1st Wash Common Scout Group AGM

Minutes

1) Welcome by Chair

Mike introduced himself and welcomed everyone to the AGM especially Diana Wheatley and Alan Askey from District Executive Committee. Mike talked about the key objectives of the exec over the past two years one of which has been to simplify and reduce admin overheads of leaders so that they can focus on Scouting and make their lives a little easier. In the past 12 months the following has been achieved: o Subs moved from Standing Order to Direct Debit through Online Scout Manager. This is now live and working brilliantly thanks to Jane and Chris. o Request to complete Gift Aid forms to help keep subs down and pay for things like the hardship fund. o Group now moved to online banking so no more cheques, dual signatures and running to the bank – thanks to Jo for this. o Intruder Alarm system has now been changed giving us remote control, less upset for our neighbours and saves the group over £600 per year in maintenance fees and monthly subscription. o Prater UK have very generously donated 10 laptops with the latest Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 365 adding another way to deliver our programmes and help complete badges. Attendees reminded that a hardship fund exists if anyone needs a break from paying subs, this can be done by getting in touch with our subs treasurer confidentially.

Virtual Scouting has meant we need less leaders but this will not be the case once face to face scouting commences. We are very short of leaders for Dalby Cubs on Tues and both Beaver colonies, to the point that we are limiting new entries to our Beaver section which is not a decision we take lightly.

2) Cubs review of the year (Dalby & Cavalier video played)

Cavalier Annual Report:

Statistics Pack Members: Average 28, Varied from a low of 25 to a maximum of 32 Attendance: 95 to 100% (Pre-Covid-19) Total Badges Awarded: 234 Chief Scout Silver Awards: 5

Highlights · July 2019 - Treerunners – Tree course with zip lines, tree swings, and high level challenges · October 2019 – Making Scarecrows for the Wash Common Scarecrow Trail · November 2019 - Harry Potter Sleepover · December 2019 – I’m a Cub get me out of here! · December 2019 – Ice Skating · February 2020 – Chip Shop Challenge · March 2020 – Kennet District Cub Scout Handicraft Day · March 2020 to July 2020 – On-line virtual meetings due to Covid-19 Detailed Report Cavalier Cub Pack has had an exciting, adventurous and varied year. The pack numbers remain high, and this brings challenges in having sufficient Adult members to safeguard activities – Parents have fortunately helped when requested, but we are looking for some more permanent volunteers to assist regularly. We finished the Summer term in 2019 with some Water Activities (and yes we all get very wet), and then a visit to Treerunners in Andover – An absolutely fantastic high-wire Tree Course, with multiple obstacles and activities. Autumn term involved multiple hikes, across the Newbury Battlefields, and through Penwood, we also had a Ghost Walk through Newbury looking at the spooky history and finding sites known to be haunted. For the Wash Common ScareCrow Trail (raising money for Make-a-Wish Foundation) we built a very scary Voldermort Scarecrow. We played Halloween games, getting green slime, flour and rice crispies everywhere! And continued the scary activities with a ‘I’m a Cub get me out here’ activity, that involved sampling BushTucker and Critters, as well as the Tunnel of Terror! We had a Sleepover in the Hut, alongside Dalby Pack – making it a very full Scout hall – which was themed on Harry Potter November also saw us making crafts and things to sell at the Group Craft Fayre We helped with the NWN Over 80’s Parcel Packing at Sainsburys. And finished the term with Ice Skating at the new Ice Sports Centre in Thatcham. Winter Term started with more night time hikes, this time around Snelsmore to Donnington We celebrated Chinese New Year And we did the ‘Chip Shop Challenge’ in Newbury, sampling the delights of the Takeaways – looking for the best. Our local Fire Bridge Service at Newbury invited us for a Tour and Fire Safety evening at the Fire Station We completed many Arts and Crafts projects to submit for the Kennet District Cub Scouts Craft Event. The Craft event saw us winning multiple Gold and Silver stars for some brilliant items. …and Sadly, this was to be the last Face-to-Face meeting due to Covid-19 However, Cub Scouts are resourceful, and we immediately started with Virtual Activities, initially with pre-recorded content, and then very quickly moving to regular on-line Zoom meetings. Activities were presented in a way that could be completed off-line as well, by those not able to join us in the Zoom meetings. On-line Activities were as varied as our face-to-face meetings, we started by building Dens and creating home videos, and then we had an on-line fancy dress party with everyone bringing cake/drinks and we played party games. We told Jokes, we created our own Flags for Flag Break, we grew Plants and watched nature. We played many games, such as match the Person to the Baby Picture, Guess-Who, Simon Says, and the Knife Fork Spoon game. Winter Term merged into Spring/Summer Term as we continued without a break. Some fantastic Videos and pictures were sent in every week by the Cubs, we had Fake News Reports, Weather Reports, Garden Sports reports. We received pictures of Nature, and the local environment, and local walks. Everyone rose to the challenge of producing a ‘cheese rolling’ video to re-create the famous Cooper’s Hill, Gloucester Cheese rolling event. A few kitchens were wrecked playing Kitchen Tin Can Bingo

We spent time talking and chatting. We drew silly pictures, on a group whiteboard.

We learnt to dance – some very varied dances, from ‘Hey Macarena’, to The Charleston, to ‘Jail house Rock’ And, we’ve been learning our Knots and Lashings, to be able to build some Catapults, Ballistas, and Trebuchets. Many badges have been earnt from the on-line activities, not just the digital badges, but a varied range from Chef to Musician to Pioneering. We already have a list of programme activities (all from suggestions and talking with the cubs) to continue on-line activities until we are able to meet face-to-face again.

Dalby Cubs – AGM Update July 2020

Over the course of the last 12 months Dalby Cub pack have had lots of fun and done many interesting activities. We currently have two leaders bringing scouting to 28 Cub Scouts. We are on the lookout for more leaders so let us know if you are interested! We have good support from parents and successfully used a parent helper rota for our face to face meetings. Since lockdown we have been holding weekly virtual meetings on Zoom, with over two thirds of our Cubs routinely attending. The Cubs have been out and about a lot this year. We had our 2019 summer camp at Youlbury, Oxfordshire. This was followed up by a Harry Potter sleepover for Halloween. Our 2020 spring camp this year moved to a virtual event at the end of June. Over the course of a Friday night/Saturday morning we had six Zoom calls with over 20 Cubs attending! We held a virtual Camp Fire, bedtime comedy club, backwoods cooking and morning fitness ½hour, it was a great success. Cubs have also been sleeping out in their gardens and inside dens as part of the Scouts Nights Away@home. So far, their combined total of nights camping is 87! The Cubs have been Ice skating, bowling and we repeated our annual chip shop challenge which I think is the Cubs favourite activity of the year. We’ve also been on lots of hikes and done den building in the woods. We like to offer lots of skills and creative based activities with the Cubs having the opportunity to work on various activity and challenge badges. The Cubs have been great getting involved and keeping on scouting with our online meetings. We are currently working towards the Great Indoors Stage 1 badge with online activities. During meetings and individually the Cubs have completed a wide range of badges. They have earned 275 badges this year, with over 180 badges completed since March 2020! These include Artist, Animal care, Home Help, Emergency Aid, Pioneer, Photographer, Digital citizen, Environmental Conservation and Naturalist to name a few. We have also worked on the Outdoor, Personal and World Challenge badges. Six Cubs from Dalby achieving their Chief Scout’s Silver Award over the last 12 months.

3) Minutes of previous AGM agreed

4) Group Scout Leader (GSL) Report

GSL Annual Report 2020

Over the past year, Alex Brooks Richard Kirby and Richard Tiley completed their Wood badge training - Congrats to them. Dave Manton was awarded- a Commendation for good service and Daniel Flynn, Rachel Fisher, and Anita Lemoine-Wright were given the Award for Merit. So, many congratulations to them for their service too! The New HQ project continues to keep us entertained. Mike will say more about it later but I’d just like to thank Mike, Eugene and the Exec for their wise counsel, support, and general enthusiasm. A quick update on Returning to face to Face Scouting. In the past week Scouting has moved from the RED traffic light to the AMBER one. This means we can start meeting again face to face but in groups of 15 - including leaders - and outside only. Still No Camping allowed. However, before we can do this, we have a few hoops to jump through. There are risk assessments, changes to the hut, which and approvals at both Group and district level. So, it might be September before we return to Face to Face Scouting for most Sections. There will be more details about this coming out over the next few weeks and months from your sections but please know that the wellbeing of all our leaders, helpers and young people is of the utmost importance and we won’t reopen until we are convinced it is safe to do so and we have everything in place. We are desperate to get back to face to face Scouting, We’ve really missed getting outdoors generally, Family Camp, and Wings, too. Finally, I need to give a plea for new assistant leaders and helpers. Our Beaver and Cub Sections barely have the minimum to function when we return to face to face scouting. The situation is getting worse. We already taken the hard decision to limit the numbers of Beavers we have in both colonies to ease the pressure on the leaders we have. The next step will be even less palatable. The amazing community spirit that we’ve seen over the past few months has been wonderful to see. We would really like you to consider coming and helping out in that same community spirit to ensure we can continue to provide high quality Scouting in Wash Common.

Thank you for your support during this time.

5) Scouts Review of the year

Cromwell video played

Falkland Troop

Falkland troop is currently running with 22 Scouts and we have a leadership team of 5 leaders. Since the last AGM we have taken part in a number of activities including; completing the Mechanics badge at the Newbury Show, taking part in Archery, an evening on Meteorology, attended a weekend camp and a number of opportunities to cook semi edible food. A number of the older Scouts completed their Expedition Challenge by planning a two day hike and camping over at the corner. Recently this year, during lock down, we have offered weekly meetings via Zoom to enable us to provide a level of Scouting for the young people. During this time a we have awarded a number of badges including the artists, model making, writers, craft, digital citizen and a number of the young people have completed a number of Challenge awards, including Skill, Team Work and Creative. Looking forward we will continue to work on the challenge awards in an aim for more Scouts to achieve the Chief Scout Gold Award. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the leaders and the parents for their continued support. The Leaders of Falkland Troop.

Beavers Review

Each year our leadership teams seem to change. Since our last AGM Bumble Bee (Richard Kirby) has moved on to become a Scout leader. Then this summer we will say farewell to Magpie (Michelle Davis) and Pigeon (Dan Roch) as he is off to University. Although we have been lucky enough to gain young leaders in both colonies. We are always looking to recruit new leaders as by having a larger leadership team takes the pressure off the current leaders as all have young families, meaning that other commitments sometimes need to come first. Going forward we are definitely going to be short of leaders and will need people to volunteer if we are to continue with both colonies. Our waiting list had reduced but now due to Covid-19 it has increased again as we have not taken on any new members during lock down. Beavers have moved up to Cubs but not been replaced, so Beaver numbers are much lower than normal but alongside the guidance from the Scout Association we are reviewing this. Since family camp the Beavers have enjoyed a wide range of activities such as, making toasted sandwiches, a cycling picnic, grass sledging, trip to Pets @ Home, ten pin bowling and pottery painting. Then came Covid-19. To begin with we sent a few tasks via email. Then after the Easter holidays we started weekly Zoom meetings combining both colonies, where we play games and have a catch up. In between we are emailing badge work activities based on what we would have been doing if we had been running face to face Scouting. As always a huge thank you goes to all of the Beaver leaders, and section assistants who give up their time to make the running of the two colonies possible. Squirrel

6) Financial Statements and Treasurers report

Treasurer review

Subs Treasurer review

Average 118 members in the year compared to 120 in previous year. 127 members as at end of March all now paying via Online Scout Manager (OSM). Request for those that can to complete online gift aid declaration via OSM as this delivers c£3.5k income per year which helps towards the hardship fund and maintaining subs at the current level. Jane reiterated that the hardship fund is available confidentially to anyone who requires it and that it is important to us that no child is excluded from taking part due to financial difficulties.

7) Elections and appointments GSL Rob Daniels nominated Mike Goddard to continue as Chair. Jane Oliver approved as Group Secretary and Jo Longhurst and Jane approved to continue as Treasurer and Subs Treasurer respectively. Other elected roles: Matt Duran – Parent representative Dave Manton – QM Jill McCAffery – Training advisor & induction mentor All leaders are automatically part of the executive committee.

All positions were unanimously agreed.

Mike thanked the Group Executive Committee for their work during the past year.

8) New HQ Update

Mike showed 3 images of the new hut. The aim is to finalise the purchase of the land in the next 8 weeks and sell the existing plot in the next 12 months. Full planning is to be sought prior to year end and the build target date is June 2021 (dependent upon funds and the current situation)

9) Video shown

10) Conclusion

Mike thanked leaders and parents for their continued support during these challenging times.

11) Comments by District Commissioner Pete Jefferys

12) General review of the year video shown