Annual Report 2020

Treasures report

The Group has run at a deficit of £7,514 this year, with funds available reducing from £38,617 to £31,103 by the end of the year.  The deficit was driven by the investments we’ve made in the scout hut with improved access to the hut being put in place, refurbishment of the toilets, installation of a new kitchen and the extension of the storage space above the hall way.  The hut is currently having its flooring replaced so will be in a much better condition when we reopen.

We ran a stall at Didsbury Festival in 2019 and due to poor weather on the day raised around £400 for the group.  As ever, thanks to everyone who has completed a gift aid form – in May 2020 we claimed back over £6,000 from HMRC under the gift aid scheme.

Matthew Ruston

Group Treasurer

Chair / GSL’s report

Lease

The scout association hold our lease in trust, we have completed all the paperwork and we understand that, the Scout Association has signed their part of the lease and it is now with the council to sign their part, it has been with  the council all lockdown where we assume it still is.

Building work

All the building work has been completed with the exception of the flooring to the entrance, kitchen and Den, the contractor is waiting for it to become available again, it comes from France.

So when we can all go back you will see two modern toilets a modern kitchen and an extended stores area.

Awards

Congratulations to Helen Hampson, who has been awarded a Silver Acorn for specially distinguished service.

Family fun day

We reintroduced the groups family full day in July 2019. Which was well attended by all sections, it was held at the Abney Hall scout and Guide centre. It was thought it would become an annual event again, maybe next year.

Explore Unit

Our very active unit, since the new year has been experiencing significant leadership problems. Matt Dinnery has had to leave the unit and a new leadership team has yet to be sorted out which has not been helped by the Pandemic. We are trying to resolve the issue and will be giving Aly Royle our new leader as much support as we can.

Leadership

We still need more leaders, in all sections now, as although some sections on paper look to have a good number they are all not able to turn up every week due to their work commitments often leaving the section with the minimum leader operating ratio which is not desirable.

Badge summary

Despite our leader issues the following number of badges have been gained this year;
Beavers 398 badges of which 8 were Bronze Chief Scout’s Awards (CSA).
Cubs 302 badges of which 5 were Silver CSA.
Scouts 33 badges.
Explorers 50 Badges, of which 2 were Platinum CSA and 3 DofE Bronze

Many thanks to all our volunteer leaders and supporters, well done.

Keith Hampson                                                                        Chris Pearse

Group scout Leader                                                                 Chair

Beaver report

Currently we have 20 children on the waiting list to join beavers.

Due to the current Covid epidemic we have not brought any new children into the colonies since Easter. Those who started then have found it difficult to join in on the zoom meetings as they didn’t know other children and also what we did in Beavers. Tuesday beavers is at full capacity of 24 but Wednesday has reduced numbers. Hopefully when we start face to face meetings again we will be able to resolve the situation.

Up till March we had an active programme covering aspects of many challenge and activity badges including home safety, gardening, pancake races, tracking,  global issues.

Last year we did go to Stockport and do the frog trail, attend the Remembrance parade, some tracking in the village and attend the panto along with the cubs.

Unfortunately we could not go bell ringing or on a trip to Eureka with a sleepover at the hut. On a positive note the beavers gained a number of badges during lockdown and these were encouraged via the zoom meetings but not every child was happy doing working this way. The beavers did extremely well and gained parts of their challenge badges – personal, adventure, world and quite a number of activity badges - air activities, gardener, creative, builder, book reader, photographer.

Congratulations to the 6 beaver scouts who managed to gain their Chief Scout Bronze award the highest badge that can be gained in beavers.

My thanks go to all my leaders especially Al who ran the zoom meetings. We are all looking forward to starting beavers again as we’ve all missed seeing the beavers and the interactions of the meetings.

Helen Hampson
Assistant Group Scout Leader for Beavers

Cub report

Over the year since we last had our AGM both Cubs sections have had some fantastic adventures and the last few months have seen both Leaders and Cubs rise to the challenges of a Brave new world.

Some of the great things we’ve been up to.

• We had our first cross-section family fun day in a long while which saw all the sections meet for some fun and food at Abney Hall. I particularly enjoyed the Tug of War and of course the Camp Fire.
• We took part in a number of litter picks supporting the Friends of Didsbury Park.
• The Skills Camp that was organised for October 2019, was washed out due to torrential rains (the campsite was under ½ a foot of water) but our leaders rose to the challenge and organised an alternative Indoor Camp back at the Hut.
• We visited the Didsbury Library for a tour and to find out about the wonderful services they offer.
• Our Beaver Leader Rainbow organised for us to attend a Panto at Stockport Plaza
• Our Monday Night Leaders arranged a fantastic sleep over at the Catalyst science Museum, which saw us take part in a range of fun Science Experiments (I’ve still got my key ring)
• Our Cubs visited Moss-Side Fire Station and learnt about the day to day running of a fire station, with some Cubs and Leader getting to try on some of the gear.
• We’ve had Parents come in an teach us all about how viruses and germs spread as well as about Diabetes with some great experiments.
• We ran virtual camp which saw our cubs sleepover in their own back gardens and front room forts. 

How we are looking

64 Cubs
5 Adult Leaders
2 Leader who have just turned 18 and are moving up to become full-fledged leaders
3 Young Leader

Between September 2019 and September 2020 our cubs have earned 302 Badges - 5 of which are Silver Scout Award.

Claire Lydon (Celts, Monday cubs)

Rolando Johnston (Saxons, Thursday cubs)

Scout report

Griffin Troop (Tuesday)

Brian Cosgrove

Scout Leader

Phoenix Troop (Wednesday)

Around the time of our last AGM, we joined with others from 2^nd Didsbury to attend the Join in Jamboree camp at Linnet Clough (May 2019). None of us would have guessed that would be our last face to face camp for 18 months. The pandemic has been a tough time for everyone, in various ways. I’m pleased to say that Phoenix troop has been operating online since lockdown, and we quickly switched our autumn programme after the local lockdown was announced. We’ve played Taskmaster, a Harry Potter escape room and camped in our living rooms and gardens.

I’d like to thank all the scouts and parents for their patience, support and smiles. We’ll do our best to support you all through the winter.

 Simon Jermy
Scout Leader

DVESU (Didsbury Viking explorer scout unit)

The unit had a very successful year until the pandemic reared its ugly head.

They managed to get two camps in just before lockdown in March. They also took part in the group family activity day and made a weekend of it camping overnight. Members also took part in; the Border Hike, Expedition challenge and the Apex challenge last year.

The Cholton Bees  explorer unit started meeting with our unit from September as their HQ was being rebuilt which made meetings a bit over crowded, once we are back to normal they will go back to their  HQ . Aly Royle joined as a leader during this period and will be taking things forward once we can go back to face to face scouting.

Keith Hampson

Group Scout Leader