3rd Itchen North (Bitterne) Scout Group

Minutes of the 2014 Annual General Meeting

Held at 8:15pm on Weds,30thApril 2014, at the Gordon Hall, Brook Road, Southampton

  1. Welcome and Prayer – Group Chairman Keith Marsh introduced himself and welcomed everyone to the meeting especially representatives from District. Keithread a Prayer to open the meeting.
  1. Attendees – 65 people signed in including Leaders and the Exec Committee of the Group,Adam Mori (District Explorer Scout Leader – deputising for the District Commissioner), John Northcott, Jan & Barry Hansford, Barry Brand (Bitterne Church Family worker), Mike Scurr (The Gregg School), Brenda Lamb (PRL, Sainsburys, Bitterne), Colin and Pauline Hobbs.

Apologies– Harry and Rose Butler (District Executive Committee), Asa Moore (District Commissioner), Rev Angus Parker (Vicar,Bitterne Church), Dave Martin (Group Risk Assessment Advisor), Vince Davies (Bursar, TheGregg School).

  1. Acceptance of the Minutes– In order to reduce waste, the minutes of the AGM held on 8th May 2013 were placed on the website and parents informed of their availability, prior to the meeting. It was proposed by Pete Trodd, and seconded by Andrew Bushellthat the minutes of the meeting should be accepted as being an accurate record. There were no objections nor amendments, so the minutes were approved.
  1. Group Chairman’s report – Keith Marsh gave his report as follows:

Each year I start my report by saying that we’ve had a busy year and the past year has not been an exception. Each section has produced a report for you to read and these will tell you of the fantastic variety of activities in which they have partaken. These have required a great deal of time and enthusiasm on the part of the leaders who, as you know are all volunteers, and I’m sure you would like me to express sincere thanks to them for all they do for our young people. We are always on the lookout for more leaders though, and training is provided. Our thanks must also go the partners and families of the leaders for their support.

Our Beaver Colony is one of the largest and most active in the district, with an extremely full and exciting programme of activities and tremendous parental support for their Red Carpet evenings.

I think we are especially lucky in that we have Cub leaders who are willing to give up 10 days holiday a year to take the pack away, and not just a pack holiday in a hall but green field camping (although they nearly retreated to the Scout hall last summer!).

The Scouts must be one of the most active Troops in Southampton, with the leaders arranging such a full and varied programme, giving the lads an opportunity to build confidence and become proficient in so many pursuits, and especially expeditions.

And expeditions form an important part of the Explorers programme, giving the lads an assurance and self-reliance that will stand them in good stead in their futures, and which provides them with adventures as well.

Last October we held another of our biennial Family Fun Days. Although not as well supported as we would have liked, over 100 parents and friends did join us at Cricket Campsite for an afternoon of activities followed by a campfire.

The Fun Day was the first time we showed off our new activity shirts: see me if you would like an order form.

We have also undertaken two days bag packing at Sainsburys. On the day just before Christmas we raised funds for the Group and during the afternoon we presented Simon Church, Branch Manager at Sainsburys, with a Thanks Badge in appreciation of his shops support. In March Sainsburys asked us to return and raise money with them for Sport Relief, which we were pleased to do. Thank you to Brenda Lamb and the staff at Sainsburys.

Some of the money raised by the bag packing has enabled us to pay for training two leaders in activities and for the purchase of equipment. Alex Taylor attended an archery instructor’s course, and Trevor Draper an air rifle course, and we have purchased our own equipment for both activities. Trevor is also setting up a regular shooting evening for our members.

One issue which caused us consternation for several weeks earlier this year was a suspicious man who was seen loitering around the hall on several occasions. We had several meetings with the police and sought advice from the Scout Safeguarding Officer for Hampshire, and improved our hall’s security as a result.

Another major achievement this year has been the development of our own website. Rowan Trodd, who was one of our Beaver leaders until he went off to university, has built this for us, and I would like to thank him for his many hours work. The website will showcase the Group’s activities, with a password required to view some pages. Parents can

  • read letters that have been sent home (in case the dog has eaten theirs);
  • find out about the uniform and where badges go;
  • find out about Gift Aid and hall hire;
  • see photographs of our activities;
  • and even raise money for us using easyfundraising.

If you haven’t looked at it yet please do so and send us your comments.

Our Executive Committee have continued to support the Group behind the scenes, and I would like to thank them for their time and efforts. In particular I would like to thank

  • Barry Horner, who looks after the Group’s finances so well as Treasurer. He has indicated that he would like to retire this year, but is willing to carry on until a replacement steps forward, and is willing to work alongside them until they feel confident. Please see me or Barry afterwards if you would like to help us in this way;
  • Catherine Tipper, our Secretary, who minutes all our meetings;
  • Brian Foote, who acts as Hall Bookings Secretary and also comes along to unlock the hall for bookings, gets tables and chairs out and locks up afterwards;
  • And thanks to the other members of the Exec: Pete Trodd, Jennie Sellars, Andrew Bushell, and for a few months Ian Lawley.

I would also like to thank Barry, Peter Dunne, and Chris and Trevor Draper for their work sorting out problems and making improvements to this building. We do have a problem with some guttering which needs to be attended to, so if anyone has any expertise in that field, please let me know.

As well as being Treasurer, Barry also comes here once a week to clean our HQ, an extremely important job.

Thanks also to Steve Townley, our Quartermaster, and to Paul Upton, who has overseen our camping equipment for another year.

As you will know, for some years we have collected ink cartridges which have been recycled for funds. Our thanks to Gavyn Trowbridge who has been packing and dispatching them for us, although we have been advised that we will no longer receive payment for them so have discontinued this service.

Finally I’d like to thank Jennie Dunne, our Group Scout Leader, for her support and for all she has done during her year in the role.

  1. Treasurer’s Report

Accounts for the year were included in the pack issued to parents, and Barry presented the following report:

The accounts for the year ending 31/12/13 show a balance of £25,207 which is a decrease of £497 on the previous year.

Scout Association Investment: We have for a number of years held an investment of £3000 with the Scout Association to cover for any extraordinary costs we might incur (mainly for building maintenance). It was felt that bearing in mind the age of the Hall that this was too low, so a further £3000 was transferred from our current account to cover for unknown contingencies.

Income/Expenditur: As the previous year’s accounts only covered a period of 9 months it is hard to make a comparison between the 2 years, but in the main income/expenditure is similar.

Income: Annual subs of £7371 relates to term subs paid by parents, with £3397 (46%) of this being paid to District/County/Headquarters as capitation fees. These subs are paid for all children and Leaders within the Group.

Hall Hire receipts have fallen again, and unfortunately in July we lost the rental from the Babies Group (approx. £1000 per year).

Once again our thanks must go to Sainsbury’s Bitterne for use of their premises for bag packing during which we raised £2142, part of which was donated to third parties as stated in expenditure costs (below).

Expenditure: Most expenditure is comparable with the previous year; however additional costs were incurred as follows:

  • Fun Day: £1516 which was most enjoyable for those who attended, and our thanks to Keith for organising the event.
  • Donations from the bag pack receipts were made to Guide Dogs for the Blind £500 and Piam Brown Cancer Ward for Children £200

Finally my thanks to the Section Treasurers (Rose Carney, Paul Upton, and Richard Colwill), to Brian Foote for Hall Bookings, and for hall maintenance to Peter Dunne,whose hard work has kept our costs down. In addition thanks to all parents who were able to sign Gift Aid forms (81% of membership)

Acceptance of the Treasurers report was proposed by Mark Eastman and seconded by Brian Foote.

  1. Group Scout Leader’s Report – This was read out by Jennie Dunne, GSL:

The last year has been interesting and very busy for all of the sections as you can see by the reports that each of the Leaders has written. It would seem that some do not have a minute to get bored. Beavers have been involved in a number of District activities including the fantastic Beaver Day at District Camp and the Christmas party which was enjoyed by all.

The Cub report makes very interesting reading and tells how exciting their year has been. It was distressing for all concerned when Akela(Jen) had a fall and broke her shoulder which meant that she was incapacitated during District Camp. Despite Akela’s unfortunate accident, the 3rd Leaders pulled together as usual and made it happen. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Malcolm Matthews, Rowan Trodd, Paul Upton and Dan Marnoch for all of their hard work and commitment during District Camp.

Scouts have achieved a fantastic 172 nights out this year, 10 of those spent wild camping on mountains: how incredible is that?

Explorers also took part in some amazing activities during the year including kayaking, wall climbing, abseiling and many more exciting and fun activities.

I would urge all of you, including young people from each section, to read the section reports (which are now online) and it will give you a good view of what happens in each of the sections and what there is to look forward to.

In October we had our biennual Fun Day, we were very fortunate with the weather and we had some really fun activities, some were well know activities and others were new and really exciting. I believe it is fair to say that everyone had a good day. I would like to thank Keith for organising it all and to everyone who helped to set up run stalls, cooked and then dismantled everything and returned it to the hall, not a bad days work guys.

Along with all of the fun activities mentioned there are a few times when we need to be serious and behave accordingly, for example at the start of every sessionwhen we are all officially welcoming, and at the end saying goodbye. We are also mindful at this time of the year of attending St George’s Day Parade and later in the year, Remembrance Day service: both of these parades are a time for us to be respectful and to consider our position as part of the bigger team in Scouting and the community.

I congratulate all of the Leaders and young people who have worked together to achieve their badges and special awards such as Chief Scout Awards. The Chief Scout Awards also encourages teamwork and learning how much easier the achievement can be when you work together as a team and using everyone’s strengths thereby reducing the weaknesses.

I am pleased to say that we as a Group have now moved into the twenty first century due to some awesome teamwork between Keith Marsh our Chairman, and Rowan Trodd: they have designed a website which is readily accessible to all and will allow us as leaders to maintain contact with all of you faster and more effectively whilst saving the planet by reducing our consumption of paper, so please help us by checking things out on the website and on the flier that was sent to you are able to scan the app and it will take you directly to the website. There will be letters, photographs of our young people taking part in activities and information about future activities, I would hope that in the future we will be able to become paperless as the permission slips etc. can be held on our computers/tablets and from your point of view it would be easier to update your diaries, especially if you have children in more than one section you can reply to us quickly and also have a copy in your files. This should make life more organized and easier for all of us and of course all of the information is password protected. If you haven’t already had a look please do so, I feel sure that you will like it.

Talking of the twenty first century I am sure that you all know by now that we have two young ladies in Beavers and also two sisters in Cubs so we are well and truly on “The Journey”.

Unfortunately this year we have lost a number of Leaders: Dan Marnoch who has had to move from Southampton with his work but continue to help when time is available. Rowan Trodd, who is at Bournemouth University and also helps where and when possible. Karen Taylor who was an Assistant Beaver Leader has left to allow her more time with her family and other activities.

I would say that all the above are missed greatly as they are all amazing team players and we wish them success in everything they do. I would also like to offer my thanks to all who jump in and help whenever necessary without Leaders and supporters like you this Group would not be so successful. The Scouting movement is a good training experience in team work and this can make a huge impact on the outcome for many of our young people who learn how to work with and care for others. The Executive Committee are also a brilliant part of our team and they are always there when we need them so thank you very much.

On the note of people who are leaving I have to tell you that I am stepping down as GSL as I would like to concentrate my energy on other activities; I will however continue to be Beaver Leader.I wish you all a good and successful 2014.

  1. Approval & Election of Group Executive Committee

Keith explained:As you may be aware, the Executive Committee acts as Trustees for our Group and as such are responsible to the Charities Commissioners. As such they are required to undertake basic training covering such topics as Safeguarding, so new committee members will be required to undertake a Module 1 course.

The Executive Committee comprises four categories:

  • The Chairman (Keith), Secretary (Catherine), and Treasurer (Barry) are ex-officio nominated by the Group Scout Leader and requiring approval of the Group Scout Council,ie this meeting:

For: 100%, Against: 0%, so approved.

  • Brian Foote is a nominated member so requiressimilar approval:

For: 100%, Against: 0%, so approved.

  • Currently there are no co-opted members.
  • Finally we have elected members: Pete Trodd, Jennie Sellars and Andrew Bushellwho are all willing to stand again. Keith asked for any volunteers to join the Committee, in particular a Beaver and/ or Scout parent, and Stella Durkin volunteered to join and was welcomed.

All nominated by Jennie Dunne, seconded by Keith Marsh, all were in favour so approved.

  1. Appointment of Auditor

Tony Scawn is happy to continue as auditor and was proposed by Jennie Dunne and seconded by Pete Trodd.All agreed so Tony was appointed.

  1. District Commissioner

Keith introduced Adam Mori, District Explorer Scout Leader who represented the District Commissioner at the meeting. Adam has recently completed his Queen’s Scout Award and gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award; the Queen’s Scout Award is the highest award within Scouting and Adam is the first recipient in our district in 12 years.

Adam praised the work done by all the leaders, thanking them for their work in the Group and dedication to Scouting. Heapplauded the efforts of the Group Executive Committee and thanked parents for their ongoing support. The 3rd is a great example to other Scout Groups and Adamcongratulated the Group on another great year.