Chairmans Message 2008

I started the year thinking that with any luck we should be able to get our breath back during 2008 but how wrong I was… 2007 saw what was the biggest year in world Scouting – possibly ever, with both 100 year celebrations and the 21st World Scout Jamboree, but 2008 has proved just as busy.

For Slough Scouts we have had one of our most successful years for as long as I can remember. By any measure we were a key player in last years Jamboree both the young people and the leadership team well represented

As far as fundraising was concerned we had a very successful year. Steve Wedge joined the Executive to help in this area and wrote to a number of local companies. As a result of this we were lucky enough to secure a donation from the employees of Slough Estates who nominated us as one of their charities of the year. It resulted in us receiving a grant of £6500. This will help us make a real difference to the young people in Slough

Thanks to Steve Wedge as well as Pauline Whitman of Slough Estates for their help in putting this together.

Incidentally we are spending the money wisely. One initiative is a subsidised district camp so that all members of the district can enjoy the success of this grant, in addition we have set aside £2000 to fund young disadvantaged people participating in international activities by setting up a bursary type scheme

With all this positive, there is inevitably some negative and there are 3 points that I wanted to cover in this summary.

Firstly it was with Great Sadness that we learned of the passing of Skip of 1st Cippenham John Soper. John devoted much of his life to Scouting in Cippenham but he has left a strong legacy behind him and ensured the continuation of Scouting in the area for many years to come. You only have to look at their wonderful new HQ. it’s a magical place. If you’ve not seen it I urge you to make the effort.

Secondly several of the groups are still challenged regarding lease issues driven by Slough Council. Several groups have seen the Council attempt to enforce business rents and rates on Scout premises. Clearly this is wholly inappropriate and would mean the closure of the respective groups and the Young People of Slough would undoubtedly suffer. As a father of 4 myself I understand how important it is to provide young people with a constructive approach to life and I would urge the Council to work with us rather than try and make money from us. Recently we have seen support from our MP Fiona Mactaggart and a growing body of support from within the council Youth Services where we have a number of projects under discussion which look quite positive. I sincerely hope we can work more closely together in the future for the benefit of Slough

The final negative is that we have had to temporarily close the 4th Langley Group due to lack of adult support. It is a real shame as their HQ has now become the District HQ and is not used as it should be. We are looking for new people but it is not something you can achieve overnight.

On a more positive note we have seen a substantial increase in the numbers of people involved in Slough Scouts with several groups starting new sections. We have 32 more young people on our books than last year and 6 more leaders , which is all very encouraging

In addition to this we have for the first time in 50 years started a new Group in Slough. I’m delighted to announce that on the 4th June 2008, we will be opening the doors to 17 young people who are on the Colnbrook Scout Group waiting list. This is something which I believe marks our 100 years of Slough Scouts very well. This has taken something like 1 year to put together so well done to particularly to Mark Foster and I’d like us all to give a warm welcome Slough welcome to Mr Alasdair Garbett the Group Scout Leader of Colnbrook the Colnbrook team.

So I’m very pleased to report that Slough Scouts are moving forward at a rapid rate and it’s the people that make this happen. I’d like to thank all of the adults involved in Slough Scouts. I think we make a brilliant team and I thank you for all of your hard work, but I’d like to single out 3 people.

Firstly Bruce our DC – Bruce has had some challenges recently on top of his normal hectic schedule he has had the added stress of moving house. Yet he has still kept Slough Scouts running and led from the front – well done for this and thank you from all of us

Secondly I’d like to thank Brian Edwards, our District Auditor, he has worked for many years alongside Ron and we’d like to formally recognise and thank him for his work over all of these years. It’s just amazing how many people it takes to run a Scout district like Slough with many working diligently in the background

And finally, Id like to sincerely thank to Ron Stiff our District Treasurer. Ron has had a long and distinguished association with Scouting in Slough and we all owe him a great deal of thanks. Ron started in the last century with the 1st Langley Group as Treasurer. It was in fact June 1964 through until June 88 – I believe this was when his young lad Bob was in the group.

He became the District Treasurer in June 88 through until today making 20years service in this position – A truly remarkable feat.

In addition to this Ron has been and active member of the Scout Fellowship for 30 years and we have particularly relied on him and “Flo” catering for most District events and sometimes being Treasurer to the event as well.

Although not a uniformed member Ron was recognised with a Long Service award for 40 years of dedicated service. He was awarded the Medal of Merit in 1984 and the Bar to the Medal of Merit in Dec 95. Id just like to record a big thank you Ron on behalf of all of the Scots in Slough along with all of the many thousands of Scouts that have passed through our doors THANK YOU

I’d like to close by reiterating my sincere thanks to all uniformed leaders within the District, also the District Executive and the members of the Scout Fellowship. We all make a valuable contribution to the youth of Slough – and long may we continue to do so 2008 is an exciting year – lets go out and have some fun……..

Yours in Scouting

Ian Goldswain

Chairman Slough District Scout Council