All agreed on our move
At our Annual General Meeting on 14th July we heard from the Esher District scout leadership team (Mark Burrows), from our own operational team (Nick Fisk) and from our board of trustees (Nigel Harris), about their views on the proposed merger of 1st Weston Green scout group with its neighbours at 1st Hinchley Wood. All three teams are unanimously and enthusiastically in favour of the merger.
Mark Burrows told us that “from Esher District’s perspective, the priority is to find the right foundation for ensuring long-term, good quality scouting delivered to the communities in both Weston Green and Hinchley Wood. There was a lot of strong synergy between the groups that could be tapped into by merging or amalgamating them. District and County have both reviewed the proposed merger and are confident it has the right legal structure and the right characteristics to be a real long-term success. So Esher District very much commends it as an opportunity to make a combined group that much stronger in its delivery of scouting, bringing the programme we want for young people both now and into the future.”
Nick Fisk told us that, although seeing the end of 1st Weston Green as an independent entity will trigger some emotions, “this merger is about two groups coming together, the end result is something much bigger, much more powerful – it is about building the future of scouting in our area, one that will benefit young people and help enrich their lives for many years to come.”
Nigel Harris told us that the trustees have looked into the Hinchley Wood setup from a governance and finance perspective and really liked what they saw. Hinchley Wood is financially very strong and stable, they have a long lease on a great building and lots of equipment such as kayaks that we don’t have. “It is like a match made in heaven – they have what we’re missing, particularly the building, and we’ve got what they are missing, which is a strong leadership team.”
At the AGM the attendees voted on the proposed merger – it received unanimous approval.
The AGM also unanimously agreed that 1st Weston Green should from now on be run by its board of six remaining trustees, with the intention of transferring all its assets to the new combined group, and bringing the existing charity efficiently and cost-effectively to a close.
The following evening, 1st Hinchley Wood scout group held an Extraordinary General Meeting at which their Group Scout Council also formally approved the merger.
The new combined scout group will begin meeting at its scout hut on Lynwood Road, from the start of the new scouting year in September.
