Morecambe Guardian 05 June 1959
BOB-A-JOB WEEK RECORD £300, BUT-
Scouts forget good deeds when it comes to subs
THEIR TOTAL WAS 15s. IN YEAR
Despite a rule stating that members should make subscriptions towards the running costs of the Morecambe and Heysham and District Boy Scouts’ Association, only 15s.was forthcoming from members complained the treasurer, Mr. E. Kendall, at the annual meeting in the Sion Baptist schoolroom, Morecambe, on Thursday evening last week.
Members heard that the number of cubs had declined by 46 and scouts by three in the last 12 months but that senior scouts had increased by 11 and scouters by two. The Bob-a-Job week had raised more than £300, a record.
Mr. G. S. Evenden, the chairman, presided, and those present included County Commissioner Mr. Dodds Drummond of Lancaster, Mr. J. Bowtell of Blackpool, Assistant County Commissioner, Mr. H. Dahl, Field Commissioner who had recently taken over after serving overseas, and Mrs. Stockwell, Girl Guide Commissioner for the district.
In his annual report, read by the secretary, the treasurer, Mr. Kendall, wrote that they started the year with the total of £11 17s.7d. in hand and £147 0s.11d. in the headquarters’ account. The current account finished with a balance of £28 15s, but that included a donation of £25 as part division of some dividends from the Helme bequest. They had therefore, virtually only £3 15s. left from current income. He regretted that, despite the mention he made at the request of the executive last year, that members should make subscriptions towards running costs as provided for in the rules, only 15s. was given apart from the deductions from groups at sixpence a head from Bob-a-Job week which realized £13-4s.-6d.
THE ODD BOB
He mentioned last year that the annual cost of running the Association is about £20. He was sorry to have to bring it up again, particularly when most people put in a lot of work for the various groups, but the rules provided for annual subscriptions.
“Surely an odd shilling or two from various members will not be missed, and will help towards keeping the Association going” he wrote.
The proceeds of more than a £300 from the Bob-a-Job week was a record and a very notable achievement, particularly as the census figures had fallen considerably.
Presenting the annual report, the secretary, Mr. Price, said it had been a year of steady work and progress, uninterrupted by pageants, processions and other public occasions, which, while they might appear spectacular to the general public, interfered with the work of the groups.
UP AND DOWN
The census returns at March 31 showed that the number of groups forming the Association remained unchanged at nine. The numbers showed a decline in some sections and a rise in others. The returns showed that cubs numbered 246, a decrease of 46 compared with the 1958 totals: scouts 198, a decrease of three: senior scouts 26, an increase of 11 and 38 Scouters, an increase of two. Warrants issued during the year were two scoutmasters, six assistant scoutmasters, three cubmasters and two assistant cubmasters.
Commenting on the fact that so many men and women were found ready to give of their leisure time to the work of scouting, he said he felt sure the secret lay in the knowledge that the work was worthwhile.
DISTRACTIONS
“Yet we ought not to be complacent,” he said “when we think of the many distractions facing youth today, the environment in which youth is growing up and the effects of certain sections of the Press on the thinking of youth at the formative stage. Also there is the tendency of many parents to take insufficient grasp of their responsibilities, and the tendency of grown-ups as a whole to regard the affairs of youth as the responsibility of others.
“You who have taken on this work, know that youth needs the help and guidance of older people, to direct his energies usefully instead of destructively, for the apathy and couldn’t- care-less attitude is often due to the want of encouragement and guidance.
“A good deal of work has been done for years in Scouting and other youth organisations, but the fact remains that we do not attract, or having attracted, hold as many of our young people as we should. Only one in every three or four between the ages of 15 and 18 is a member of any youth movement, and many of these drift away at the age of 15.
“Perhaps the standard of leadership was responsible for some of the loss. It should be remembered that the voluntary nature of the work did not exempt those who accepted its obligations from taking all possible steps to fit themselves for the responsibilities of their position, and from making every effort to discharge the duties satisfactorily.”
OFFICERS
Officers elected were: chairman, Mr. G. S. Evenden; treasurer, Mr. E.. Kendall; auditor Mr. J. F. Tyson; District Commissioner, Mr. M Melling: District Cubmaster, Miss M. Gray; badge Secretary, Mrs. C. Buxton; Press Secretary, Mr. H. Axe; Secretary Mr. H. A. Price.
Elected on the executive committee as group representatives were Messrs. J. K. Halden (1st Morecambe, A. Mortimer (2nd Morecambe), W. Beckett (4th Morecambe), A. Sawley (5th Morecambe), N. Perryman (6th Morecambe), C. Willman (11th Morecambe,) F. Middlebrook (13th Morecambe), H. Brooks (16th Morecambe), Rev. A. S. Else (7th Morecambe). Lay representatives were Messrs. F. Woods, R.C. Dalley, W. Quarmby, F. Driver, E. Lowe, E. Faye and J. Jolly, and co-opted members Mr. H. Howarth (Toc H), Mr. A. Abley (Scouters’ secretary) and the Rev. C. G. Yates.
It was decided to donate to the B. P. Building Fund the collection taken at the St. George’s Day service amounting to £6 5s 4d.
Presenting her report as District Cubmaster, Miss M. Gray, complained of the lack of facilities in Morecambe for teaching swimming.
“It is a great disgrace on the town that cubs have to be taken to Lancaster to be taught to swim” she said.
Addresses were given by Mr. H. Whitaker, headmaster of Balmoral County Secondary School, a former King’s Scout, and the County Commissioner Mr. J. Dodds Drummond.
