Diary Dates
Upcoming Dates
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Castle Morpeth Scout District Council will be
7.30pm Monday 26 September 2022
The Common Room, Neville Hall
Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE.
The Scout Council includes; all adult members and leaders in the district, all members of the Scout Network, all Explorers and parents of Explorer Scouts.
Nominations for members of the District Executive Committee are very welcome. If you are interested or would like some more information please contact secretary@castlemorpethscouts.org.uk
Annual General Meeting
Castle Morpeth District Scout Council
Thursday 7 October 2021 7pm
Zoom Video Conference
MINUTES
District Chaplain Rev Simon White kindly spoke a few words before the start of the official business
1. Apologies received from Liam Walsh, Chris Eldridge, subsequently from the Mayor of Morpeth Coun David Bawn, and Frank Walker.
2. Minutes of 2019 AGM were accepted unanimously
3. Annual Report of the District Executive Committee, including the statement of accounts for the year ending 30th April 2021 had been circulated in advance of the meeting.
Treasurer Chris Holt summarised the report;
It shows who the trustees are, apologies to Barry for spelling his surname incorrectly,
It shows (towards the end) that the District had financial reserves totalling about £20,000 whereas the District Executive Committee considers that it should aim to have about £12,000. A plan has been put in place to reduce the reserves to this amount over the next 5 years. Most of the excess reserves are held by the District Explorers.
During the year ending 30th April 2021 Total Income was £5,681 and Total Expenditure was £2,315. This gave a surplus of £3,366 which was mainly due to First Aid courses not being held, and County not requesting the District to pay for OSM. Groups and Units had paid the District their share of the OSM charge.
The second document is the Receipts and Payments Account which basically shows the breakdown of Income and Expenditure together with the £41,358 which is the Hermann Rotstein Legacy Fund.
The Independent Scrutineer, Simon Pringle (AIBS) has scrutinised the accounts and states that in his opinion the accounts are in accordance with the records produced and comply with the Constitution.
A formal vote of thanks to Chris Holt for his work was passed unanimously.
District Chairman Duncan McDonald said;
On behalf of the District Executive Committee, I would like to offer our thanks, and express our most sincere gratitude to all the volunteers who have kept Scouting alive during the last 12 months.
It's testament to their perseverance and resilience that they managed to uphold the values of Scouting and deliver a range of innovative activities that kept our young people engaged and enthused through some pretty difficult times; not forgetting of course the invaluable support shown by the families of our young people engaging in these "online" and small group sessions.
The District Commissioner will go into more detail about the current strength of the Castle Morpeth District, but in general terms Scouting in Castle Morpeth is still very much in demand, and there are young people in the District who are as yet unable to access and enjoy the undoubted benefits of Scouting.
As we transition to a place with fewer social restrictions and a return to some normality, we see that this demand will increase, and this need can only be met with the assistance of more volunteers helping in a wide range of roles; supporting our young people as they learn "Skills for Life" as they undertake their journey of Personal Development.
So, I would ask that if anyone attending this meeting has an interest in getting more involved with Scouts, could you please contact us via our website castlemorpethscouts.org.uk and the DC will gladly talk to you about your interests and availability etc.
We are also looking to deliver this message to a much wider audience in the coming weeks and months, and we are looking for people who have experience with marketing campaigns through various channels. If you have particular skills or knowledge in these areas (or know someone who might like to advise us), would you be able to join us on a District Sub Committee, to help get this message delivered to the wider population of the Castle Morpeth District.
Thank you again on behalf of the District Exec for your support of our young people through Scouting, as we look forward to an exciting year of activity delivery by the District's various Scout Groups and Troops.
District Commissioner Neil Fraser reported
Scouting was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the various lockdowns. Scouting continued virtually, but in-person scouting started as soon as allowed, with approved risk assessments. Leaders going into overdrive thinking of and organising virtual meetings.
The groups have been affected as follows
4th Morpeth
During the height of the Pandemic 4th Morpeth saw a drop of 19% in youth members with Beaver Scouts particularly affected. This caused us closure of Tuesday Colony. Since then the numbers have increased and they expect to back to pre-pandemic numbers of over 250 young people in the Group by Christmas. At the moment the 3 remaining Beaver Colonies are full. Their four Cub Packs have some limited spaces whilst their 3 Scout Troops and the Sea Scout Troop are also all full.
6th Morpeth
A loss of 40% of our members at the last official head count in January. Losing leaders with no recruits to fill the gaps leading to closure of our Wednesday Beaver and Cub sections. And then Zoom. Then Meeting outdoors again lot of outdoor activities. A group activity day with canoeing, paddle boarding, building shelters, blind man’s trail, water activity and taste and smells.
Explorers
Welcome New District Explorers Scout Commissioner Chris Eldridge and thanks to Clive Rich who recently stood down as DESC.
Explorers continue to grow with both participants and leadership team. We have 76 Explorer Scouts in Morpeth and 20 in Ponteland. 39 of these are Young leaders. We have had 2 years of Expeditions to catch up on, which the Leadership & Participants have been outstanding in doing. My thanks goes out to all of the leaders and parents who have supported us this last year. Looking forward to 2022 with international camps in Ireland on the horizon.
Ponteland
Finances were maintained with the aid of government grants. Group were fortunate in being awarded a High Sheriff of Northumberland Youth Award for its Community service.
Youth members continued to see increases (2018: 96; 2019: 102; 2020: 118; with currently 143 and a very healthy waiting list). Several Leaders stood-back during the year, new Leaders are currently being recruited from parent pool. The Executive was strengthened through two new recruits (new Registrar and new Web manager). Ponteland Scout HQ received some upgrades (floors painted, additional oven in kitchen, new intruder and fire alarms, plus CCTV).
Stannington
No report received
I know they are still without a full exec and struggling with leader numbers
2nd Widdrington
A forming group not yet officially launched but indications are there is a strong level of adult support and sufficient young people to make this a viable. BDS checks are inevitably holding up leader appointments but I hope we will have everything in place for the new year.
Recruitment
As I’ve reported, some sections have closed and others are pretty much full with waiting lists. We’d love to profice more places for young people but the restricting factore is insuficcient adul;t leaders and helpers. There is an Exctra Ordinary Exec meeting after this meeting to discuss some funding proposals to assit with leader recruiting. If ANYONE CAN / would like to assist us by helping with any section please let me know asap.
Leader recognition
Since coming into post I have made a number of District Commissioner Commendations, arranged for County Commissioner Commendations and much higher awards. I have appointed an Awards Panel to assist with this and ensure continuity across the District to ensure that adults are appropriately recognised for their hard work and Stirling efforts. I am very pleased to announce that I am to hold an adults recognition ceremony at Morpeth Town Hall soon, and we have invited both Morpeth and Ponteland Mayors to attend to assist in the presentation of awards. Thank you both for your anticipated support in this new venture.
All leaders and assisting adults
Thank you so much to all the uniformed leaders, exec members, helpers and those that work tirelessly behind the scenes to make Castle Morpeth District Scouts so successful. Providing scouting for literally hundreds of young people in the area make sus the envy of many Districts. There are too many people to single out individually but from the bottom of my heart I thank you all.
4. District Commissioner Neil Fraser's nomination of Duncan McDonald to be the District Chairman was approved unanimously by a show of hands
5. Election of District Executive Committee Officers
a. Treasurer Chris Holt Elected using Zoom poll
b. Secretary Peter Berry Elected using Zoom poll
6. Election of members of the District Executive Committee
a. Barry Hirst Elected using Zoom poll
b. Ellen Logan Elected using Zoom poll
c. Graham Langston Elected using Zoom poll
d. Ian Shaw Elected using Zoom poll
e. Richard Walker Elected using Zoom poll
7. Nominations as members of the District Executive Committee
Rev Simon White Approved by a show of hands
Jennifer Barnes Approved by a show of hands
8. Election District Representative on County Scout Council
Neil Fraser nominated, Peter Berry seconded Ian Morley
Elected by a show of hands
9. AOB None.
At the end of the formal meeting the Mayor of Ponteland Coun Christine Greenwell commended the good relationship between the Town Council and Scout Group. She described Scouts as reliable, willing to help and respectful. In admiring the behaviour of the young people she praised the leaders. Appreciating the contribution of the Scouts to the community Coun Greenwell hoped the Town Council will able to work even more closely with Scouting in the future.