Our 2026 agm
Six King’s Scouts, 190 awards and a Scout Group on the ward: Avon Scouts celebrate at County AGM
Volunteers, young people and supporters from across the County gathered at the
BAWA Healthcare & Leisure Conference Centre on Tuesday 21st
July 2026 for the Avon County Scout Council Annual General Meeting — an evening
of celebration, reflection and rather a lot of well-earned thanks.
County Chair Bob Symons opened proceedings, before a programme that
took in the reopening of Scouting at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, the County’s
formal business, and a Celebration of Success that recognised well over a hundred
volunteers and young people.
Scouting on the ward
Tim Bird spoke about the Bristol Royal Hospital for
Children’s Scout Group, which reopened in October 2025 and now welcomes between
two and ten young people every week. The aim is simple: run as typical a Scouting
programme as possible, in a setting that is anything but typical.
Recent sessions have covered Founder’s Day, Communicator, Paracord, British Wildlife,
International, Orienteering, Sports Enthusiast and Our World — with the programme often
adapted mid-evening to suit whoever has joined, across a wide range of ages and
accessibility needs. A camp evening was coming up: pitching a tent, learning some knots,
a wide game and campfire songs.
Some of those attending are already in Scouting or Girlguiding outside the hospital.
Many aren’t. Parents, carers and hospital staff frequently get involved too — sometimes,
the team notes, more competitively than the young people.
“I love seeing a young person’s face light up when we ask, ‘would you like
to come to Scouts?'”
The group is well suited to flexible volunteering alongside other Scouting roles.
Looking ahead, it hopes to introduce a distinctive casual uniform for volunteers and new
neckerchiefs for young people to wear on an evening, and to invite visitors who can share
a particular skill or activity — if that sounds like you, the team would love to hear
from you.
Thanks went to Lucy and Helene, who supported the restart, to the hospital staff who
support the group each week, and to every previous volunteer — without whom the group
wouldn’t exist today.
Formal business
Members of the County Scout Council then turned to governance. The minutes of the AGM
held on 24th September 2025 were approved, proposed by Bob Symons and seconded by Tony
Rees. The model constitution from Policy, Organisation and Rules was adopted, proposed by
Arthur Milton and seconded by Ed Burke.
The County’s financial year was noted as 1st April to 31st March. Appointed and
community members of the County Scout Council were approved, alongside nominations from
all nine Districts — Axe, Bath, Brunel, Bristol South, Cabot, Cotswold Edge, Gordano,
Kingswood and Wansdyke. The quorum for future meetings of the County Scout Council was
noted as 15.
Review of the year
The Annual Report of the County Trustee Board was presented by Clive
Sandrey (County Lead Volunteer), Anthony Coles (County Youth
Lead) and Bob Symons (County Chair).
County Treasurer Ed Burke presented the Statement of Accounts for the
year ended 31st March 2026. Total income of £681.3k was set against expenditure of
£712.2k, producing a net deficit of £30.9k — a £71.7k swing from the previous year’s
£40.9k surplus. Woodhouse Park remained the County’s largest single source of income at
£476.6k, or 70% of the total, with net census membership contributing £114.5k.
Support to Groups and Districts over the year included around £15k towards Online
Scout Manager, £35.8k in grants and short-term loans, support for international events
and volunteer-role resourcing — and no increase in the membership rate. Closing funds
stood at £651.9k, with £445.9k held in cash.
Appointments
Bob Symons was appointed County Chair for the next 12 months and
Ed Burke County Treasurer. There were no new additions to the County
Trustee Board, which continues with Silvia Boschetto, Jed Williams and Mark Lee (two
years remaining) and Stephanie Francis, Steve McKenna, Antony Rees and Dave Milton (one
year remaining), alongside ex-officio members.
Neil Salter MBE was appointed County President, with Roger
Starr and Mike Bell as Vice Presidents. Albert
Goodman was appointed Independent Examiner. Andrew Phelps,
Isabel Robinson and Jed Williams were elected to
represent the County on the Council of The Scout Association.
Six King’s Scouts — a County record
Liv and Joel from Bristol South took the meeting
through the King’s Scout Award, the highest award a young person can achieve in Scouting
and now the top achievement for Explorer Scouts and Scout Network members. Only around
400 are awarded nationally each year — roughly 1% of Scouts and Explorers.
Avon presented four awards in 2023/24 and four in 2024/25. This year the County
managed six: congratulations to Henry Brooke, Joey Hurst, Izzy
Robinson, Jack Lui, Hazel Wood and Joshua Mobbs. Several were presented with
their awards on the night.
Getting there takes a Gold DofE or equivalent, 18 months as an Explorer or Network
member, 24 nights away (12 of them camping), six International, Community and Values
challenges, and a final presentation to inspire others. What that looked like in practice
ranged from saxophone, bellringing and AutoCAD to Ten Tors, the National Scout Rifle
Championship, a winter survival camp and a canoe crossing of Scotland from west coast to
east. Internationally, the group took in Explorer Belts in Denmark, the Netherlands and
Bulgaria, the World Scout Jamboree, a trip to Kandersteg and a project in Nepal. Closer
to home they restarted the Gromit Network, cleaned up Bristol Harbour, maintained a local
churchyard and community green space, narrated at a remembrance event and ran a
St George’s Day event.
Their advice to anyone considering it: take photos as you go, break the award down
into sections so it doesn’t overwhelm you, and start as early as you can — and if you
don’t, remember that anything from your 16th birthday counts. Most people, they pointed
out, have already done far more of it than they realise.
Celebration of Success
The evening’s awards recognised service right across the County. The Chief Scout’s
Commendation for Good Service was presented 67 times, the Award for Merit 25 times, and
the Bar to the Award for Merit seven times.
The Silver Acorn went to John Balcombe, Marcus Booth, Trevor Cook, Helen Davy, Michael
Harper and Kevin Watson. The Bar to the Silver Acorn was awarded to Nigel Ball, Simon
Glover, Stephen Hamey, Robert Laurence and Martin Webster. The Silver Wolf — the
Association’s highest award for service — was presented to Philip Woolcock.
Congratulations to every single one of them.
Thank you
Graham Brant, Regional Lead Volunteer for South West England, closed
the formal programme, after which everyone stayed on for refreshments, a look around the
stands and a proper catch-up.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, to the team who put the evening together, and to
every volunteer across Avon who made the past year possible. Here’s to the year ahead.
Want to get involved — or find out more about the King’s Scout Award and other top
awards? Get in touch with the County Office at
office@avonscouts.org.uk.
