Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017-2018

Cheshire County Scout Council 2017 - 2018 Annual Review

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

DELIVERING SKILLS FOR LIFE

1

THE SCOUT ASSOCIATION

CHESHIRE COUNTY SCOUT OFFICIALS

PATRON

PRESIDENT

Her Majesty the Queen

Sir William Bromley-Davenport (KCVO)

PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENTS

His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent

Peter Ellis Frank Hough April Nicholas Ray Sailsbury JP Geoff Taylor BEM Steve Wilkinson Sir Nicholas Winterton Eddie Johnson Margaret Johnson Margaret Olliver

Robert Baden-Powell First Baron Baden-Powell of Gilwell, OM

CHIEF SCOUT Bear Grylls

UK CHIEF COMMISSIONER Tim Kidd

THE PURPOSE OF SCOUTING Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.

THE SCOUT METHOD Scouting takes place when young people, in partnership with adults, work together based on the values of Scouting and: •

enjoy what they are doing and have fun

•

take part in activities indoors and outdoors

•

learn by doing

•

share in spiritual reflection

•

take responsibility and make choices

•

undertake new and challenging activities

•

make and live by their Promise

Adventurous Activities 6 7

Switzerland Expedition 2017

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Campsites

Peter Mather TD Graham Phillips DL Val Thomason Dave Hopley Ed Lunnon Sue Appleton Edward Appleton Debbie Phillips Roger Owens Jane Duley

County Campsites Barnswood Campsite Milldale Campsite Queen Charlotte’s Wood

10 12 12 13

Queen’s Scout Award Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

14 15

Sectional Reports

Laura Dyer Pam Owen Simon Appleton Luke Morby Simon Appleton Nigel Flatman Daragh O’Malley Graham Shaw John Duley

Beaver Scouts Cub Scouts Scouts Explorer Scouts Scout Network

16 17 18 19 20

Preparing Better Futures

21

Active Support Youth Shaped Practical Skills Development Community Impact Adult Training

25 26 26 26 27 27

World Scout Jamboree

28

District Reports

20%

OF COUNTY YOUTH MEMBERSHIP NOW FEMALE

Alderley District Chester and District Ellesmere Port and Neston Knutsford and District Macclesfield and Congleton Mersey Weaver Mid Cheshire South West Cheshire Warrington East Warrington West

30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

Census & Awards Awards for Good Service Census of Membership

40 42

Useful Contacts

43

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Be Prepared: To have fun To make friends To take the challenge For the adventure To get connected

4 4 4

International

Assistant County Commissioners Beaver Scouts Cub Scouts Scouts Explorer Scouts Scout Network Special Events Activities International Development

Foreword Chairman’s Report County Commissioner’s Report

Adventurous Activities Cheshire Hike

OFFICIALS County Chairman County Commissioner Deputy County Commissioner Deputy County Commissioner County Youth Commissioner County Secretary County Treasurer County Training Manager County Active Support Manager County Appointments Secretary

CONTENTS

FOUNDER

Introductions

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FOREWORD

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

It is with great delight that I introduce this Annual Review of Cheshire Scouts.

Congratulations to you all on another splendid Scouting year.

Scouting in Cheshire moves forward.

We have continuous growth in numbers and at the same time we are delivering a record quality service. We have a membership now of over 14,000 and are achieving in Queen’s Scout Awards in 1 year what it would have taken us 10 years to do 10 years ago. This is Growth and Quality and highlights the need to continue driving Scouting forward, to give as many young people as possible the opportunity to achieve their awards and change their lives. We welcome the Chief Scout’s vision of ‘Skills for Life’ and will be incorporating this is all we do including the involvement of the growing number of adult volunteers.

information from HQ to help them fulfil their Trustee responsibilities.

Over the past 12 months there has been considerable progress in supporting adult volunteers who are Trustees of local Groups and Districts. This has included the introduction of a short training module for all Trustees that is delivered online and then locally validated by our team of Training Managers. All Trustees are now required to be members of the Association, which means they can receive tailored

Peter Mather County Chairman

The new Skills for Life strategy recently announced by the Scout Association reflects the many years of work in Cheshire to meet the demand for Scouting. This is being achieved by focusing on supporting our remarkable adult volunteers and significantly increasing the number of top Scouting Awards being gained. All of this has been providing the skills for life that have benefited young people and adult volunteers in Cheshire. Therefore, I am confident that Cheshire is very well placed to meet the requirements of the new national strategy.

Once again I am proud to heap praise on everyone for their continued support and commitment to Scouting. Your investment is not just for the young people of Cheshire but also for the Leaders of tomorrow.

Bill Bromley-Davenport President of Cheshire Scouts

Our growth in numbers is matched by our ability to support the ongoing projects and at the same time establish an infrastructure for the future. The County is healthy and seeks to support all members in all they do and help them achieve their ‘Skills for Life’ This year we look forward to Chamboree to more adventure, to more badges and to more awards and if this review is anything to go by it should be a wonderful year.

Enjoy this review.

THERE ARE NOW

10,514

YOUNG PEOPLE ENJOYING SCOUTING IN CHESHIRE SUPPORTED BY

3,684 ADULTS

FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH – THAT’S CHESHIRE

The last 12 months has seen another year of growth, meaning that Cheshire Scouting has grown in 14 years out of the last 15 years with one year when the numbers didn’t change.

Development Our strategy around development is based on trying to meet the demand for Scouting that exists in every community.

In some cases this has meant creating new Scout Groups, in some cases it has meant opening new Sections and in a significant number of cases it has simply meant supporting existing Groups to recruit both supporting adults and youth members. All of this work has been delivered by John Duley, Assistant County Commissioner Development and our Employment Development Officer, Simon Appleton. In addition

The current development project is now in its final 12 months and work is underway to make sure the learning acquired during the project is now readily available for every District, every Group and every Leader who is interested in supporting Scouting locally and in particular meeting increasing demand for Scouting.

World Scout Jamboree 2019 sees the next World Scout Jamboree being held in America and Cheshire has its largest ever contingent going to an International Jamboree on foreign soil. The contingent is made up of 81 participants who have been

The second donation came from Stanley Coventry Discretionary Trust and was for £75,000. Following discussions with the executors of this trust fund and to meet the wishes of Mr Coventry agreement was reached that £40,000 will be used to improve facilities at Forest Activity Centre and £35,000 will be used to support ongoing

COUNTY TOTAL MEMBERSHIP; ADDITIONAL 680 MEMBERS

5.0%

GROWTH

Skills for Life

These are really important indications of the quality of weekly programmes being delivered by Leaders. For the young people receiving these awards they almost always turn out to be life enhancing in terms of creating opportunities for university places, apprenticeships and workplaces.

Nationally Scouting has launched the new strategy to take us through to 2023 which is essentially focusing on giving young people skills for life. In my view this is something we have always done but this new focus will mean that we talk about it more, we will explain to young people the skills they acquire in Scouting will be useful for the rest of their lives, and it means we will be promoting the skills that young people have in our communities, workplaces and education establishments.

Chamboree 2018

I passionately believe that if we start with Beaver Scouts achieving their Chief Scout’s Bronze Award we have started on the path to creating the opportunities for Scouts to achieve DofE Gold Award and of course their QSA

There is much excitement at the announcement that Bear Grylls, our Chief Scout will visit Chamboree. The plan is that the whole visit will be spent in the main arena providing the maximum opportunity for those on site to see Bear and potentially get close to him.

This strategy is intrinsically linked to young people achieving the top awards in every section of Scouting. Those of you who have heard me speak at local Annual General Meetings will know that this has been a theme of mine for the last 10 years. I passionately believe that if we start with Beaver Scouts achieving their Chief Scout’s Bronze Award we have started on the path to creating the opportunities for Scouts to achieve Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and of course their Queen’s Scout Award.

Recently we had the largest number of Queen’s Scout Award holders attending the annual National Scout Service and Parade in Windsor Castle and the number of Cheshire Scouts achieving DofE Awards continues to grow year-on-year.

Later this year Cheshire will deliver its large International camp, Chamboree, between Saturday 28th July and Saturday 4th August, with the Cub Scouts camping from Friday 27th July to Sunday 29th July. Indications are that it will be our largest ever Chamboree with many new activities and attractions and more international visitors than ever before.

Bear Grylls visit to Chamboree (Sunday 29 July)

New County website to be launched in July To continue our support to help meet the demand for Scouting and provide better support for Leaders a completely new website will go live in July. Revised functionality will allow people to find their nearest Scout Group, it will have online eCommerce facilities and the aim is to have Adult Training with online bookings available through the site.

Cheshire Scouting continues to grow and demand for what we have continues to grow-all of which reflects the quality of programmes delivered week in, week out by volunteers. Whatever role you have in Scouting thank you, because together we are changing lives, we are providing skills for life and hopefully we are all having fun.

Graham Phillips County Commissioner graham.phillips@cheshirescouts.org.uk

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By any measure this is a remarkable result and this year has shown that it is possible to recruit Group Scout Leaders with a 5% growth in the number of new GSL’s. I am also pleased to see a 10% growth in female membership,

There are 14,198 people now involved in Scouting in Cheshire.

we have utilised some of the time from the Development Officer employed by Cheshire Youth United. It is also worth acknowledging that it is only with the support of each Scout District that success can be achieved.

In the last 12 months Cheshire Scouting has benefited from two very significant donations. The first donation of £50,000 was made by Cheshire Freemasons with £30,000 being used to refurbish the Lakeview facility at Forest Activity Centre, £10,000 will be used to provide a free 12 month subscription to Online Scout Manager for every Group in the County and the remaining £10,000 is to be used as part of the redevelopment of the County website that will provide a framework for Districts to then use on their own websites.

development work to strengthen new Groups and open new provision where required. This donation was the result of Mr Coventry enjoying his experience in Scouting when he was both a Cub Scout and a Scout over 50 years ago.

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Cheshire Scouting has grown in 14 years out of the last 15 years

with 20% of our youth membership now being female. This is moving in the right direction but there are still more opportunities to offer Scouting to girls in our communities.

The participants and their Leaders are also being joined by 21 members of Cheshire Scouting going as IST (International Service Team) members.

They will pay their own way to go out to help deliver the WSJ event.

Donations help Cheshire Scouting

COUNTY COMMISSIONER’S REPORT Growth

selected from each of our 10 Districts supported by 9 Leaders. Everybody connected with this activity is now busy preparing for this amazing adventure and Cheshire is rightly proud of its reputation of having some of the best prepared Scout patrols as part of the UK contingent. This preparation is vital to make sure they are able to work as a team so they can experience the full range on offer while in America. They are also very busy raising the funds because a condition of accepting a place was that they must fundraise their fees.

In Cheshire it is important that finance should not be a restricting factor in experiencing Scouting.

OVERALL WINNERS JUNIOR SECTION Team No. 176 Points Scored: 2,088 Henry Montgomery and Oscar Pedley Group: 38th South West Cheshire (3rd Nantwich) District: South West Cheshire

INTERMEDIATE SECTION Team No. 306 Points Scored: 2,515 Zoe Andrews and Isabella Robins Group: 1st Appleton Thorn Guide Unit District: Forest Guides

SENIOR SECTION Team No. 511 Points Scored: 3,317 Sami Hatna and Joe Larner Group: Maasai Explorer Scout Unit District: Macclesfield and Congleton

SENIOR PLUS SECTION Team No. 711 Points Scored: 3,449 Phoebe Ashworth and Ella Reid Group: 1st Great Sutton District: Ellesmere Port and Neston

BRIAN KERSHAW AWARD Team No. 176 Points Scored: 2,088 Henry Montgomery and Oscar Pedley Group: 38th South West Cheshire (3rd Nantwich) District: South West Cheshire

ADVENTUROUS ACTIVITIES For “Adventurous Activities” the Scout Association operates a permit scheme that ensures all those who deliver activities have the necessary technical skills required and fully understand how these should be delivered in a safe and enjoyable way, paying particular attention to the safety and health of the young people under their charge. This scheme operates in conjunction with National Governing Body training but goes further in that it enables Instructors to gain a permit to lead or supervise without the need to actually have the NGB award. The permit ensures they are of the required standard and understands the rules the Scouting Association works to when delivering each particular activity. We provide Permit training and assessment

We conservatively estimate that we are delivering at least 1300 adventurous activity sessions to more than 8,000 participants per year, delivering on our key objective of developing life skills through everyday adventure.

We will continue to grow and develop our offering and look forward to even more permits being issued in 2018 so that more young people can have the chance to experience adventurous activities.

Daragh O’Malley Assistant County Commissioner (Activities) daragh.omalley@cheshirescouts.org.uk

52ND CHESHIRE HIKE 2018 SPECIAL Wow, what a weekend! Every single one of our hikers are winners and should wear this year’s Cheshire Hike white scarf with pride.

This year 470 young people completed the Cheshire Hike. The 3 starts were at the Scout HQ's of Cuddington & Sandiway, Tarporley and Tarvin. With Base Camps at Arley Hall, Davenham and Comberbach, we are as always indebted to the farmers of Cheshire who allow us the use of their fields to camp on.

The Juniors did brilliantly this year and found their campsite at Arley Hall was adjacent to the film set for Sky TV's new street racing drama "Curfew" starring Sean Bean. Although, we're not sure they appreciated being woken at 4am to an explosive live action sequence!

Though the weather was sunny, warm and dry for much of the weekend with the rain holding out right until the finish on Sunday, the ground conditions for the hike were very challenging owing to poor weather we've had over recent weeks, particularly on our Intermediate route; Scouts had the additional challenge of fishing their boots out of the mud.

The Seniors and Senior Plus also did very well this year.

At the finish at the Knutsford Academy, proud parents applauded the achievements of all of our hikers and they were not the only ones - the Leaders who trained them and the Hike Team that followed their every footstep over the weekend felt just as elated.

We were pleased to be joined by our Regional Commissioner for the North West of England Andrew Corrie, who presented the Trophies for the overall winners.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank the army of volunteers that dedicate their time to making Cheshire Hike a continued success along once again a big thank you to the local landowners.

We hope to see many of the 2018 hikers back again next year for our 53rd Cheshire Hike on 13-14 April 2019 and we'd also like to encourage Troops and Units who've not entered Cheshire Hike before to give Cheshire Hike a go!

Trevor Burgess Cheshire Hike Organiser trevor.burgess@cheshirescouts.org.uk

SAVE THE DATE 53RD CHESHIRE HIKE

2019 6TH - 7TH APRIL

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Our programme for each Section is growing and developing all the time with a real emphasis on adventurous and outdoor activities. In Cheshire we are very fortunate to have a great number of adults who develop the necessary skills and experience to become Instructors and Assessors, thereby providing even more opportunities for the Youth Members to try new things and develop their own skills and experiences in a safe and fun environment. Many of these Instructors take this on in addition to another

Scouting role but we also encourage other adults to come and support us, especially those who already have skills and experiences that they can pass on.

We now have over 280 adults who have adventurous activity permits giving us more than 600 permitted Leader/ Activity permutations. In the past 12 months we have added even more permits in a wide range of disciplines including Archery, Narrow Boating, Climbing both Single Pitch and Walls, Raft Building, Bell Boating, Kayaking, Open Canoes and Winter Conditions Hill Walking.

CHESHIRE HIKE

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

In keeping with our passion for “everyday adventure” in Scouting we have hundreds of different activities many of which are classed as adventurous activities where we try and develop skills to pass on to our young people in a variety of activities from Scuba Diving to White Water Rafting, Climbing Walls to Zip Wires, Mountain Walking to Orienteering.

to enable adults to deliver activities in an enjoyable and safe manner.

INTERNATIONAL Cheshire Scouts’ appetite for international experiences continues to grow, and the past 12 months saw a huge variety of Visits Abroad taking place. As ever, Switzerland remains a popular destination, with many Groups visiting Kandersteg and its perpetual Jamboree atmosphere.

Talking of Jamborees, Nord 2017 in Norway proved particularly popular, with contingents from Warrington West and Mersey Weaver and an IST member from South West Cheshire all experiencing the unique experience of an international camp where the sun never set.

Going further afield, a Group from Alderley District enjoyed the trip of a lifetime to the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree in West Virginia.

Meanwhile, one enterprising Cub Scout from South West Cheshire took advantage of a family trip to Canada to link up with a Canadian Pack for part of their camp.

A personal highlight for me was the opportunity to lead nearly 100 Scouts, Explorer Scouts and Leaders on a visit to Hauteville-sur-Mer in Normandy, France in August. Young people from 7 Groups in three Districts embarked on 6 days of Adventure and Discovery.

A packed schedule included climbing, high ropes, bushcraft, beach games, teambuilding, archery, canoeing and rafting, as well as cultural visits to Bayeux, the Commonwealth War Graves and the Normandy landing beaches. The greatest impact of this trip was that 20 Leaders with little previous experience of leading a Visit Abroad, came back with the skills, knowledge and confidence to plan a future overseas trip. Watch this space!

If you think a Visit Abroad is something your Group would like to do, a great starting point could be one of the many organised events that take place each year. Visit scouts.org.uk/international to find details of upcoming events.

Graham Shaw Assistant County Commissioner (International) graham.shaw@cheshirescouts.org.uk

SWITZERLAND EXPEDITION 2017 All cheering and chanting on a very wet Friday afternoon, we left Grappenhall for our trip of a lifetime to Switzerland.

Everyone was wrapped in excitement like they were a birthday gift.

After a long journey to the ferry in Dover we finally sat down and ‘enjoyed’ the comforts of the stormy sea. Tired,

For the remainder of the journey, many of the Scouts were unable to remember, being either too tired or asleep. We were almost at our destination and suddenly everyone was super charged and ready for the adventures ahead.

The first day’s activity went extremely fast, and included going on a zip wire course across a river from the mountains, which was amazing. The next few days we had to change our schedule due to being in the middle of a thunderstorm, but we still managed to visit two amazing waterfalls, which seemed to take hours to walk to. We visited the local shop where many of us spent a huge amount of our money on sweets which were eaten during midnight feasts.

The highlight of the week was a visit to Kandersteg International Scout

Centre, where we met many Scouts from around the world. When the sun did come back out we visited the local outdoor swimming pool. The water was very cold but we had lots of fun. We were fortunate enough to be there for Switzerland National Day, and we spent the evening in the local village watching the celebratory firework display followed by more hot chocolate. A Swiss night up in the mountains included entertainment from some of the village people and was enjoyed by all.

Towards the end of our week away we went on a cable car to a tobogganing track which was exciting, even without the snow. As we ventured back down the mountain we reached a glacier lake, where those of us who were tough enough braved the ice-cold water for a swim.

The week was drawing to a close. One of our last activities was a high ropes course on one of the mountains, which was pretty nerve racking. The wind was blowing and moving the course from side to side which made it even more challenging. While I really enjoyed it, I don’t think I will be doing anything like that again anytime soon.

The very last day was my favourite, we travelled on the coach to Adelboden, where we were able to spend time exploring the town. It was very expensive, so most of us only did some window shopping.

On our return we were greeted by smiling parents, brothers and sisters who were glad to see us after 9 days away.

It was a great adventure and a trip of a lifetime which I will always remember.

Thank you to everyone who helped and supported us both beforehand and on the trip, and especially Denis our Scout Leader who is amazing, and as we all know spends so much time running the Scouts and arranging all the exciting things we do.

Lucy 25th Warrington East Scout Troop (St Wilfrids, Grappenhall)

The trip 18 months in the planning gave opportunities for all to enjoy what Kandersteg and its programme had to offer as it was a chance to meet other nationalities, exchange our badges and neckers or chat about our involvement in Scouting; friendships developing as the week evolved. 2 troops coming together as one as our stay progressed The highlight for some was our rail journey to the top of Europe by a train through the mountain and later a hike down to Grindlewald taking in the views of the Eiger, Monche and Jungfrau; for others participating in the opening ceremony, international campfire, travelling to Brig Thermal Pools on local transport or participating in the onsite activities such as rock climbing, hiking or appreciating the achievement of reaching the top of Jacob’s ladder. Some loved the atmosphere of the local village or appreciated the beauty of Oeschinensee or Blausee whilst others prized their time meeting Scouts during the night of culture.

Everybody took Switzerland to their hearts. Despite the hectic pace we all benefited greatly from the scenery, atmosphere, weather and ambiance of Kandersteg that made this trip so memorable Jon Davies, Scout Leader 12th Warrington East Scouts

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While my focus is on Visit Abroad, I’m also here to support you in delivering the global programme to your Sections.

If you need any guidance on the My

I hope 2018 takes you scouting ever further afield. Don’t forget to report back - it’s great to hear your stories and see your pictures!

Our summer camp last year was an international trip to Switzerland for 47 members of the 12th Warrington East and 16th Warrington West Scout Troops. Arriving in Kandersteg to be met by glorious scenery and still snow on the mountains we entered into our experience with gusto and enthusiasm

we stepped back onto the coach and continued what seemed like our endless journey to paradise.

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

2018 is sure to be another great year for Cheshire Scouts going abroad. Trips are already planned to Austria and Switzerland and I’m sure more and more Visits Abroad forms will be landing in my inbox in the coming weeks!

World Challenge (Beaver Scouts), Our World Challenge (Cub Scouts), World Challenge (Scouts and Explorer Scouts), Explorer Belt (Explorers & Network) or Scouts of the World Award (Network) please get in touch.

SNOW IN SUMMER!

CAMPSITES The Activity Centre Team has had a very busy but exciting year at the County Campsites. Some of the changes are highlighted here but the most important is the positive impact these improvements will have on the experiences of our visitors.

The number of visitors at both Forest and Tatton increased throughout 2017/18 and we continued to support our partnership commitment with High Adventure - Outdoor Education Centre - to deliver a fantastic developmental week to around 2000 young people through the National Citizenship Scheme.

We said goodbye to 2 members of staff during 2017, Patch O’Donovan and Sarah Bailey. Both of them are wished well as their contribution to the development of the Activity Centres is recognised by us all. They will be missed as colleagues and friends.

We have recently increased our activity and support staff and we hope they will enable us to provide the level of Instruction and support that make every stay as enjoyable as it can be.

John McNally - Deputy Activity Centre Manager Tom Bailey - Activity Instructor Liam Rowe - Activity Instructor Christian Pollard - Activity Instructor Trevor and Tracey Burgess continue to take responsibility for grounds maintenance, general maintenance, cleaning and supporting those Volunteer Duty Wardens who spend their weekends making sure our visitors have a great time. Trevor also continues to help deliver county-wide events such as the Winter Camp, Chariot Race and Halloween Camp.

To compliment these activities, the Tented Village at Forest Camp has been refurbished with new bases to keep the tents cleaner, warmer and drier.

Our Water Activity equipment remains popular and we are looking at developing our paddle sports provision for weekends, evenings and weekdays.

Our new Crate Stacking High Ropes activity and the anchors for our Tree Climbing Activities at both sites have been installed To achieve accreditation as a safe and enjoyable environment for schools and other youth groups we are focusing on our activity session delivery, risk assessment and operating procedures whilst improving our back office and communications.

We are looking forward to the improvements to our website and marketing materials which we hope to re-launch soon. Plans are currently underway for this year’s Halloweenthemed weekend.

The refurbishment of Lakeview is now complete thanks to a significant donation from Cheshire Masonic Lodges. The renovation to the toilet and shower facilities, along with substantial improvements to the kitchen area, have made Lakeview very popular especially when linked to the Tented Village and Hollows campsite. At Forest Camp we now have a training room available to support activity training and school visits.

As a team, we have worked hard to improve both sites and provide better activities and facilities for Cheshire Scouting and our other visitors.

Working plans are underway to continue growing the Activity Centre business in order to invest for the future. This will ensure both Tatton Park and Forest Camp remain great, safe places for young people to enjoy.

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Dave Metcalfe Campsite and Activity Centre Manager campsitemanager@cheshirescouts.org.uk

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Our new Crate Stacking High Ropes activity and the anchors for our Tree Climbing Activities at both sites have been installed and are awaiting final painting and training programmes to be written. We look forward to having them ready for use in June.

We continue to be ably assisted in Warden and Activity Instructor roles by dedicated volunteers who give an enormous amount of time to keep the campsites operating. Several Regional, County and District Camps have been held this year which have been well received.

MILLDALE CAMPSITE Located just off the A51 close to Nantwich, Milldale is South West Cheshire District Scouts’ own campsite covering 24 acres of secluded countryside. The campsite has enabled 1522 young people achieve 2411 Nights Away during the past year.

It is open to all members of the Scouting and Guiding movements, youth groups and schools. A stream, 5 acres of mature woodland and a 7-acre camping field make Milldale the ideal location for traditional Troop and Patrol camping activities as well as for large Group events or District camps.

For the past 10 years Milldale has hosted South West Cheshire’s bi-annual District Camp, each time accommodating more than 1200 campers from all Sections with a wide range of activities. The site also has a large barn, which provides wet weather alternatives should the British weather prevail.

QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S WOOD We have lots of onsite activities and all necessary equipment can be booked with instructors if needed. Activities include: a climbing wall, bouldering wall, outdoor shooting, indoor shooting, archery, tree climbing, tomahawk throwing, a purpose-built grass cart track, crate stacking, a caving simulator, pizza oven, aerial runway, pedal carts and pioneering kits.

As we write our report we have been visiting QCW in the Spring sunshine and appreciate, as we often do, just how beautiful our campsite is and how lucky we are to have such an asset. But we also know that it has come about mainly through hard work, imagination and dedication by many people over many years.

Its present state could hardly have been imagined just a couple of weeks ago when the ground was so wet camping had to be cancelled for a weekend; an unprecedented occurrence.

To book the site or find out more visit: www.milldalescoutcamp.co.uk or email Milldale.Bookings@swcscouts.org.uk

Both grounds and buildings present a never ending list of work for the maintenance team and sadly among such tasks recently was the partial felling of everybody’s favourite tree, a beech which was over 100 years old but diseased .

Our District Explorer Scouts were a great help in clearing the cut wood. We have

BARNSWOOD CAMPSITE The past year saw excellent utilisation of Barnswood until the bad weather set in. Consequently camper numbers have been lower than usual over the winter, and perversely have taken longer than expected to recover as the winter lingers on. We hope to see this trend reversed as summer takes hold.

Meanwhile the maintenance team has been working flat out to repair the damage inflicted by the ‘Beast from the East’ and its colleagues - no mean task.

Our new curators of the Barnswood Scouting Museum have been doing a wonderful job completely revitalising the exhibition. In addition the building has been relocated and completely renovated, so we are looking forward to the re-opening planned for June.

The Town Mayor of Macclesfield will undertake this duty, having made a generous contribution from his Mayoral Fund to help finance the refurbishment.

The site has a strong team of volunteers who keep the site in tiptop condition. During the camping season, wardens are on site all weekend to help where needed.

The campsite team has had a successful year with several projects being completed; the site has a new pedal cart track with 3 carts available for hire and was awarded a grant from the Rural Development Programme to purchase a tractor and 2 activity shelter buildings which the team are currently in the process of erecting.

We anticipate making significant progress with 3 of our major projects over the coming year. These comprise: •

Extending the car park to alleviate arrival and departure congestion

•

Replacing our tired Toilet Block 1 with a modern Amenity Building

•

Developing a caving simulator.

These are ambitious projects, but well worth both the effort and the expense.

We have welcomed a number of interlopers to Barnswood recently.

A small family of deer have taken up residence. They are quite shy, and keep to the remoter areas when anyone is on site. But if you are patient you might spot them watching you.

Our call for help for maintenance volunteers has been answered surprisingly well. six men have joined us in the last year, some just part time as their work allows, but all very much welcomed. However, we are very short of weekend wardens.

Our wardens work singularly or in pairs and although they do not stay on site they normally visit 2 or 3 times during their weekend and are available to deal with any problems. We remain hopeful that we get some more help.

We are currently in the process of replacing all mattresses on the Hideaway bunks. It has proved to be an unexpectedly difficult and lengthy task to find a suitable replacement and to dispose of the old mattresses.

We are looking forward to yet another challenging but satisfying year.

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Ian and April Nicholas - Joint Campsite Managers

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

also constructed attractive fencing close to the Hideaway. This was mainly for safety reasons but also to enhance the appearance of the Hideaway frontage.

The sites taken out of service last year have been restored although another site is now being repaired following a very wet camp in early April.

As last year, I must thank the members of the Management Committee and the Thursday (Maintenance) Team. Their work is tireless and without their enthusiasm, inspiration and endless hard work there would be no Barnswood. Scouting continues to owe a great deal to this dedicated and talented group of people.

QSA - THE QUEEN’S SCOUT AWARD The QSA is the culmination of everything that Explorer Scouts and Scout Network members have achieved in Scouting. It has been carefully aligned with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold award so that with careful planning both awards can easily be achieved at once.

To gain the Queen's Scout Award you must register your interest via The Scout Association at Gilwell once you have turned 16. Activities towards your QSA can only count after registration, so it’s advisable to register soon after your 16th birthday.

The QSA has been carefully aligned with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold award so that with careful planning both awards can easily be achieved at once

their Chief Scout's Platinum and Chief Scout's Diamond Award.

Guidance in the new Reach the Top resource allows for nights away from the Chief Scout's Platinum Award to now count for the Chief Scout's Diamond Award. Nights away used towards the Chief Scout's Diamond award can also now count towards the Queen's Scout Award. This makes the nights away cumulative at each level of award.

The Reach the Top guide for Explorer Scouts, Scout Network members, Leaders and Commissioners can be downloaded from The Scout Association website and also from the Cheshire Scouts website.

A logbook is available to support Explorer Scouts and Scout Network members to track the activities they

have completed for their Queen’s Scout Award, the completion form is on the final page of the Reach the Top document.

Along with the above resource, The Scout Association is now partnered with the DofE and are able to provide suggestions on activities to undertake for the five challenges: Residential, Expeditions, Skills, Physical and Volunteering.

New training material is available which aims to enable adults to support Explorer Scouts and Scout Network members through the completion of their Queen’s Scout Award. Key elements of the QSA are covered such as who it is for and the links between the Chief Scout and Duke of Edinburgh Awards. For more information, contact the County QSA Adviser.

Our campsites team ran two Gold/ QSA residential opportunities enabling another 12 young people to complete this section of the award.

In fulfilling these activities for their DofE award and by working on other requirements regarding International, Community and Values within the Unit or Network meetings, they are simultaneously working towards their Chief Scout Awards.

Our campsites team ran two Gold/QSA residential opportunities at Forest Camp, enabling another 12 young people from the region to complete this section of the award. They provided a great Hallowe’en experience for the Scouts who camped over the October half term, working as a team to put on some spooky activities and an atmospheric campfire. Additionally they worked on the campsite preparing for the camp and ensuring the campsite was cleared and tidied for the winter months.

In 2018 we hope to begin planning with the other Districts in the Region to provide similar opportunities at other campsites throughout the North West.

To all the Leaders and adults who help support the DofE programme in Cheshire, thank you. You are a key part in the successes that our young people are experiencing.

Congratulations to all those young people who achieved an award last year and to those working towards one, keep striving as the reward is worth the effort.

Carol Frain Duke of Edinburgh/Queen’s Scout Award County Adviser carol.frain@cheshirescouts.org.uk

Each one has involved the participant learning a skill, taking part in a physical activity, volunteering their time for the good of others and planning, training and preparing for a self-sufficient expedition. Each level requires a little more commitment, a little more involvement and, at Gold level, the addition of a 5-day residential experience.

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A “Reach the Top” support guide is available from The Scout Association at Gilwell. This document contains all information for Explorer Scouts, Scout Network members, Leaders and Commissioners in one place. This refreshed guide also offers support for members who are working towards

2017 - another fantastic year for Cheshire Scouts and their achievement of the top awards in Scouting. There is news of our Queen’s Scout Award recipients elsewhere in this report but here we are celebrating the 64 Bronze, 45 Silver and 31 Gold awards that are now being proudly worn in Cheshire.

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

To qualify for membership you must be aged between 16 and 25 years old and have been a member of Explorer Scouts or the Scout Network (or both) for at least 18 months. This can include time counted towards the Chief Scout's Platinum or Diamond Awards. You must still be a member of Explorer Scouts or Scout Network at the time you complete the award.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AWARD

CUB SCOUTS Cheshire Cub Scouts are thriving thanks to the dedication and hard work of the Leaders who ensure the young people find their training programme exciting and varied with many outdoor activities undertaken.

2017 was a very quiet year compared with the 100 year celebrations of 2016.

Cub Packs continued working with the revised programme gaining many badges and working towards their Chief Scout’s Silver Award.

I am always honoured to be invited to the Silver Award Evenings and see the excitement on the faces of the Cub Scouts as they receive their awards; it’s great to see so many achieve this award.

Over the summer many Districts and Groups would have held summer camps which would have given the Cub Scouts the Nights Away badges and provided the Cub Scouts with the chance to do many outdoor activities.

I also attended many Christmas Carol services, all different in their own way but each and every one enjoyable.

The title of the Handicraft competition was taken from the Chamboree theme, each group had to make a Pirate Ship.

Teams brought a small amount of craft material with them, we provided the base, material, blue tissue paper and green sticks. The winners were Macclesfield and Congleton who managed to show the inside of the ship with hammocks etc. All the Packs worked very well together as teams and all were winners.

The Cub Scout Section has always something exciting to look forward to. Plans are now well underway for a fabulous and exciting time at Chamboree 2018 and I look forward to seeing many Packs there.

Pam Owen - Assistant County Commissioner (Cub Scouts) pam.owen@cheshirescouts.org.uk

BEAVER SCOUTS

Throughout all of the Districts in Cheshire the Beaver Scouts have been able to achieve their top award, the Chief Scout’s Bronze Award, owing to the dedication of their Leaders and helpers in delivering a balanced programme.

It has been yet another fantastic year for Beaver Scouts across Cheshire with so many of them achieving their Chief Scout’s Bronze Award and we have seen a growth of 1.7% in the Section across the County. These factors are strongly down to the dedication and commitment of the Colony Teams.

As always a huge amount of thanks needs to go to the leadership teams who provide such a varied programme to facilitate this and give our youngest members the experiences that they have.

Laura Dyer - Assistant County Commissioner (Beaver Scouts) laura.dyer@cheshirescouts.org.uk

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We will be holding our annual Beaver Scout Challenge Day, which is to be hosted by Mid Cheshire District in June.

This will see the majority of Districts enter a team to compete in a carousel of outdoor/adventurous activity bases.

Districts have once again held their own District Challenges where the focus has been outdoor and adventurous activities.

This is a fantastic opportunity for Beaver Scouts from across the County to engage in activities and meet Colonies outside of their District.

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Our Leaders and helpers have continued to work hard to provide the Beaver Scout Section with a variety of outdoor and adventurous activities varying from hikes in the local community to some further afield. Many Beaver Scout Colonies have had the opportunity to integrate aspects of the World Scout Jamboree into their programme and have had members of the Cheshire Units visit their meetings and help deliver activities.

EXPLORER SCOUTS The section had a continued the focus on awards across 2017 and 2018 and another strong year of Chief Scout’s Platinum and Diamond Awards were presented with 70 Platinum and 36 Diamond. The focus on Young Leader awards with the introduction of a County Young Leader book and extra resources has allowed 29 Young leaders to complete and receive their Young Leader Belt. I hope that this motivation and enthusiasm for awards can keep growing and succeeding.

Unfortunately, the number of Explorer Scouts across the County is still in decline, and clearly an area of improvement that every District and Explorer Scout Unit needs to focus on into the coming years. The Beaver Scout, Cub Scout and Scout Sections have all seen stability or healthy growth across the County so the Section clearly needs to focus on the attraction and retention of Scouts from their feeder Groups into the Explorer Scout Section.

Explorer Scout Units across the County

provide some amazing experiences, both on their weekly night, weekends away and international trips. I’m sure Leaders in every Section know what Explorer Scouts do, and the benefits for young people in attending the Section, so we all need to ensure that message gets to the young people.

I am always hearing positive stories of opportunities and activities going on across the County showing the diversity and richness of the Section’s programme. Many Explorer Scout Units have put on international trips over the last year, and many are attending Chamboree this year. All Explorer Scout Units are also focused on supporting their members in fundraising and preparation for the World Scout Jamboree in 2019.

The wealth of skills within the leadership teams never fails to amaze me, and the amazing programmes on offer are a credit to their skill and dedication.

Overall, the Explorer Scouts is a strong and creative Section with some amazing programmes and dedicated Leaders.

They are providing some astounding opportunities for young people’s development and skills, and we need to ensure that our Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts and Scouts know about Explorer Scouts and dream of one day joining the Section.

Luke Morby Assistant County Commissioner (Explorer Scouts) luke.morby@cheshirescouts.org.uk

SCOUTS This has been a great year for the Scout Section, with the County showing an increase in membership numbers, stemming the decline over recent years.

Hopefully this growth will continue as Troops and Districts across the County offer more and more opportunities to young people to develop the key skills for life through the Scouting programme.

A clear measurement of just how successful the quality of the programme offered every week is the increase in retention numbers across the Section, and the improving percentage of Scouts who are transitioning to Explorer Scouts.

A further measure of the quality of the programme delivered is in the 221 Scouts who achieved the Chief Scout’s Gold Award this year, the top award in the Section. This shows that the hard work of the Scout Leaders and other volunteers to embed and include the updated Challenge Awards into the programme are taking hold. This allows more young people to achieve their potential within the Section, and inspire them to move forward to achieve awards as Explorer Scouts and Network members.

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Simon Appleton - Assistant County Commissioner (Scouts) simon.appleton@cheshirescouts.org.uk

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

There is a clear correlation between the increase in membership numbers and the quality offering of adventurous and outdoor activities at all levels, from weekly Troop nights to largescale events organised at a District and County level, including the annual Cheshire Hike, County Winter Camp and County and Regional Lord Derby competition, where the County was once again well represented in the regional final following a competitive County competition. A key part of the ongoing strategy is to offer opportunities at District and County level that are not always possible to produce at a local level, and we have a number of Scouts who are now preparing for their participation in the

World Scout Jamboree in America next year, and a strong proportion of Scout Troops are looking forward to this year’s Chamboree event in the summer.

NETWORK

Across generations, Scouting has proved a powerful force for good, bringing communities together and contributing to society. But it has always had one aim above all others: to prepare young people for the future.

highly prized by employers and wider society.

Society is changing. In oftenfragmented communities, the pressures and expectations on young people are increasing. The future is uncertain.

Scouting has never been so important in helping young people get on by developing the skills they need to succeed in a changing world.

There is perhaps a reason so many of the Gold Medal winners at the London and Rio Olympics were Scouts.

We gave athletes like Helen Glover, Victoria Pendleton and Joe Clarke the confidence to dream big and the determination and drive to realise them.

The same could be said for millions of others who have gone on to excel in their chosen field. It has raised their aspirations (literally so, in the case of astronaut and Scout, Tim Peake). As Scouts we reach for the stars while keeping our feet on the ground.

Each week across Cheshire we offer a unique mix of fun, friendship and outdoor adventure that appeals just as much to a young person now as it did in 1907. The values we instill: the character, leadership and team working skills we deliver have never been more

Our benefits are not fully understood by the public and we are not seen as relevant or open enough. Our 110 year heritage is something to be proud of, but it also means there are outdated perceptions. While Scouting is well known, it is not always known well.

In changing times, our new strategy needs to be bold enough to face up to these realities. We need to have the courage to change to meet the needs of society, volunteers and young people.

Scouting achieves remarkable things.

But now we want to go further. This is a strategy for an ambitious and determined movement. It is a strategy that supports and empowers our volunteers. It is a strategy that shows our clear intention to contribute to a better society. But most of all it is a strategy for young people. They deserve the best skills, the best support and in short, the best possible start in life.

#SkillsforLife

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As ever Network members from across the County attended national events such as Gathering and Intense, and are

Simon Appleton County Scout Network Commissioner simon.appleton@cheshirescouts.org.uk

Delivering Skills for Life

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

This year the numbers of Network members across the County have continued to show a healthy increase since the “reboot” to a District provision.

A year on year growth of 3% means that there are now nearly 600 Network members across the County. What is even more encouraging is that 4 out of 5 Network members have another role within Scouting; many of them giving their time and experience back to the younger Sections of the movement.

Use of the national Network website is progressing, allowing Network members to view and participate in projects across the country, and also allow members to maintain links with home Networks whilst being able to continue their Scouting if they move away to study or work. We again had some great success with members gaining their Queen’s Scout Award, and representing the County at the annual Windsor parade, as well as gaining the Chief Scout’s Diamond and Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

now looking to put together our first County “Scouts of The World” Discovery event in the coming future, allowing more members the opportunity to gain this Network-exclusive award. Across the Districts we are building stronger links between Network and Explorer Scout Units to work on increasing the retention figure of Explorer Scouts moving on to playing an active role in Scout Network. In addition to this the different District Networks have enjoyed a number of joint activities, and locally Network members are continuing to plan their own adventurous, international and community based projects, Network members from across the County formed a significant part of the volunteer team at CarFest, and will do again this year. It is true to say that the everyday fun and adventure of Scouting doesn’t end for our adult members and volunteers.

PREPARING BETTER FUTURES

WHAT THIS STRATEGY MEANS FOR...

By 2023 young people will be better equipped with skills for life, including the character, practical and employability skills they need to succeed. They will be able to articulate these skills, ensuring better prospects in work and education, as well as enjoying better wellbeing by taking part in Scouting activities that help them Keep Learning, Be Active, Take Notice, Connect and Give.

By 2023 we will have:

50,000 more young people aged 6-18 in Scouting

10,000 more Section Leaders (including Section Assistants)

year making a positive impact in their community

By 2023 our volunteers will feel more supported, have access to better tools, particularly digital support, so that Scouting is easier and more enjoyable to deliver. Training will be less time consuming, more useful and easier to complete.

Our vision By 2023 we will prepare better futures by equipping 510,000 young people with skills for life (character, practical and employability skills). They will enjoy better wellbeing and play a full part in their communities.

Our mission Scouting actively engages and supports young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.

Our values

Our promise to the future

We act with care, respect, integrity, cooperation, exploring our own and others’ beliefs.

By 2023 Scouting will have helped:

Our strategic objectives

bring communities closer together (social integration)

As a movement we aim to grow, become more inclusive and youth shaped, while making a positive impact in our communities.

more young people to get on in life (social mobility) more young people to feel better about themselves (wellbeing) more young people to play a full part in their communities, making a positive contribution to society (civic participation)

•

A fun, enjoyable, high quality programme consistently delivered and supported by simple (digital) tools

•

More, well trained, better supported and motivated adult volunteers, and young people, from diverse backgrounds

•

Scouting is clearly understood, more visible, trusted, respected and widely seen as playing a key role in today’s society.

DELIVERING SKILLS FOR LIFE What will continue...

While introducing new ideas and new ways to support both members and wider society, Preparing Better Futures also builds on key aspects of our previous strategy: Safeguarding: We will invest resources to ensure we continue to lead the way in keeping young people safe Digital: We will invest in infrastructure and services to improve support for volunteers, especially our leaders

443,777 461,598

We will ensure the programme experienced by every young person is shaped by young people (Youth Shaped), more relevant and accessible for young people from diverse backgrounds (Inclusion) and enables social action (Community Impact).

Supporting delivery of a quality programme Young people develop their skills through the programme. We need to support the delivery of high quality, consistently delivered programmes that are challenging, relevant and rewarding for every young person, with a focus on helping them achieve their top awards. We will build on the momentum generated by our Cubs100 celebrations to maintain a high degree of energy, support and engagement within our sections.

Ready-made programmes ‘off the shelf’ By 2023: We will ensure more young people experience a balanced programme helping them achieve their top awards, realise their potential and become global citizens by producing ready-made programmes that can be used by Leaders.

Digital tools to help keep track of Scouting progress, capture and measure impact By 2023: We will ensure volunteers can more easily keep track of a young person’s achievements in Scouting. This will help us to understand the impact we are making on young people’s lives.

Focus on developing amazing Section Leaders with practical Scouting skills By 2023: We will help equip Section Leaders with the skills and learning they need, making it more likely that all young people will receive a challenging, relevant and rewarding programme.

Throughout our consultation our volunteers said we needed to equip adult volunteers (particularly those new to Scouting) with practical skills knowledge. Young people told us what they felt made an amazing Section Leader and that will guide our work.

PERCENTAGE OF SECTIONS RUNNING REGULAR YOUTH FORUMS ENABLING YOUNG PEOPLE TO SHAPE THEIR PROGRAMME

Governance: We will ensure the individual charities that comprise The Scout Association are well governed with all boards and executive committees exemplifying the Good Governance Code A Million Hands: We will improve our innovative approach to community impact to ensure that the Movement continues to help other people. We’ll continue A Million Hands, with a new set of issues, and partners, chosen by young people, while also supporting those who tackle issues chosen locally.

Staff development: We will continue to develop The Scout Association’s staff team to provide the highest level of practical support to volunteers, building on our Investors in People Silver status and working towards Investors in People Gold by 2019 and Platinum by 2023.

48%

Major digital investment to aid programme planning By 2023: We will ensure young people receive a fun, enjoyable, quality, high impact consistently delivered programme that takes less time for leaders to plan and deliver. We’ll make it easy for people to find programme ideas relating to all aspects of the programme.

We will ensure programme resources and games can be easily found and shared.

Ensure clearer links to employability skills By 2023: We will work with employers and education agencies (such as UCAS) to improve their understanding of what Scouts achieve. The programme will help young people to better understand and better articulate the skills they have developed.

Explore partnerships that enhance the programme By 2023: We will work with partners such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme, Curriculum for Excellence (In Scotland) and the National Citizen Service (NCS) (in England) so that young people and young adults achieve the highest awards in Scouting as well as other awards along the way.

Young people won’t have to choose between competitors because they can seamlessly acquire the broader experience, accreditation and external recognition through Scouting.

PEOPLE

54%

2015

Review provision for 14-25 year olds By 2023: We will review the Explorer Scout and Scout Network programmes so that there is greater retention of young people at key transitions, growing our numbers, with more young people being successful in education, careers and life opportunities thanks to a relevant programme delivered by amazing leaders. We will also ensure that 14-18 year olds who choose to become Young Leaders are well supported, recognised and can articulate the benefits from their experience of volunteering and leadership.

Our aim: More, well trained, better supported, motivated adult volunteers from different backgrounds, delivering Scouting to more young people from different backgrounds.

2017

Improve the volunteer journey Transform adult recruitment By 2023: We will improve the recruitment process to ensure we can recruit more adults from a more diverse range of backgrounds. Volunteers will be recruited quicker and retained longer, with the right people in the right roles to make the most impact on young people.

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Review the offer for 14-25 year olds Across the UK our membership numbers start to decline after the age of 11 as young people cope with new pressures at secondary school. We also know 14-18 year olds want more support connecting their experiences to employability and further education, being able to articulate the skills they have learnt in Scouting, especially from the advanced skills acquired during international expeditions including global awareness, responsibility and independence.

Our work will ensure that young people are more likely to shape their Scouting experience (Youth Shaped); that young people and volunteers from diverse backgrounds join stay, lead and mix in Scouting (Growth, Inclusion) and support high quality social action projects (Community Impact).

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

2018

Our aim: A fun, enjoyable, high quality, impactful programme, consistently delivered programme, supported by simple (digital) tools.

Key events: We will actively participate in UK, European and World events, including World Scout Jamborees, Blair Atholl International Jamborette, World Scout Moots, Roverway and the Centenary of Gilwell Park in 2019.

NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE (6-18) IN SCOUTING

2014

To achieve these objectives we will focus on three pillars of work:

At least 250,000 young people each year shaping their Scouting experience

REPARING BETTER FUTURES

By 2023, Scouting will be seen as making a significant and relevant contribution to wider society. Nationally, we will have a strong voice on issues that affect young people. We will bring people together, help break down social, ethnic and generational divides and improve the lives of those in our communities.

PROGRAMME

10,000 more Young Leaders At least 250,000 young people each

Volunteers

Society

Our pillars

NUMBER OF SECTIONS IN AREAS OF DEPRIVATION

Our communications and membership engagement will ensure more young people and adult volunteers from more diverse backgrounds join, stay, lead and mix in Scouting (Growth, Inclusion), celebrating the social action our young people undertake (Community Impact) and the skills for life that they learn through the Programme.

612

67 2013

834

166 2016 2014

2018

Make training simpler using digital tools to enhance the experience By 2023: We will ensure our training is simpler, aided by digital tools, and with better training for trainers. We will attract people who see the value of volunteering and acquiring transferable skills from good quality training, and our leaders will feel more empowered to deliver a good quality programme.

Clearer, more accessible, self-service online member resources and information By 2023: We will ensure that volunteers can find the right information quickly via various channels, so they can spend more time delivering safe, high quality activities. Our members currently find it difficult to access relevant, accurate, up to date information and member resources online.

Extend our reach Scouting does not always reflect the makeup of our local communities and does not reach all the young people it should. We need to proactively engage groups we are not currently reaching and identify where we can make the biggest difference.

Reach more underrepresented communities By 2023: Scouting is now present and sustainable in 460 more areas of deprivation than it was at the start of our last strategy, Scouting For All. We will meet the local demand for Scouting in every District by ensuring every Scout Group is complete with enough Sections. We will continue to open new Sections, ensuring that every Group offers provision across the full 6-14 age range, and Districts across the 14-25 age range. We re-commit to growing Scouting in areas of deprivation, as well as focusing on communities that are under-represented in the movement. A diversity and inclusion working group will report later this year producing recommendations to steer this work.

Improve the joining process for young people By 2023: We will make the joining process easier so that we can improve the experience and support those from backgrounds less likely to be successful because of the current joining process.

Parents tell us the current joining process for young people is clunky and outdated and needs improving.

PERCEPTION

Provide tools and resources to promote the benefits of Scouting By 2023: Scouting will be visible in our communities and seen as a modern, relevant organisation, that gives young people skills for life. For the updated brand to be successful we will ensure that volunteers have the tools and resources needed to communicate the benefits and diversity of Scouting in a consistent way.

Uniform review by 2023 (starting with Explorer Scouts) By 2023: We will have reviewed our uniform, exploring how it impacts on perception, inclusivity and relevance, reinforcing pride and a sense of belonging without acting as a barrier to young people and adults otherwise wishing to join. Our uniform was last reviewed in 2001 and it’s time to review it again.

Each District in the County has at least 1 District Active Support Unit and some Districts have created an additional Unit(s) to meet local needs.

There has also been an increase in the number of District Active Support Units who focused on providing a range of adventurous activities. A number of Districts also have Group Active Support Units, although this is an area where there is more scope for growth; especially in large Groups with a membership of around 100 or more.

The majority of the County Active Support Units require their members to hold a valid ‘activity’ qualification, relative to their specialism. This is particularly so with the County First Aid Unit, where there is a breadth of well qualified and experienced members who can support the majority of County events. With the increased focus on quality ‘Scouting’ programmes, there is now a greater need for this to be reflected more in the skill sets of the various Units. This year has also seen

the number of County Active Support Units increase to 7, as we now have an Event Support Unit.

Flexible volunteering is very much about our own attitude to welcoming and encouraging people into Scouting.

However the key to flexible volunteering is to create tasks and roles around the availability of the adult volunteers, which will make a difference to our success.

The focus going forward is supporting events and activities which can improve the life chances of our young people There has been a much-needed shift in the age profile, both in the County and the District Active Support Units, coupled with a wider range of support being available from the various Units.

Some members with dual role(s) are also involved in delivering the weekly programme, using their instruction skills, as well as the necessary people skills.

Many other Active Support members also work in the background doing essential tasks.

The challenge for some District Units is to continue their recruitment and to engage with different generations to the benefit of the District. As we look ahead, many Active Support Units will be involved in this year’s International Chamboree, these include most of the County Active Support Units - Field Activities, Faith and Belief, First Aid, Adventurous Activities and Event Support. As part of the Chamboree activities, 2 of the Units are providing an off-site event called the ‘Liverpool Experience’ involving nearly 3000 Scouts and Explorer Scouts, over a 5 day period.

The focus going forward is supporting events and activities which can improve the life chances of our young people, in preparing them for the future, by giving them skills for life. Much of this is already being delivered in well run programmes, whether it be at Group, District or County Event. Active Support plays its part here in supporting key aspects of the programme, this will include:- community engagement, care for the environment, concern for other people, trying out new activities and International events, like Chamboree.

It was really great to see Active Support members in action at various events this didn’t just happen, it took thought, time and effort to pull things together.

Roger Owens County Active Support Manager rogerowens17@gmail.com

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Our aim: Scouting is clearly understood, more visible, trusted, respected and widely seen as playing a key role in today’s society (improved reach, relevance and reputation).

Brand review focused on providing skills for life By 2023: An updated brand will ensure the public better understands the benefits of Scouting (skills for life) and recognises our positive impact on society, increasing our relevance.

Decision makers will better understand our impact, leading to increased support.

Again there has been growth in the Active Support Section, which provides a support framework for local Scouting events across the County.

One of the best examples of this will be Chamboree, where Active Support members of all ages will contribute to the daily programme, whether it be really large numbers of young people or on a one-to-one. Throughout the year there are also events where Active Support Members can and do, engage with the Community.

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Explore early years provision (under 6) By 2023: We will explore bringing Scouting to younger ages, introducing us to new young people and adults. At our Summit 17 event in April 2017 we heard about the impact of successful provision for under 6 year olds in some areas. Independent research suggests that the earlier a young person accesses non-formal education, the more positive the impact on their prospects. We want to make the biggest difference to young people’s lives and society. To do this we need to recruit more young people and volunteers from a wider range of backgrounds.

Extend Scouting in Schools By 2023: Scouting will be running in more schools. For decades Scouting has been delivered in school settings allowing us to reach different people and extend our impact. Schools offer resources, space and volunteers enabling us to deliver the Programme to more young people from different backgrounds, while still ensuring quality and integration with community-based Scouting.

Transforming our image

ACTIVE SUPPORT

YOUTH SHAPED This year has seen youth shaped scouting come to the forefront in Cheshire with a full complement of Youth Commissioners being appointed and starting to work throughout the County.

Many youth forums are now working on big projects in their Districts, including St George’s Day, District Camps and Growth.

PRACTICAL SKILLS TRAINING DAY The popular Practical Skills Training Day took place in October where over 90 Leaders enjoyed the hands-on experience of various Scouting skills.

The County Youth Forum has been discussing many topics this year from Chamboree to online resources, allowing for lots of projects to develop in the background of Scouting in Cheshire.

It is also a wonderful opportunity to meet other Leaders and take part in a great exchange of programme

Many youth forums are working on big projects in their Districts

Backwoods cooking, Fire-lighting, BBQ ovens, Mapping & Compass, Mini-Pioneering, Knotting, Branding, Axes, Saws and Knives were just some of the 15 skills on offer. All Leaders receive handouts of the skills bases they taken part in and this gives them confidence to take these activities back to their Section meetings.

Youshape in a Box has gone from strength to strength with the appointment of more District Youth Commissioners who are working tirelessly to help groups climb the ladder of youth involvement and become more youth shaped.

This training day gives Leaders the opportunity to complete Module 18 of their Wood Badge training or is part of their ongoing learning. It is also a wonderful opportunity to meet other Leaders and take part in a great exchange of programme ideas and games.

Ed Lunnon - County Youth Commissioner ed.lunnon@cheshirescouts.org.uk

Val Thomason - Deputy County Commisioner val.thomason@cheshirescouts.org.uk

COMMUNITY IMPACT ADULT TRAINING Scout Groups, Districts and the County have all been involved in various Community Impact projects and events during the last 12 months.

The County continue to host the Cheshire East Foster Carers’ Day at Tatton Park where Foster Carers and their families have free entrance to the park and one of the park attractions, i.e. farm or hall. They then come down to the campsite where they can take part in various activities on offer – go-karting, zip-wire, branding, climbing, cooking on fires, creating miniature gardens or making bug hotels. Some just want to enjoy playing on the site and at the end of the afternoon they all enjoy a BBQ provided by the camp-site staff. This is a very popular event that the County has been involved in for 6 years.

Cheshire County Scouts have actively been helping Cheshire Young Carers, an organisation that supports children aged 6 – 18 who have a caring responsibility for an adult relative or sibling. They are using a number of local Scout HQ’s for meetings and last summer, as part of an extensive series of school holiday activities, held adventure days at both County campsites. On a number of occasions we have been able to help them transport young carers to activities and have successfully integrated a number of young carers into local Scout Groups.

DEVELOPMENT We have now completed the second full year of the County’s employment of a Local Development Officer, Simon Appleton, part-funded by the Developments Grant board, Halton Council and the County. The project reports to the Scout Association’s Grants Board and we have been pleased to report that we have met the challenging targets set at the start of the project for the end of the second year and are on track to hit the third year targets.

This project has impacted across the County and supported the excellent growth reported elsewhere in this report.

particular once the project has ended.

The development website continues to provide a one stop shop for information and support as we have collected a wide range of material and proven methods of recruitment.

The Regional Support Team have supported development activity as well as providing training for newly appointed District Commissioners.

They have supported development workshops and are currently supporting the opening of a new Group and Group Scout Leader recruitment.

The year has seen some good growth as a result of the various development activities. There are a range of current projects in hand including the opening of new Groups to meet the everincreasing demands from young people to join us. My thanks go to all who have supported development over the year and I look forward with confidence for further growth.

One of the main aims of the project is to provide Districts and Groups with the tools to support development, in

The training team continues to look at ways to grow the number of effective TA’s (training advisors) and to support the role of TA’s who work at a Group level to support Leaders working to gain their Wood Badge

Most Leaders book onto the 3 weekends on offer to enable them to gain their Wood Badge Cheshire continues to develop its training team with team members following a structured approach to presenting modules and/or tutor on courses. This is designed to build capacity to deliver training and although this is a slow process it is designed to make sure quality delivery is maintained to reflect the importance of our Wood Badge training provision.

Warrington West Scouts hosted a group of young people from Warrington Young Carers for a weekend of camping and Scouting activities. It was a chance for the young carers to forget their caring roles for 48 hours and do what our young people can sometimes take for granted – just be children and have lots of fun. Each Scout was paired with a young carer to help them with the activities; it was a great success and we are sure that friendships have been made.

As part of the Million Hands campaign, 26th South West Cheshire designed and created a sensory garden in the grounds of their HQ and after many months of hard landscaping, planting and weeding the garden is scheduled to be formally opened in June.

Scout members of Macclesfield and Congleton have helped clear community areas of Japanese Knotwood.

1st Moore Scout Group (Mersey Weaver District) hosted parents and children who are members of CHAPS (Cheshire Autistic Parents Support) where the young people enjoyed a range of activities - a short I-Spy hike followed by climbing on the indoor wall in the Scout HQ, making miniature gardens, balancing on the ‘walk-the-plank’ course and cooking ‘twists’ and do-nuts.

Weekend courses continue to be popular with a significant number of Leaders attending these. Most Leaders book onto the 3 weekends on offer to enable them to gain their Wood Badge with some completing within 12 months. The modules run on these courses are designed so that they can be validated on the day. We also change the days around when each module is offered, this enables those who can only give up one day over the weekend to attend this day and then the same day the next time the modules are being run.

However, remember weekend courses are not the only way Leaders can complete their training. There are single module courses for those unable to give up a full weekend. Also learning can be done via, workbooks, DVD’s e-learning etc.

You should always discuss your training with your LTA and LTM who are always ready to offer support.

Record numbers of Leaders are gaining their Wood Badge meaning they are better prepared to deliver effective Scouting and to meet the new challenges of supporting Leaders - new and old - to help us deliver the Skills for Life strategy.

Debbie Phillips - County Training Manager debbie.phillips@cheshirescouts.org.uk

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John Duley - Assistant County Commissioner (Development)

Alderley - Alison Wright Chester - Richard Johnson EP&N - Richard Johnson Knutsford - Trudy Beech Macclesfield and Congleton - Ann Eden Mid Cheshire - Tim Owen Mersey Weaver - Mary Wynne South West Cheshire - David Brough Warrington East - Jon Davies Warrington West - Dave Anwyl

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Simon continues to be involved in a range of work in support of growth, through running of sessions to attract new adults and young people, promoting Scouting with recruitment stalls in business and other commercial premises and development resource material for Group/District use. While a great deal of his work is involved with supporting the opening of new Groups and Sections, an important part of his work is the support to existing Groups who are having recruitment issues and this type of intervention does prevent the closure of Sections and Groups thus maintaining Scouting opportunities.

We have, and continue to receive development support from Youth United following their appointment of a new youth worker. He has worked on two projects during the year and will support other work in the coming months

A key element of quality Wood Badge training is continuity of the team and the last 12 months has seen stability in the team with significant numbers of Leaders having training modules validated.

The team of Local Training Managers continue to provide support in every District in the County.

The new manager-training scheme for Group Scout Leaders and other line managers continues to be a struggle in terms of coordinating the delivery at a Regional level. After 12 months of the scheme we are now in a position to re-evaluate access to the training and with colleagues around the Region plans are taking shape to improve this aspect of training delivery.

WORLD SCOUT JAMBOREE 2019 UNLOCK A NEW WORLD WHAT? A World Scout Jamboree is a world Scouting event for young people aged between 14 and 18 and is a gathering of Scouts and Guides from all over the world for an exciting programme of global development, peace, cultural understanding, adventure, fun and friendship.

This is the largest event delivered by Scouting worldwide and 45,000 young people and adult volunteers are expected to attend The 24th World Scout Jamboree will be an adventure beyond anything you can imagine. It is to be hosted jointly between Boy Scouts of America, Scouts Canada and the Scout Association of Mexico. This is the largest event delivered by Scouting worldwide and 45,000 young people and adult volunteers are expected to attend from over 150 countries.

CHESHIRE’S INVOLVEMENT

The Jamboree will take place on 22nd July - 2nd August 2019 at The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia, USA.

Cheshire has 2 Units (72 young people and 8 adult leaders), plus 1 Patrol of 9 young people and 1 adult leader in a consolidated Unit with Merseyside Scouts, and Guides from the North West of England. Cheshire also has 21 adult volunteers attending as members of the International Service Team (IST).

Second-largest outdoor skate park in the country (4.6 acres/ 1.7 hectares)

•

Longest combined zip lines in the world (5.45 miles/8.7 kilometers)

Second-largest BMX facility in the country (13.7 acres/ 5.3 hectares)

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Longest canopy course in the country (9.55 miles/15.3 kilometers)

Third-largest archery range in the country (116 stations)

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Largest man-made outdoor climbing facility in the country (218 stations)

Largest natural outdoor arena in West Virginia (80,000 capacity)

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Top purpose-built mountain biking facility in the country

Access to one of the top-rated rafting, kayaking, and fishing rivers in the country

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Below are some highlights of what the Summit Bechtel Reserve has to offer: •

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Access to some of the most popular climbing areas in the country.

Between now and the summer of 2019 the units will be supported in learning how to live and work together for this amazing adventure. Activities will include: •

Helping each young person raising the participation fee (Activity in their respective Districts)

Building a sense of team work and togetherness

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Preparing the young people for a period of three weeks away from home

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Helping young people understand and value different cultural norms and practices

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Preparing the young people to be part of a global village with residents from every county in the world

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Providing opportunities for the young people to get to know each other, to develop the skills needed and prepare them for the life changing experience.

Chief Scout, Bear Grylls said:

“Over the course of the Jamboree, young people and adult volunteers will be able to meet people from around the world, take part in amazing adventures and experiences, learn new skills and be challenged to think about global issues in a new light”.

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•

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Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Between now and the summer of 2019 the units will be supported in learning how to live and work together

WHEN AND WHERE?

DISTRICT COVER: Handforth, Wilmslow, Lindow, Alderley Edge, Chelford, Goostrey, Holmes Chapel

DISTRICT COVER: The City of Chester and surroundings, Bickerton, Farndon, Malpas, Tarporley, Tarvin

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

1015 10

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 225) (Female - 27)

252

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 346) (Female - 52)

398

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 205) (Female - 26)

231

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 418) (Female - 90)

508

SCOUTS (Male - 160) (Female - 26)

186

SCOUTS (Male - 314) (Female - 68)

382

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 81) (Female - 14)

95

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 88) (Female - 33)

121

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 23) (Female - 9)

32

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 45) (Female - 18)

63

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 694) (Female - 102)

796

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 1211) (Female - 261)

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 112) (Female - 103)

219

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 249) (Female - 238)

In this report, I want to focus on one particular mega achievement. I always think about Scouting in terms of the skills we teach our members and the experiences they enjoy. But to do this, we need premises and in Alderley we are lucky to own a number of excellent headquarters and, through the much appreciated support of our Sponsors, use of a number of other buildings.

I do recall one evening when the GSL was feeling a little despondent about the huge effort required. Yet, on arrival home, he found a cheque for a considerable sum, but no letter. Such acts of generosity succeed in lifting the spirits. He tracked down the donor who was a retired lady of limited means who said she wanted to make the donation because, many years ago, her son had really enjoyed his time in Scouts!

6 May 2017 - the big day dawned.

The paint was almost dry when distinguished guests including Fiona Bruce MP, Parish Councillors, whose support was invaluable, grant providers and many other supporters gathered to celebrate the building’s opening.

from the Scout Association, the Group Scout Leader made many applications for funding to a wide range of bodies.

One approach to a national funding body yielded a £50,000 grant, matched by the Parish Council.

This has been accompanied by a huge community fundraising drive which has yielded more than £150,000. Neither is the fundraising over, as a soft loan kindly provided by a local benefactor still needs to be repaid.

The building is now used extensively

by Scouts and Guiding Sections every evening, and by the village’s Pre-School every weekday.

You may notice, I have mentioned no names. That is deliberate, as the list would be huge and I would risk overlooking some. The people who helped to realise this project know who they are and they have the satisfaction of knowing that they will help future generations of children share the benefits of the Scouting experience. Impressed as I am with this fantastic achievement, I have to ask whether many local Groups would be prepared to take on this risk and responsibility but I am glad 1st Goostrey did!

Stephen P Buckley District Commissioner (Alderley) stephen.p.buckley@cheshirescouts.org.uk

Within Chester and District we continue to have a full and varied programme of activities and events throughout the year. So much has happened I can’t list everything so here are a few achievements and activities that have taken place over the past 12 months:Our District Youth Commissioner, Megan Porter, has become a great asset to our District Team she has encouraged and embedded Youth Shaped Scouting keeping us all focused and enthusiastic.

Using the County Youth Shape In A Box she has delivered You shape sessions to 38 Sections across 17 Groups so far.

Our District Youth Forum is led by the Youth Commissioner and is well attended by Explorer Scouts and Network who are supported to make decisions about District Activities Membership this year showed an increase in the past 12 months. The District Team have worked tirelessly to support Groups to increase their provision in order to accommodate the increasing numbers of youth who want to join Chester Scouting.

There have been various District sectional activities including a craft competition, bowling competitions, bell boating, canoe expeditions and The Lord Derby competition.

We had a good representation from the District participating in Cheshire Hike in all age groups. Members of the District Team co-ordinated many training sessions to encourage, motivate and support the youth for this activity We held a District Camp at Tatton in May last year that was extremely well attended. Activities were varied from water activities to inflatables and backwoods cooking. The Mayor of Chester visited, it was her first official visit since being in post.

Last year we broke with tradition and held our St.George’s Day renewal of promises at our District Camp led by the District Chaplain Gang show held in February this year proved to be very well attended with the Gang being predominantly youth members JOTA (Jamboree on the Air) was held in October with many Groups participating.

Training is strong in the District and there were many adults who gained their Wood Badges over the past 12 months. Group Scout Leaders are working well with the Local Training Manager to encourage and support adults with their training.

Many Groups attended their local Remembrance Day services. The District

Team attended the service at Chester Cathedral and our District Youth Commissioner laid a wreath at the cenotaph.

A sleepover for in excess of 200 Beaver Scouts was held, not sure how much sleep there was though!

Network in Chester is still a small number but we are confident that it’s now growing and will become a strong Group.

We continue to work towards out District plan, implementing, monitoring and evaluating at regular intervals.

This ensures our focus on progression, development and quality in all aspects of Scouting in Chester and District. As with many Districts we need to increase our leadership dramatically to be able to offer scouting to all the young people wanting to join the movement. We remain conscious that we have so many on our waiting lists that cannot currently join owing to lack of Leaders.

We would like to thank all the adults who volunteer in the District which enables scouting to grow and flourish by offering such a fantastic programme for our youth members.

Joanne Turner District Commissioner (Chester & District) Megan Porter District Youth Commissioner joanne.turner@chesterscouts.org.uk

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The Scout Hut and Youth Centre cost £300,000 to build – a huge sum for one local Scout Group, and a major debt on the shoulders of the members of the Group Executive. As lottery funding was not available in this area and there is no national facility offering loans or grants

487

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Some of our Groups, however, face challenges in securing a suitable meeting place. One such Group was 1st Goostrey whose 3 Sections had been meeting in various unsatisfactory places when parents decided something must be done. The village Parish Council had been considering options for a new Youth Centre, but had only made limited progress. One of the parents agreed to be the Project Leader as long as other parents were fully involved. What followed was a very intensive 3 years involving planning, fundraising and lots of campaigning. A Group member is an architect and suggested dividing the village’s derelict Youth Club site into two, so that the Parish Council could

give one half to the Scouts and sell off the other to fund village projects, and grant fund some of the build costs. The Group worked closely with the Parish Council, secured planning permission and built a broad base of village support, without which the project would not have been realised.

1472

CHESTER AND DISTRICT

ALDERLEY The numbers of Scouts in the District crept over 1000 members this year for the first time for a long time which is a good reflection of the quality of the Programme our volunteers are delivering across the District.

1959 20

DISTRICT COVER: Parkgate, Neston, Little Neston, Burton, Willaston, Hooton, Little Sutton, Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port

DISTRICT COVER: Knutsford, Mobberley, High Legh, Pickmere, Tabley, Cranage and surrounding areas

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

835 9

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

522 4

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 184) (Female - 23)

207

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 110) (Female - 8)

118

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 196) (Female - 27)

223

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 93) (Female - 15)

108

SCOUTS (Male - 127) (Female - 19)

146

SCOUTS (Male - 74) (Female - 25)

99

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 18) (Female - 10)

28

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 32) (Female - 16)

48

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 25) (Female - 15)

40

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 12) (Female - 9)

21

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 550) (Female - 94)

644

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 321) (Female - 73)

394

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 113) (Female - 78)

197

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 71) (Female - 57)

128

ELLESMERE PORT AND NESTON My first year as District Commissioner has been filled with highs and lows, just like the year in any family as Scouting really is a family in our District: we support each other through the difficult times and celebrate with each other in the good times.

Our annual Honours Evening was held on February 2nd at the Civic Hall in Ellesmere Port. This event celebrates the achievements of young people, Groups and adults in the District. We presented a total of 110 awards to young people that evening – 53 Chief Scout’s Bronze Awards; 36 Silver Awards; 10 Gold Awards; 4 Platinum Awards; 2 Diamond Awards and 3 Young Leader Belts.

Two people – Luke Atherton and Mark Howard – were presented with their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards. We

Training in the District continues to thrive with 11 Leaders achieving their Wood Badges this year.

It would be impossible for Scouting to take place without the enthusiastic help of all the adult volunteers – Leaders and parents – and the Young Leaders.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them for all their hard work and dedication.

Fiona Speakes District Commissioner (Ellesmere Port and Neston) fiona.speakes@cheshirescouts.org.uk

Over the past 12 months the young members of Knutsford and District have enjoyed another year of high quality Scouting which has included both local and international content. The District has continued its path of growth and overall membership has increased by over 7% in the last 12 months.

Our commitment to providing the Chief Scout’s Award and Duke of Edinburgh Award programmes continues with expeditions arranged in the Lake District and Peak District and 53 awards have been completed overall this year. We are proud also to have had 5 of our Explorer Scouts achieve the highest award in Scouting, the Queen’s Scout Award, this year and 3 of them had the honour of attending the parade at Windsor Castle in April.

Last summer our Kite Explorer Scout Unit visited Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland for an action packed week of high altitude hiking, swimming in glaciers and canyoning. Amongst other activities at home were geocaching, rocket launching and exploring alternative cultures including a visit to a Sikh temple. On top of other awards, 2 of our Explorer Scouts also completed the Young Leader training scheme and gained their Young Leader Belts.

Continuing the international theme the Scout section are also looking forward to a spectacular week of adventure in the Swiss Alps at Kandersteg this summer with a contingent of 70 Scouts and Leaders travelling to the activity centre. Over the last year we have also put on an “I’m a Scout Get Me Out Here” camp including live snakes and real Bush Tucker Trials as well as the Battlefield Live team combat games played out in 7 acres of woodland.

In January we also had our Winter Weekend pilgrimage to the snowcapped Lake District for some winter fell walking.

the UK International Service Team.

They have been working hard with preparations and practise camps during the year. Since last summer there has been a monumental fundraising effort from parents and Leaders to support our WSJ participants.

The Cub Scouts and Beaver Scouts have also had another busy year with many diverse activities and sleepovers including a night in a cardboard city, a patrol with the Community Police Officers and climbing and abseiling on the indoor wall. The Cub Scouts’ activities have also included the Jamboree on the Trail mini-hike within Tatton Park, a fun way to test their navigation skills, and they are looking forward to the huge Chamboree event this summer.

In the community, we received another Royal British Legion award for our 2017 Poppy Appeal collection, 2nd Knutsford Scouts became an affiliated youth group to the RBL; we have undertaken coppicing for the Woodland Trust; Beaver Scouts have arranged a special event for WaterAid; we have been involved with Royal May Day as well as arranging the bonfire and a Family Funday on Knutsford Heath.

We are again proud to have 6 of our Explorer Scouts attending the World Scout Jamboree next year in the United States as well as a further 4 adult Leaders from the District selected for

Developing the places we meet is also important to delivering Scouting successfully and the project to rebuild the headquarters for 1st Knutsford Scout Group is continuing apace with more fundraising and further improvements have been made to 2 more Group headquarters.

Martin Relton District Commissioner (Knutsford and District) m.relton@ntlworld.com

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The Scouts took part in the fantastically successful annual Rest-a-While hike.

This year we incorporated the District’s Laura Bentley Trophy into the event for Checkpoint activity scores and a new Trophy, the Mike Soames Trophy, for navigation and walking scores, which was introduced in memory of long time Hike Controller, Mike Soames, who died from cancer in October 2017. The annual Canoe Camp at Tatton Park Scout Campsite was another success

The Explorer Scouts and Network Sections have worked together to provide a range of activities for their members. Both Sections attended MerseyMoot in September which was very wet. One of our Explorer Scouts came 3rd overall in the shooting competition. The Explorer Scouts have a varied programme including climbing outdoors, cooking, hiking, knots and navigation to name a few things.

Network went to Queen Charlotte’s Wood for their summer camp and also went to Manley Mere to use the adventure trail facilities there. A Network District necker was designed

by Alicia Kendall and looks very smart.

also presented several Chief Scout’s Commendation for Good Service to adults that evening, along with the Award for Merit to George Broughton, and the Bar to the Award for Merit to Chris Marchant. I was delighted to be able to inform Paul Janvier and Rob Smith that they had been awarded the Silver Acorn and the Bar to the Silver Acorn respectively

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

All Sections have been very busy this year taking part in various activities.

We have made a real effort to make these joint activities between Sections and Groups to allow the young people get to know each other, hopefully making the Moving On process less scary. In November, the Cub Scouts and Beaver Scouts attended a Science Jamboree at the University of Liverpool where they learned to extract DNA from strawberries; created rockets; got involved in some Environmental Science activities and made bird boxes amongst other things.

with support from our friends at the Chester Riverside Canoe Club providing both instructors and canoes when we hit problems at the last minute.

KNUTSFORD AND DISTRICT

DISTRICT COVER: Macclesfield, Congleton, Poynton and local villages

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

1827 21

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 365) (Female - 41)

406

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 385) (Female - 60)

445

SCOUTS (Male - 263) (Female - 63)

326

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 84) (Female - 29)

113

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 74) (Female - 23)

97

We also continue to have success in County competitions with the Cub Scouts winning the handicraft trophy and Explorer Scouts winning the Senior Section Cheshire Hike. Our selected World Scout Jamboree candidates are busily and successfully fundraising for their forthcoming trip and helping others along the way. They are also being superb ambassadors for Scouting with their behaviour.

Many Groups are active in their local communities supporting village fetes and fairs, helping other volunteer groups, and generally helping maintain their local environment. We provide over 90% of the mayoral parade on St. George’s Day and have around 900 parading at various venues across the District on Remembrance Sunday. Many bystanders have passed favourable comments on the number, smartness and behaviour of those participating.

Macclesfield and Congleton District have set up a Scout Active Support Communications Unit to help the local community utilising our excellent radio equipment and trained operators to support events and being on call to CEVAC (Cheshire Emergency services and Volunteer Association Committee) in case of a major emergency. Groups have also offered their HQs as R&R (Rest and Recuperation) centres in a major emergency and as centres to be used in Cheshire Resilience Planning.

346

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 316) (Female - 83)

399

SCOUTS (Male - 216) (Female - 80)

296

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 48) (Female - 26)

74

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 38) (Female - 16)

54

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 907) (Female - 262)

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 265) (Female - 175)

440

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 180) (Female - 186)

1169 366

MERSEY WEAVER Scouting in Mersey Weaver remains active and vibrant!

2017/18 was a busy year not least as we had a change of leadership and in March of 2018 I took on the role of District Commissioner. In the first month, I was delighted to announce a full complement of Assistant District Commissioners, a new District Explorer Scout Commissioner and two Deputy District Commissioners to specifically support Groups and Sections.

Our new DESC has established more joint activities between our 3 Units and is looking at improving retention between Scouts and Explorer Scouts.

Top awards remain a huge opportunity for us but I would like to congratulate our 2 Queen’s Scout recipients Thomas Campbell and Jack Bennion of Beacon Explorer Scout Unit. We have also seen 4 young people achieve their Duke of Edinburgh Gold award.

We have had a fantastic year for international experiences with contingents attending World Scout Moot, Kanderstag and Nord2017- an incredible camp which took place in 24 hours of sunlight in the Arctic Circle! Thanks to a dedicated team of participants and parents we were extremely successful with the

fundraising for both events, much of which we have been able to replicate with our World Scout Jamboree contingent.

Through our digital strategy we have had a successful uptake of Groups using our free digital tools which include secure email, and bespoke website.

We have seen a hive of District activities such as a Cub Scout camp at Tatton and we are imminently about to hold a Beaver Scout camp at Queen Charlotte’s Wood. Highlights for the Scouts included an activity day at Forest Camp and Scuba diving experiences.

We continue to support the development of ‘skills-based’ Active Support Units which enable Groups access to specialist permit holders and adult volunteers. Our Target Sports ASU has completed construction of both permanent and mobile shooting ranges.

Our Hillwalking and Trekking ASU provides valuable support for Cheshire Hike and basic navigation and trekking skills for members. We hope to soon have additional ASUs specialising in Water Activities, Climbing and Cycling.

After many years without a District Youth Commissioner, Hannah has been building on the success of a District Youth Forum earlier this year. A Youth Forum was held during our District Cub Scout Camp and we have now accumulated lots of suggestions for future activities and equipment including a District Camp in 2019.

The Executive Committee has been able to establish a sound foundation of good governance on which Scouting can flourish. This wouldn’t have been possible without my predecessor Owen.

We have recently invested in a fleet of mountain bikes and trailer for use by our 3 Explorer Units. We have also secured funding for 3 land yachts which will be another exciting activity for our young people!

A detailed review of the census has allowed us to capture key areas for growth and development. Groups with missing Sections will be encouraged to build the resources needed to open the missing piece. Recruitment of new Leaders remains a priority and we have also set a goal for every Group to have a Group Scout Leader and an Assistant GSL. Finally my thanks goes to all the volunteers who make all of the above possible in the District.

Oliver Chambers District Commissioner (Mersey Weaver) oliver.chambers@merseyweaverscouts.org.uk

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Mark Eden District Commissioner (Macclesfield and Congleton) scoutdcmac@aol.com

17

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 289) (Female - 57)

1387

We also have fun, making use of the excellent local facilities for hiking, climbing, abseiling and caving as well as kayaking, shooting, archery, skiing and fencing. Leaders benefit from these and from excellent support and guidance whilst undergoing training to deliver exciting and instructive programmes for the young people.

1535

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Many Colonies are holding log chews with the Beaver Scouts inputting their views on what badges to do and games to play. Some Cub Scout Packs have had the Cub Scouts run whole meetings including register, Grand Howl, games and instructional activities. Many Packs have special nights where the older Cub Scouts lead the games. The Scouts get to feed in ideas of badges, events and activities and then are sometimes requested to plan them. Our Explorer Scouts are renowned for finding Scouts who are off route in MaccHike and this year performed exceptionally well in the difficult conditions of the beast from the East. In many cases they plan and run their own Units with functional

executives ensuring an exciting and instructive programme is run. The Network Section are also heavily involved. Last year they assessed the World Scout Jamboree candidates and selected those to go to America.

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 1171) (Female - 216)

MACCLESFIELD AND CONGLETON A story of continued success. Yet again the District has grown in numbers, achievement of top awards and in nights away. We must be doing something right.

DISTRICT COVER: Runcorn, Weston, Weston Point, Frodsham, Helsby, Ince and Elton, Kingsley, Norley, Moore, Whitley, Farnworth, Hough Green, West Bank, Ditton, Halton View, Barrows Green, Cronton, Hale Bank

DISTRICT COVER: Northwich and surrounding areas, Antrobus, Barnton, Comberbach, Moulton, Cuddington and Sandiway, Darnhall, Davenham, Hartford, Lostock Gralam, Middlewich, Weaverham, Wharton, Whitegate, Winnington, Winsford TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

15 310

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 296) (Female - 44)

340

SCOUTS (Male - 199) (Female - 69)

268

497

SCOUTS (Male - 271) (Female - 141)

412 104

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 29) (Female - 13)

42

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 65) (Female - 40)

105

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 1086) (Female - 461)

1031

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 295) (Female - 269)

398

1547 564

SOUTH WEST CHESHIRE After a year of development and growth I would like to thank all the members for their support and enthusiasm in delivering Scouting on a week by week basis. I look forward to the future possibilities for young people in Mid Cheshire

Andrew Little District Commissioner (Mid Cheshire) andrewlittle67@hotmail.co.uk

Scouting in South West Cheshire continues to go from strength to strength with an increase in the numbers of young people and adults involved again last year. Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scouts and Explorer Scouts engage in a wide range of activities and events and have the opportunity to develop their skills in a variety of ways.

The year started on a high over the May Bank Holiday weekend with our bi-annual District Camp at the Milldale campsite. The theme of the camp was Time Travel for over 1000 Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scouts, Explorer Scouts and adults who enjoyed a range of activities from Archery and Backwoods Cooking to Water Rockets and a Go Karts. For the Explorer Scouts a day off-site Mountain Biking and Grass Boarding was put on along with an evening activity while the rest of the camp watched a film. The Saturday night campfire included traditional campfire songs and a game show activity where every young person took part in a variety of challenges to gain points for their team. The camp has been run to this format for a number of years and the team who put on such a memorable weekend for our young people are to be commended for their imagination and hard work.

In July the Beaver Scouts Sports Day

was linked with a Family Fun Day at Milldale where Beaver Scouts and their families enjoyed sports events followed by a picnic and then a wide range of ScoutIng activities.

October saw Scouts and Explorer Scouts from a number of Groups take part in a Monopoly Live competition.

They spent a day in and around Nantwich town centre solving problems and navigating between various locations. The good behaviour and politeness of the young people involved was commented on by a number of local residents.

In support of the varied and challenging programme of activities provided by the Groups in South West Cheshire, the District ran a number of other activities through the year from swimming galas and craft competitions to fun runs and Christmas events. In addition, the District have teams of adults specialising in Archery, Canoeing and Kayaking, Climbing, Sailing, Marksmanship and Swimming who run taster sessions and more advanced training throughout the year. This resulted in 99 Chief Scout’s Bronze Awards, 64 Silver Awards, 43 Gold Awards, 2 Platinum Awards, 4 Diamond Awards as well as 7 Young Leader Belts.

Youth engagement continued in South

West Cheshire with the appointment of 2 District Youth Commissioners and the running of two District Youth Forums. A number of Groups continue to engage in Community Impact activities including some on the A Million Hands campaign.

Groups have worked on cleaning a canal bank, looked at clean water and sanitation and assisted with a garden at a local hospital. Another Group, looking at Dementia, have developed a sensory garden in the grounds of their headquarters.

None of what our young people achieved in Scouting in 2017 would have been possible without the dedication and enthusiasm of our adult volunteers and I would like to thank them for everything they do to provide Scouting for the young people of South West Cheshire. If you are able to give any time to assist the teams of volunteers already enjoying Scouting in South West Cheshire to cater for the increasing demand for Scouting, please contact me.

Ian Potts District Commissioner (South West Cheshire) dc@southwestcheshirescouts.org.uk

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This year has seen the formation of a

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 354) (Female - 143)

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 67) (Female - 37)

Over a weekend in June the District held our now Bi-annual District Camp. Cub Scouts, Scouts, and Explorer Scouts camping with Beaver Scouts visiting for the day on Saturday. All the usual activities were on offer along with a few new ones including Smoothie bikes which were extremely popular with all ages, a Sunday lunch of pizza cooked in a wood fired oven for the whole camp and the inaugural District Duck Boat Challenge held on Saturday evening giving an opportunity for all Sections to work together in their Groups to a common aim and have great fun in the process.

During September the District successfully selected our contingent members for the 24th World Scout Jamboree. After a long and busy day with many applicants, a selection was made and those 10 members our now committed to fundraising and training as they prepare for next year. We all wish them well in this adventurous experience.

429

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Fire Power Active Support Unit continues to deliver shooting, archery, catapults and flying angel activities both within the District and other events within and outside the County. A Master at Arms course was successfully completed followed by entering a team within the County Shooting Competition.

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 329) (Female - 100)

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MID CHESHIRE Our newest Groups at 1st Moulton and 1st Whitegate are maturing well with both opening Scout Sections during the past 12 months after successful programmes being run in Beaver Scouts and Cub Scouts. These new Sections mean that Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts and Scouts are running in all Groups with Explorer Scout provision spread across the District. Despite this, demand for places is high and the increase in local new build housing estates that are becoming established will increase demand in future years. Plans are being developed to ensure the District realises this potential, both with available places in Groups and facilities from District in programme development and services.

2111 23

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 47) (Female - 24)

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 224) (Female - 174)

new Mountain Activity Support Unit to allow an increased level of activity and skill in the outdoors delivering climbing and hill walking activities.

While currently in its infancy a range of opportunities awaits as the Unit develops.

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

1429

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 273) (Female - 37)

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 844) (Female - 187)

2017 has been a successful one in Mid Cheshire with our tenth successive year of growth as our past development in younger Sections progresses through the movement to Scouts and beyond.

DISTRICT COVER: Crewe, Nantwich, Haslington, Sandbach, Shavington, Audlem, Bunbury, Wrenbury, Wybunbury and surrounding areas

DISTRICT COVER: Culcheth, Croft, Glazebury, Gorse Covert, Grappenhall, Hollins Green, Locking Stumps, Lymm Eagle Brow, Lymm Pepper Street, Oughtrington, Padgate, Statham, St. Elphins Thelwall, Winwick, Woolston

DISTRICT COVER: Appleton, Bewsey, Burtonwood, Callands, Chapelford, Dallam, Great Sankey, Howley, Kingswood, Latchford, Lingley Green, Old Hall, Orford, Penketh, Stockton Heath, Stretton, Walton, Westbrook

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF GROUPS

1442 16 296

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 201) (Female - 38)

239

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 266) (Female - 55)

321

CUBS SCOUTS (Male - 235) (Female - 53)

288

SCOUTS (Male - 222) (Female - 66)

288

SCOUTS (Male - 215) (Female - 62)

277

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 84) (Female - 34)

118

EXPLORER SCOUTS (Male - 80) (Female - 40)

120

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 33) (Female - 20)

53

SCOUT NETWORK (Male - 40) (Female - 34)

74

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 193) (Female - 173)

1076 366

WARRINGTON EAST

As a District we also have two Leaders selected to support the participants at the Jamboree. In addition another Leader has been selected at a national level to help with all the UK participants.

I would like to conclude by extending my thanks to all members within the District, District Team and the Executive Committee. Their efforts, commitment and drive have combined to create a fantastic year that is set up to be continued over the next year.

Paul Brown District Commissioner (Warrington East) paul.brown@cheshirescouts.org.uk

998

LEADERS/ADULT SUPPORT (Male - 196) (Female - 177)

373

WARRINGTON WEST All Groups have been busy during the year with Camps, Expeditions and trips allowing them to put the OUT back into ScOUTing. Our Youth Members have with the help of their Leaders also been busy working towards the highest Award for their Section.

Congratulations must go to Tim Walker, who is the Scout Leader of the 7th who has gained both his Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award and Queen’s Scout Award this year. Tim visited both Windsor and Buckingham Palace for these awards. Network and Scout Active Support Unit continue to help and support the District whilst at the same time run their own activities.

Our Young Leader Unit continues to thrive with the majority of Young Leaders in Groups attending our monthly meeting to complete either Young Leader Modules or Missions.

Thanks go to Linda and Dennis Buckley for all they do with the Unit.

We have decided this year to go back to the way we used to run our DofE training sessions. This means it is now back in the District rather than in the Units. There are now regular meetings where the teams get together to plan their routes and ensure that everything needed for the practice hike and the final hike ticks all the boxes for the award. Mike Organ is once again

running this for us and we already have more signed up for the award than took part last year.

I am pleased to report that that this year has seen an increase of 44 new members bringing the total of the District up to 1371, which is a growth of 3.3% from last year.

There have been some changes of leadership in some Groups owing to some of our Leaders retiring from their current role. However some of these have gone on to join our Scout Active Support Unit so that they can still support Scouting throughout the District.

We have also had a number of new members of the District team. Stephen Pennington and Heather Harper have taken on the role of joint Assistant District Commissioner (Beaver Scouts), Ian Turnbull has taken over as Network Commissioner and Mike Organ has taken on the role of DofE and Queen’s Scout Advisor for the District. I would like to thank Trish Brown who stepped down after 5 years as ADC (Beaver Scouts).

We have 9 youth members and one Leader who have been chosen to attend the World Scout Jamboree. Along with their parents they are busy fundraising for this trip of a lifetime. They have already run a number of events which

have included bagpacks, plant sales, stalls at fetes and taking over an Indian restaurant to name but a few. They have plenty more ideas in the pipeline.

In Warrington West we rely on the young people to take the lead in the fundraising with the help and support of their parents.

The above is only a snapshot of what goes on in the District, it does not touch on what goes on at Group level. I hope from this you can see that a great deal of fun has taken place with many friendships formed by our Young People and the adult leadership teams. The District Team will be working with the County Development Team over the next 12 months helping a number of Groups to look at how we can help them to grow their number of young people and Leaders.

I would like to thank all the Leaders in the District in giving up their time to ensure our members gain skills for life by giving them the opportunities and confidence to achieve this. I would particularly like to thank Val Thomason, Sue Chadwick, Ryan Harper, Mo & Rob Patheyjohns and the ADC’s who have ensured the District continued run smoothly during my time off due to ill health.

Debbie Phillips District Commissioner (Warrington West) debbie.phillips@cheshirescouts.org.uk

39

Warrington East strives to run a very active programme in all Sections to supplement and support the programmes the Groups deliver. Beaver Scouts from across the District used the National Football Museum for a sleepover, the first time the museum had opened its doors for such an event.

The Cub Scouts held their now wellestablished Survival Competition in September which grows each year since its inception 5 years ago. Not to be outdone, the Scout Section had their annual Winter competition based around the escape from Colditz Castle.

In March they also had their bi-annual leadership training for the Patrol Leaders. This is a vital tool the District uses in providing skills for Scouts to take back and use in their Sections.

This last year saw another great return of the Chief Scout’s Awards, the highest award a youth member can gain in their respective Sections. From Beaver Scouts up to Explorer Scouts, there was a total of 159 awards gained. This really demonstrates the wonderful balance many of the Sections, within Warrington East, have in the programmes they deliver to support these young people achieving these top awards. Also, over the last year 48 Adults in the District gained a Scout Association Service award for their contributions to Service Scouting and combined over 600 years of service given. We also had a further 18 adults who received Good Service Awards to recognise the great service they give to Scouting. One of these was a Silver Wolf for a member in the District, the highest award that a Scouting volunteer can receive from the Scout Association and is awarded for their truly exceptional service.

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 771) (Female - 227)

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

Reviewing the year, it was good to see a great attendance at Chester Cathedral for Cheshire Scouts County Scout Sunday. Warrington East took the lead on the Service basing it on diversity and how we should be tolerant of differences. One of the main values of Scouting and is instilled in everything we do. The beginning of July saw our District Camp - a joint event between both Warrington Districts. Over 700 Young people made their way to Bibby’s Farm Scout Camp to take part in a full weekend of fun adventurous activities.

There were many Land Activities like Climbing, Shooting, Caving and Slack Lining plus some water-based activities including Kayaking and Rafting. The weekend’s theme of Time led to some interesting items of fancy dress to show off the ages of history.

At the end of September we undertook the selection process of youth participants for the World Scout Jamboree. The District have been privileged enough to be awarded places for 9 young people.

This didn’t make selection any easier as the number of applicants for this fabulous opportunity was high.

14

BEAVERS SCOUTS (Male - 245) (Female - 51)

TOTAL YOUTH MEMBERSHIP (Male - 850) (Female - 226)

This year of Scouting in Warrington East has passed so quickly, it literally feels like it like it has only been a few months, rather than a year. All the Groups have again been hard at work each week delivering an exciting and varied programme to provide the very best opportunities for all the young people in the District. This year I was pleased to see another 6.3% growth in Membership across the District, the third year running giving us over 1400 members in the District.

1371

AWARDS FOR GOOD SERVICE 2017-2018 QUEEN’S SCOUT AWARD Sam Bennett Thomas Cox Ryan Lysycia Mark Howard Rebekah Lynes Elin Rees Iwan Rees Tom Woods James Woods Alexander Richmond Jack Bennion Thomas Campbell Ben Keeble Ocea Birtles Bethany Edwards Rachael Joyce James Smith Timothy Walker

Alderley Alderley Alderley Ellesmere Port and Neston Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Macclesfield and Congleton Mersey Weaver Mersey Weaver Mid Cheshire South West Cheshire South West Cheshire South West Cheshire South West Cheshire Warrington West

DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S GOLD AWARD Sam Bennett Mark Carey Thomas Cox William Downes Ryan Lysycia Alastair Nicol Olivia Shaw Jonathan Shaw Luke Atherton Mark Howard George Keeble Edward Lawton Rebekah Lynes Ben Moser Elin Rees Iwan Rees Tom Woods James Woods Joel Bearn Daniel Bulman Gregor Ford Oliver Hargreaves Alexander Hooton Aidan Hughes Calvin McKendry Phillip Wadley Jack Bennion Nathan Bentley Thomas Campbell Charlotte King Joshua Wilson Ben Keeble Bethany Edwards Sarah Jackson Sarah Longworth Isabel Mitchell Timothy Walker

Alderley Alderley Alderley Alderley Alderley Alderley Alderley Alderley Ellesmere Port and Neston Ellesmere Port and Neston Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Knutsford and District Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Mersey Weaver Mersey Weaver Mersey Weaver Mersey Weaver Mersey Weaver Mid Cheshire South West Cheshire Warrington West Warrington West Warrington West Warrington West

SILVER ACORN

Brenda Dodd

John Bennett Paul Janvier Pamela Myers Gerald Newbrook Marilyn Norbury Mark O’Dell Graham Shaw

Warrington East

BAR TO SILVER ACORN Macclesfield and Congleton Knutsford and District Chester and District Ellesmere Port and Neston

Ellesmere Port and Neston Knutsford and District Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Mersey Weaver Mid Cheshire Mid Cheshire South West Cheshire South West Cheshire

CHIEF SCOUT’S COMMENDATION FOR GOOD SERVICE Steven Allen Christine Birchall John Lambert Alison Wrigglesworth Diane Bryan Peter Horan Kirsty Marchant Linda Tudor James Tunstall Adrian Venables Julian Amey Adrian Butler Vera Butler John Dicks Gordon Eyres Claire Halsey Martin Hardy Duncan Hodges Julie Skirvin Caroline Smith Jane Wood John Worth Jonathan Brookes Melanie Black Paul Speake Christine Worthington Alan Barnett Robert Lynch Mark Roach

Chester and District Chester and District Chester and District Chester and District Ellesmere Port and Neston Ellesmere Port and Neston Ellesmere Port and Neston Ellesmere Port and Neston Ellesmere Port and Neston Ellesmere Port and Neston Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton South West Cheshire Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington West Warrington West Warrington West

Stephen Craddock George Broughton Stephen Osbaldestin Neil Raval Helen Reeves Suzanne Wardle Ricky Wakefield Alastair Kennedy Marie Lawton Deborah Rose Pauline Taylor Andrew Wood Sylvia Sowerby Andrew Ticehurst John Wedgwood Alastair Brown Graham Hughes Craig Monks

Chester and District Ellesmere Port and Neston Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Macclesfield and Congleton Mersey Weaver Mid Cheshire Mid Cheshire Mid Cheshire Mid Cheshire Mid Cheshire South West Cheshire South West Cheshire South West Cheshire Warrington West Warrington West Warrington West

COMMISSIONER’S COMMENDATION AWARD Beverley Giles Colin Mottershead Mark Nelson Adrian Rose Kit Tomkinson Robin Williamson David Bryant Oliver Chambers Glynn Watkins Rhian Bland John Butler Adam Coupland Nicholas Coupland Jayne Elliott Lindsay Farini Michael Farini Ellie Fradley Julie Hooper Josephine Murphy Trevor Robinson Liam Wilcox Luke Worthington

Alderley Alderley Alderley Alderley Alderley Alderley Knutsford and District Mersey Weaver Mersey Weaver Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East Warrington East

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Susan Henderson Armstrong Michael Hosker June Hughes Robert Smith

South West Cheshire Ellesmere Port and Neston Mersey Weaver South West Cheshire South West Cheshire Warrington East County

Christopher Marchant Trudy Beech Raymond Gillett Susan Grimes Trevor MacKay Heather Millington Heather Newton Lisa Whittaker Bernard Carr Frank Mallows Graham Wallace Andrew Whalley Jennifer Wilkinson

AWARD FOR MERIT

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

SILVER WOLF

BAR TO THE AWARD FOR MERIT

CENSUS MEMBERSHIP IN CHESHIRE Ranking by total numbers (Overall & Youth Membership) SW Cheshire Chester Macclesfield and Congleton Mersey Weaver Warrington East Mid Cheshire Warrington West Alderley Ellesmere Port & Neston Knutsford

Ranking by growth numbers (Overall & Youth membership) Chester SW Cheshire Mid Cheshire Warrington East Macclesfield and Congleton Warrington West Knutsford Ellesmere Port & Neston Alderley Mersey Weaver

Ranking by % growth numbers (Overall & Youth membership) Chester SW Cheshire Knutsford Mid Cheshire Warrington East Warrington West Macclesfield and Congleton Ellesmere Port & Neston Alderley Mersey Weaver

SW Cheshire Chester Macclesfield and Congleton Mersey Weaver Warrington East Mid Cheshire Warrington West Alderley Ellesmere Port & Neston Knutsford

Chester SW Cheshire Warrington East Ellesmere Port & Neston Knutsford Macclesfield And Congleton Alderley Mid Cheshire Mersey Weaver Warrington West

Overall Growth 9.6% 8.6% 7.2% 6.7% 6.3% 3.3% 2.7% 2.6% 1.9% -1.8%

Chester Ellesmere Port & Neston SW Cheshire Warrington East Knutsford Alderley Mid Cheshire Macclesfield and Congleton Mersey Weaver Warrington West

+49 -7 +62 -22 +16

+1.7% -0.2% +2.4% -2.4% +2.8%

RETENTION BY SECTION +25.2% -44.2% -56.5% -78.7% -13.5%

(we gain an extra member for every 4 Beaver Scouts) (we lose 4 out of 10 Cub Scouts by Scout age) (we lose over half the Scout Section by Explorer Scouts) (we lose ¾ of Explorers by the time they are 18) (we lose 1 out of 10 Network members by 25)

District Scout Headquarters, Westlea Primary School, Weston Grove, Upton, Chester CH2 1QJ Open Thursday evening: 7.00pm - 8.30pm in term time 01244 398635

MACCLESFIELD AND CONGLETON DISTRICT Scout Headquarters, 32 West Bond Street, Macclesfield SK11 8EQ Open Tuesday evening: 7.30pm - 9.15pm 01625 423338 email: shop@mcscouts.org.uk

MERSEY WEAVER DISTRICT ONLINE SHOP www.merseyweaverscouts.org.uk/district-shop District Shop Direct Telephone Number: 01928 352121 Email: district.shop@merseyweaverscouts.org.uk

SOUTH WEST CHESHIRE DISTRICT Scouts, Guides & Outdoor Leisure, 131 Bedford Street, Crewe CW2 6JB Open Tuesday and Friday evening: 6.00pm - 9.00pm 0742 514 8000

WARRINGTON SCOUT AND GUIDE SHOP Vale Owen Road, Orford, Warrington WA2 8PG (adjacent to Warrington West District HQ) Open Tuesday evening: 7.00pm - 9.00pm and Saturday morning: 10.00am - 12 noon 01925 634510

Youth Growth

USEFUL ADDRESSES

9.9% 7.2% 7.1% 6.9% 6.5% 2.4% 1.7% 1.7% 1.3% -0.9%

email: info.centre@scouts.org.uk www.scouts.org.uk

This is another amazing result built on nearly 14 years of continual growth in Cheshire. I am convinced the growth is built on quality programme and our focus on top awards. It is in short measure also a result in the investment in development resources and the support we are able to offer Districts and Groups. Above all it is the result of commitment from Line Managers to provide Scouting to young people in Cheshire who need it. Thank You

- Graham Phillips

BADEN-POWELL HOUSE

65-67 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington, London SW7 5JS 020 7590 6909

THE SCOUT ASSOCIATION Gilwell Park, Bury Road, Chingford, London E4 7QW 020 8433 7100 or 0345 300 1818 (local rate) Bookings online: www.meininger-hotels.com

SCOUT SHOPS LIMITED Monday - Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm Marlborough Road Lancing Business Park, Lancing, West Sussex BN15 8UG 01903 766921 www.scouts.org.uk/shop

UNITY INSURANCE SERVICES (the trading name of Scout Insurance Services Limited) Suites 10 & 10A The Quadrant • 60 Marlborough Road • Lancing Business Park Lancing • West Sussex • BN15 8UW Tel: 0345 040 7702 scouts@unityins.co.uk www.unityins.co.uk

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Beaver Scouts Cub Scouts Scouts Explorer Scouts Network

133 103 69 43 24 23 19 17 15 -9

CHESTER AND DISTRICT

Cheshire Scouts Annual Review 2017 - 18

COUNTY RESULTS BY SECTION Beaver Scouts Cub Scouts Scouts Explorer Scouts Network

1547 1472 1387 1169 1076 1031 998 796 644 394

Youth Growth

Overall Growth 172 167 90 86 48 44 35 21 19 -28

CHESHIRE COUNTY SCOUT SHOPS Youth Membership

Overall Membership 2111 1969 1827 1535 1442 1429 1371 1015 835 522

USEFUL CONTACTS