Scout Group and my thanks go to all the leaders and young leaders for the time they give for the young people of Dalgety Bay. The high numbers throughout the sections are testament to the quality of the programmes that are planned and delivered on a weekly basis. As a group we are lucky to have such a dedicated group of volunteers. Our current membership numbers are: 171 Youth members 40 Leaders 12 Young Leaders 10 Trustee Board members I would also like to thank everyone involved in the Trustee Board for the time and effort they put in throughout the year. The Scout Group would not be in the position it is in without the time they give. My thanks also to Group Lead Volunteer Iain Dick and Treasurer Graham Cross with whom I work closely, for all the work they do for the group throughout the year. These roles are key to the group and both Iain and Graham give up a huge amount of time to ensure everything runs smoothly. There are some other key roles within the group that I would like to thank for all the work they put in throughout the year: Minibus Convenor – Martin Docherty Quartermaster – Ewan McCleery Hall Maintenance - Peter Merckel and Jeremy Meakin Martin, Ewan and Jeremy are also Scout Leaders and Peter is a former Cub Leader and they all go above and beyond to ensure the minibuses, group equipment and property are kept in excellent condition and ready to use at all times. The Fundraising Committee ran a successful Christmas Raffle which raised over £2,500 for group funds and kick started our efforts to modernise the kitchen area of the hall. We expect this to cost in excess of £20,000 so we have a lot of work to do. We can always do with more support for the fundraising group, and we would welcome any parents/carers who would be able to give us some time to support this area of the Scout group. I presented to The Rotary Club of Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay about the history of the group and the work we do for the young people and the community of Dalgety Bay. They were very impressed and agreed to fundraise for us by donating the proceeds of their annual Golf Day which is taking place at Aberdour Golf Course in May. - The key functions of the Trustee Board are: - As a registered charity we are the Trustees and are responsible for complying with all legislation applicable to charities. - Upkeep and maintenance of the Group’s assets (Hall, Minibuses, Equipment, etc) and the required insurance policies. - Fundraising and the administration of all finances. - Supporting Group public occasions and our charitable endeavours. - Assisting with recruitment of leaders and other adult volunteers. - Supporting all sections to allow them to put on varied and exciting programmes for our members. ## **OSCR** Our accounts need submitted to OSCR on an annual basis to maintain our charitable status. Without retaining charitable status, we cannot have a Gift Aid Scheme and could not obtain relief on rates, water services and bin collections. ## **Gift Aid** We received £7465 in tax rebates for year 2024-2025. The group actively requests parents to join the scheme as this is the single biggest income for the group after monthly subscriptions. If you have not signed up already, please contact your section leader or our Treasurer. ## **Membership** The Trustee Board monitor payments to verify subscriptions owed to the group are being paid with anyone falling into arrears being contacted, to remedy the shortfall. If any young person requires support to stay in Scouting this can be brought to the attention of the Trustee Board for review. Our aim is to help the young people of Dalgety Bay enjoy the benefits of Scouting and we can support families in need when required. Please contact me directly in confidence should you wish to speak to me about financial support to enable your young person to stay in Scouting. Barry McCleery Group Chairman 48[th] Fife (Dalgety Bay) Scout Group barry.mccleery@dalgetybayscouts.org.uk **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Treasurer’s Report ## Summary Sheet P a g e 6 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Treasurer’s Report ## Trustee Report P a g e 7 | 28 AGM Pack 2025-26 APPENDIX 1 Reference and administration details Nam•s of all other eharfty trusi*ès durlno the yrlod. If any, Ilor •xample. thos• who reslgn*d part way Ihrough th• financial p•riodl structure, governance and management Type of governing do¢ument Policy, Organ￿at￿)n and Rules IPORI issued by the Scout Association Trusi•• r￿rUitm•n1 and appointm•nt The recnjrtment aThJ appointment of the Executive cornm￿ee (Trustees) is ￿ aCC￿danCe wrth POR rule 5.D.1. c￿St￿￿"0n for a Group IScolJar¥Jl. Objectives and activities Charttablè purposès The purpose of the Scout Assouabon L% to promote the devek>pment of young people in aCh￿VIr￿j their physical. Inte1￿Ctual, social and spiritual potentsals. as ￿dIvidUals. responsible crtizens and as rnernbers of their cal, national atKI Internati(￿al communities. The meth(xl of achiewng the aim of the Assouabon Is by ¥KOVKling an enjoyable and attractive scheme of progressive trainThJ based on the Sc(wJt pr(rfntse and Law and guided by adutt kadership Summary of the man a¢tivrlies in relation to these objects A full pwrarn was (yrateil dwing 2025r26 incI￿lIng weekty in person [TTreets￿5 and actsvths, badge I￿￿rk. S￿epO¥ers, camps and other extemal a￿vrt￿s. Wrth the wgoing cost rf Iwing crisis atKI inllatK)nary pressures the group remains happy to contrn￿ 5upwrbnq those familEs In need of financial suppcffi as we dwj mt want to see any young person miss out on scouts.ng opportunths and the mental heallh beneffts of beino involved in such Page 8128 AGM Pack 2025-26 APPENDIX 1 Achievements and performance Summary ot the main aehievements of thè eharlty durlng th* flnanelal nod There blere no capital rKoiecls urklertaken during the year, b the trustees planned to make a surplus thi8 year and cotmlucted a detaI￿d tryjdqet p￿￿e$S for Ihe CcrfnIr￿ year because there are sc*ne required hall upgrades exFected over the comiThJ 5 years. There was a bKJ push during the year to increase the uptake of gfft dedarations iesuhing in Gtft Aid of £7,465 being successlulty cL31med for 2024125 memberships. This repiesents increase of around £2.$00 on the prevK)usyeai. The daim for 2025126 was made In April 2026 and £7,147 has since been received. This will appear In next yearfs accounts. Donated the weekty use of the hall lo a bcal knrtb.ng group'A Good Yarn In The Bay, At ￿ariouS ￿l￿t$ n the yeai the gr(MJp Sends camping equipmer)I to other scout groups and local tharTbes to supw>rt thwr Char[rab￿ athtties. The trustees set up a suptKxt lund for Nelwork members118- 251 attendi￿ hwh p[tsfi￿ Intematsonal scoubtK events_ The first daim was paid (Mjt to suP￿rt the hJTh1raising acb"vitses ol a member represents.ng the grtyjp at Ihe 2025 Moot camp in P¢xbJgal. Financial review Brfèf stattmènt of tho eharity's poliey The Exe(JJlive Commrttee (Trustees) believe the ￿serveS hekl by the on r•s•rv•s Group are ample to maintain solvency support Its ams. The reserves cover the tsming betsveen receipts aThJ payments and enab￿ for any reasonable unexpecled rtems of expendibjre. The Trustees have also bequn k)nq lenn planninq for reouifed and desired mapr caprtal extrndttures ovet the next 5 years to ensure reserves meet the long term of gr￿p. The Group have again agreed to hold 1 year of rnnnlr￿ costs as a O•tails of any d•ficit The qroup made a surplus of £14.050 for the year to 31 March 21Y26. The twstees plan to c￿ry th6 lo￿ard to help tund expecte(I fuiure deficrts when utKlertaking capttal projects le.g. hall upgrddesl in the futuie. Donatèd fael1h￿S and sèrvleès Ilf any} The c(M)tmual free use ol the fenced off ￿nd at the rear of the Scout Hall for Scoubng aCtivrt￿s. Gr(yJp pay for professK)nal mainlenance of the grouTrJs for the conts.nud use and benefrt of the sections. Page 9128 AGM Pack 2025-26 APPENDIX 1 other optional information Declaration The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report above. Signed on behalt of the charity's trustees Signaturelsl Full nam•{sl Poshlon l•.o- Chalrl Dai• Page 10128 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Treasurer’s Report ## Receipts and Payments Accounts P a g e 11 | 28 AGM Pack 2025-26 48th Fifv IDal9•ry Bay) Scout Group Sedion 8 Ststèment of balanc•s SC020064 tunts Bl Cash I￿J$ 87J65 73256 Dpt3*5 -z zil Tr• 150,r 20,r 15D.O Ypl TL* t94, -z z•• B5 Toia Page 12128 AGM Pack 2025-26 48th Fife {Dalgety Bay) Scout Group SC020064 Section C Notes to the P£counts C1 Naiure and rAYpose of fund5 (nyybe stated analyw5 offunds %%rthsheets) C2 Gtants C3a Tnjsiee remunemion a tn)ss l(Arwrtè sect*KI 3bl C3b TnJsteÈ rem￿eratiOn. tai15 C4a T￿¥tee expen5e$ C4b Ttusiee expense$- d8tails Nat￿e of relationshi N*we of traTr5￿n C5 Transactions *ith tsustee5 and connected ca-:"&d &re tees ￿ f -LL= Tr2: Jf IkllbEr3bip 3ubscrLPtI?DJ ieceived f&e3 -.s ￿5-__-ar1Dll 50 L IG GG3 Page 13128 AGM Pack 2025-26 481h File Ioalgery Bayl Scoth Group SC020064 Addits"onal analysis111 ofrecew PaYTr￿ 11970 11970 19 993 27,412 27,412 2 Gr*48 Tota 11• Ir*af￿rybu5 mp5 24 T4>t 29.7 4727 3.610 n4 EWPff(￿ ry￿15 Buldiry mJirtwianc• 144 4$39 4.667 lin1b￿ 1.249 31.339 Trainiry 1.TT5 1.715 T*)ia 40 Page 14128 AGM Pack 2025-26 IpPEND￿2 SC020064 AdthIi(￿dI analy5i5121 27.412 27AII fy3n 1.750 31.1 19] 129 125 17.167 1&024 IQ79T •12 1$ 1gJ•g 1421* 4371 0.1611 4051 425T Page 15128 AGM Pack 2025-26 48th Fife IDal9ety Bayl Scout Gioup SCO20064 Additional analysis131 RÈeeipts Gr￿ts RÈ(eioskn fundra Gros5 tr￿1 receipts *in9S Rontsfr￿r land & bjilth 37.92$ 37.926 28 14¢ 37.926 144 974 are(*y* *7•) Gr￿ts 37.921 •31 Purcttase5rffkw 35sets 10.ln 10.17) 111.3161 19366 Page 16128 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Treasurer’s Report Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts P a g e 17 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Treasurer’s Report ## Notes to the 2025-2026 Accounts ## **Results and Future Group Finances** The group made a surplus for the year of £14,050 following the previous year’s deficit of £14,009. The trustees are planning to save this surplus to save up for hall improvements and other capital projects expected to be required over the coming 5 years. A full budget was prepared by the trustees to plan for a further surplus in the coming year to further build up funds for such projects. Memberships receipts were down £313 over the previous year, but our capitation fees payable to the Scouts Association increased by £710. Overall, that meant the group had £1,023 less from our main source of income for covering the running costs of the group and the hall. That was in addition to an equivalent reduction of £3,390 in the previous year. With running costs increasing, particularly capitation fees from the Scouts Association, and net membership receipts falling, the Trustees are mindful of ensuring that the group stays financially secure but at the same time as a charity we want to keep membership costs as low as possible for our young people. With this in mind, the Trustees took the decision to increase monthly memberships fees by +£1 per month to £16 to help cover those increasing costs. Longer term planning is also being under-taken by Trustees to determine how best to use existing reserves, and what fundraising requirements would be needed to undertake known, required and optional desired future capital projects. Looking forward the Group has comfortable reserves that are more than sufficient to cover expected running costs while allowing trustees to continue to spend on replacing camping equipment, further hall improvements and maintaining ownership of two minibuses. ## **Financial Governance** The group continues to collect memberships using Direct Debit (DD) via GoCardless. 100% of ongoing memberships are now collected by DD allowing the charity to fully control membership increases and to pause or stop collections for members as required. Financial records for the group are 100% electronic and accessible to the Trustees and scouting volunteers via the Group’s Google Drive. This includes all bank statements, invoices, receipts and membership statements from GoCardless. All expenses are reviewed and approved by a second volunteer / trustee familiar with the cost, and all bank payments require dual authorisation. Monthly accounts are prepared and shared with Trustees for review and discussion at Trustee Meetings. The group collects all memberships and payments for camps and activities electronically via OSM payments or by direct payment into section bank accounts. There remain two cash based fundraising activities being the Dalgety Bay Gala and fundraising raffles. Cash from these events is counted and reported by at least two scouting volunteers and banked by the Treasurer as quickly as possible after the event. Graham Cross Group Treasurer P a g e 18 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Group Lead Volunteer’s Report Another year of delivering good quality Scouting for the Dalgety Bay area. Again, we find ourselves at capacity and running a fairly lengthy waiting list, despite taking a significant number of new members from the list over the last year. All sections are running well and are sufficiently supported in terms of adult leadership. Our census return this year, which is completed at the start of the calendar year, indicated that we had 133 members across Squirrels to Scout age and a further 38 in Explorers making the total number of young people in our group 171. I would like to say a massive thank you to all the volunteers that help to support our Group. Without volunteers there is no Scouting and to each and every person that gives up their time to help, from occasional helpers to the section leaders, I extend a massive thank you. A huge thanks to all our new leaders that have joined in the past year and to those that moved on for all they contributed to the Scout movement and locally within our area. Thanks also to Amy Douglas who joined us from a National role to help with our programme activities across all sections. It’s an element of my role that I haven’t always found time to do justice to due to the admin burden. I would also like to thank the Trustee Board for their hard work in ensuring that the 48[th] has the resources, equipment and support to run our programme for our young people. I would like to thank Elaine Pert, who is standing down this year to care for her husband Gordon, for all that she has given to the Group over the years. We wish Elaine all the best. Together with the rest of the Trustee Board we have undertaken the following work this year: - Completion of the shelter extension and additional storage space - Procurement of new equipment including Trangia stoves and new small mess tents - Replacement and new lighting outdoors and in the new store - Remediation of the trees outside with removal of one condemned tree Work we hope to undertake soon includes: - Replacement of the hall door access systems with a keyless system - Refurbishment or replacement of the kitchen (subject to fundraising) Remember, we always need volunteers so please don’t be shy if you think you’ve time and enthusiasm to give. The more volunteers we have the easier it is on all of us to keep this great thing called Scouting going. Let me know if you think you can help! I would also like to congratulate all our adult members who picked up recognition awards from the Scout Association this year. Iain Dick Group Lead Volunteer iain.dick@dalgetybayscouts.org.uk P a g e 19 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Supporting Content & Documents Section Reports – Donibristle Squirrels P a g e 20 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Supporting Content & Documents Section Reports – St. Bridget’s & Donibristle Beavers P a g e 21 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Supporting Content & Documents Section Reports – St. Bridget’s Cubs Currently St Bridget’s Cubs have 21 members with several new cubs joining scouting for the first time. St Bridget’s Cubs leaders are currently Kathy, Alastair and Lewis, following Jennifer and Lewis swapping cubs packs during the year, as the switch in days was preferable for both. St Bridget’s are currently seeking one additional cub leader to support the pack. This year Donibristle and St Bridget’s leaders have been working closely together on programme planning, joint camps and supporting each other at meetings as needed, which has been working great. It has been an action-packed year with 3 cub camps: - The science themed District Camp 2025; - a navigation camp in September featuring Check Point Challenge where each team raced to find the different checkpoints and complete the team challenge at each one; - and History Comes Alive Camp in February with a Local History Hike round Dalgety Bay and history themed activities. We also had a memorable Winter Craft afternoon involving arming the cubs with huge felting needles to create amazing felted bauble animals. As well as camps, we have been having outdoor adventures aplenty, with archery sessions run by Paula and Iain, paddle boarding at Loch Ore, climbing at Fordell Firs, minibeast hunting in the woods, and fire lighting and backwoods cooking at the hall. Lots of badge work has been completed with 8 cubs having nearly completed their Chief Scout Silver Award. The pack also completed a community gardening project culminating in a visit to EATS Greenspace, Rosyth. At the last forum the cubs asked for more science and technology activities, so this year we have made some amazing stop motion animated films, created wind turbines to rescue Lego minifigs from impending doom and the cubs are waiting to hear confirmation that the computer programs that they wrote have been run on the international space station as part of AstroPi! We would really like to thank everyone who has helped deliver the program this year: our amazing young leaders Cameron and Daniel who can turn their hands to anything, invaluable parent helpers, leaders from other sections who have run activities and acted as permit holders for outdoor camps, Wullie who kindly responded to our Billboard plea for a Scots or Gaelic speaker for St Andrews Day, Rob who talked to the pack about life as a pilot and the joy of flying and Abi who was grilled by enthusiastic cubs about life as a paramedic trainee and emergency medical dispatcher. P a g e 22 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Supporting Content & Documents Section Reports – Donibristle Cubs P a g e 23 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Supporting Content & Documents Section Reports – St. David’s Scouts Another successful year for St David’s Scouts, with various camps and activities delivered alongside a fun and engaging programme. With water activity days, programme nights outside the hall, and even some fun evenings with friends being important pieces of feedback from PL council - our programme has been full of action, and badge work too! A return to the classic favourite of the Chef badge, alongside map and navigational skills ticked off a few more badges on Scout shirt sleeves - with some now edging closer to finishing their Chief Scout Gold Awards. This year, the team have worked hard to harbour a culture of collaborative working and allowing our Patrol and Assistant Patrol Leaders to show their skills as future leaders. PLs and APLs engaged positively in a leadership weekend where they workshopped plans to build their abilities to make important leadership choices with others, and to ensure that all Scouts felt welcome and included in all activities. This also included a trip to Go Ape to put those new-found teamworking skills to the test! More camps included a feature to the District winter camp in February, and a Troop camp in March to hone in on skills and some ice skating too! Scouts attended Adventure Camp in May, with plans for a final expedition for those about to move on to Explorers now being firmed up for the Summer months. We are particularly proud of our Scout, Carolyn, who was selected for the World Scout Jamboree in Poland and of Douglas, who achieved his Chief Scout Gold this year. Scouts will also attend Poachers Jamboree in the Summer Zack Niven Team Member P a g e 24 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Supporting Content & Documents Section Reports – Donibristle Scouts Since our AGM report last June, the troop has completed a remarkable 432 nights away across 11 camps. During that time, 16 further Gold Chief Scout Awards have been achieved alongside more than 400 staged and activity badges — another hugely successful and active year for Donibristle Scouts. Our programme rotation has continued to focus on Adventure, Community Support and Awareness, Challenges, and Practical Skills, helping to keep meetings varied, engaging, and rewarding for all members. Following a strong turnout at the June 2025 Rosyth District Camp, Donibristle Scouts joined forces with St David’s Troop and Merlin ESU for the Auchengillan Jamboree during the summer holidays. Challenging weather tested the resilience of the group throughout the week, but the Scouts rose to the occasion brilliantly and returned with lasting memories and a real sense of achievement. September saw a return to Barrwood for a weekend combining water-based activities, woodland adventures, and underground exploration. We also continued our push towards the Zodiac Award with camps throughout October, November, and December. Highlights included a hall-based camp followed by a day hiking above Dunkeld, a wellearned visit to Perth Leisure Pool’s flumes, and the customary chippy tea on the journey home. With two Expedition Challenge camps already completed in 2025, alongside so many Gold Chief Scout Award recipients, it is no surprise that we have said farewell to several long-standing Scouts as they moved on to new adventures in Merlin ESU. While some of those spaces have been filled by Cubs moving up, we have also seen encouraging growth through existing Scouts inviting school friends along to experience the troop. As a result, we have successfully cleared the waiting list for our section — at least for now. As we moved into 2026, the camping programme continued at pace. District Scout Camp at Nineacres was followed by a weekend at Meggernie, where the troop focused on developing first aid and rescue skills from the comfort of the farmhouse dormitories. In April, our hammocks made their first outing of the year during a successful weekend at Craggan. One of the standout moments of the year came during our first Expedition Challenge weekend of 2026 in April. Five Scouts — including two who had only recently turned 11 — travelled independently from Dunfermline to Aviemore before hiking into Rothiemurchus to establish camp. With plenty of time still left in the day, they chose to continue on to An Lochan Uaine, covering approximately 17km in total. They approached the challenge with maturity, determination, and excellent judgement throughout. All five successfully completed their Expedition Challenge Award and are now recipients of the Gold Chief Scout Award (see more via QR code below). The following weekend, 12 members of the troop attended Adventure Camp over the May bank holiday weekend, where they catered entirely for themselves alongside a P a g e 25 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** packed programme of high-energy and problem-solving activities. For several of the Scouts involved, this marked their third consecutive weekend of camping and outdoor adventure with the troop — a fantastic reflection of their enthusiasm and commitment. The success of our Chief Scout Award recipients has clearly inspired the wider troop, and we now have several Scouts who, despite only being in Scouting for a matter of months, have already achieved multiple challenge awards. Supporting that enthusiasm and progression continues to be hugely rewarding for our wider leadership team. Next stop for the troop is Invertrossachs at the end of May, where recently developed skills will be put to the test as patrol leadership is handed over to some of our youngest members. Alongside this, the troop will enjoy paddlesports, backwoods activities, and a range of other outdoor challenges. In July, 12 members of the troop have earned places at the highly sought-after Blair Atholl Satellite Camp, taking place during the renowned Blair Atholl International Jamborette. We are excited to experience a new variation of summer camping this year. Looking ahead to the summer and the next wave of transitions into Explorers, the troop will stand at 18 Scouts, with an average age of around 12 years old. Alongside some remaining capacity for new members, this gives us an exciting opportunity to continue expanding the scale of our adventures while further developing the skills, confidence, and resilience across the troop. This year, the troop has been supported by five leaders and two Young Leaders. We are also pleased that our outgoing Young Leader is currently transitioning into a full leadership role, becoming our sixth leader, while another Young Leader is due to join us for the new school year. A huge thanks, as always, to Martin, Ewan, Taelor, and our wider team of leaders and regular supporters. Congratulations also to Ewan on completing his Wood Badge. Finally, thanks to the continued support of the wider Group, our leadership team has successfully added four additional adventurous activity permits to the Group’s permit pool, further strengthening the range of opportunities we can safely offer our Scouts. ## **Rob McLeod** Team Lead, Donibristle Scouts P a g e 26 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** ## Supporting Content & Documents ## Section Reports – Merlin Explorers ## **Hold on to your neckers—it’s been a wild ride!** What a year it has been for the Merlin Explorer Scout Unit! From the peaks of the Swiss Alps to the muddy (but brilliant) fields of Glasgow, our Explorers have been living life at full throttle. Here’s a look back at twelve months of pure adventure. ## **Numbers & Voices** We are officially **38 strong!** Our ranks have swelled over the last few years, with a fantastic mix of 14-to-17-yearolds bringing fresh energy to every meeting. But we aren’t just big in numbers; we’re big on ideas. The **Unit Forum** has been firing on all cylinders, taking the lead on themes and crafting a programme that actually matters to them. ## **A Summer of Epic Proportions** After smashing through the 2025 exam season, we didn't just ease back into things—we leaped! - **District Chill Camp:** The perfect reset. Whether we were diving into activities or literally "chilling" (as advertised!), it was the ultimate postexam tonic. - **Nine-Acres District Camp:** June saw us join the whole District family. We tackled everything thrown at us... though the less said about our "graceful" attempts at **Yoga on Paddleboards (SUPs)** , the better! • **Kandersteg, Switzerland:** The big one! After two years of training camps to hone our independence and teamwork, we finally hit the **International Scout Centre** . A week of Alpine air, high-altitude bonding, and global Scouting spirit left everyone with memories (and stories) to last a lifetime. • **AJ25 (Auchengillian):** No rest for the wicked! Days after returning from Switzerland, we headed to Glasgow for the massive week-long Jamboree. Meeting Scouts from all around, we ended the summer on an absolute high. - **Subzero 26:** Returning to Auchengillian for another action packed weekend of fun and high energy activities. ## **Skills for Life (and a bit of Chaos)** When we weren't living under canvas, our weekly sessions were packed with variety: - **Mastering the Elements:** From Dutch-Oven cook-offs to traditional fires. P a g e 27 | 28 **AGM Pack 2025-26** - **Expert Skills:** Emergency Aid training in the wild and specialized **Avionics Radio Communications** . - **Adventure:** Night-time navigation and a high-octane end-of-session trip to **Scarefest at Alton Towers** . - **Reflection:** A meaningful celebration of VE Day. ## **Hall of Fame** A huge shout-out to our high achievers! This year, we are incredibly proud to celebrate four Explorers who earned their **Platinum Chief Scout’s Award** : **Matthew McCleery** | **Isla McHardie** | **Connor Docherty** | **Eilidh Wood** ## **Final Word** Whether we were navigating by the stars or navigating a Swiss mountain, the Merlin Explorers have shown incredible resilience, humour, and spirit this year. A massive thank you to the leadership team and, most importantly, the Explorers who make this unit what it is. ## **Bring on 2026–2027!** _The Merlin Explorer Team_ P a g e 28 | 28