SuperTroop’s 2025 AGM was held on the 8th of October at Fettes College, who host the SuperTroop holiday. The following is a short summary of the evening’s presentations.
Our first speaker was Chrissie, our Finance Officer, who described SuperTroop’s financial position. This year we opened a savings account for SuperTroop in order to keep a reserve fund with enough money for one holiday. This is a new policy to ensure that next year’s holiday can always go ahead. This really helps with our cash flow and enables us to look further ahead. We are getting close to this goal, if you would like to help us get there you can donate here!
The second speaker was Angus, our Chair of the Board of Trustees who led the re-election of three of our trustees; Kate, Scott and himself. All three were re-elected by our members. He then went on to thank Jen Munro, who has retired as a trustee after serving eight years. Angus said “As a founding trustee, she attended the very first trustee meeting and we express a huge amount of gratitude for all her contributions and knowledge over the years.”
He then went on to announce that Anne Darling will be taking over from him as Chair, saying “She has a fantastic amount of knowledge to bring.”
Angus then took a moment to congratulate our founder and Chief Operating Officer, Sue, on receiving the Changemaker award from Edinburgh University. She received this award for founding SuperTroop eight years ago, guiding the charity through the pandemic and delivering a total of seven holidays and in recognition of the lives that have been changed as a result of her vision and dedication. Thank you, Sue, for creating this phenomenal organisation!
The third speaker was Ellen, our Holiday Coordinator, who gave an overview of the 2025 holiday. Ellen said “Our seventh holiday was a huge success, it’s hard to get across in words. It’s best to see photos and videos to have a glimpse into what we got up to.
“This year we tried to create more individualised experiences tailored to our holidaymaker’s needs. For example, a small group took the tram into the city to go to a cafe. This gave our holiday makers the chance to use public transport which built their confidence and gave them a typical teenager experience. On another day a small group went to get hot chocolate and try on some crazy clothes in the charity shops.
Holiday Makers and Helpers at a cafe in the city.
Holiday Makers and Helpers visiting charity shops.
“We did some of our core activities such as swimming, cupcake decorating, a ceilidh and karaoke. We took a trip to Portobello, where there was a torrential downpour and we all took to the arcade to shelter.”
Cake and cookie decorating.
Sheltering from the rain in the arcade.
A particular example from this year's holiday that demonstrates the wider impact SuperTroop is able to have was described by Ellen: “One of our holiday maker’s social care team came to observe during the holiday and they left feeling amazed at what she is capable of with the right support. They have written a proposed plan based on what they have seen and updated her support package. They said ‘You have given us a lot of great information we can take forward to get a supported service in place for her.’”
Next, we heard from two of this year’s helpers, Fettes students who volunteer on the holiday and are paired 1:1 with a holiday maker.
“I can be shy, introverted. I wanted to push myself to do this and I gained a lot of confidence from volunteering with SuperTroop - partly thanks to all the singing he had me do!””
“I was pretty nervous and unsure what to expect. It turned out to be one of the best things I’ve ever done. I am grateful to see first hand the impact this charity has.” ”
Sue then gave a special thanks to Ally Armstrong, who stepped down from his voluntary role on the SuperTroop holiday last year. Ally was instrumental in getting SuperTroop off the ground. Sue said “I want to express my deepest gratitude to Ally. You have been the most incredible advocate throughout. Thank you for your courage, you put a lot on the line to make this happen. We are indebted to Ally for taking on that challenge.”
Ally then said a few words, “I couldn’t stay off of social media this year to see how the holiday was going. It has been amazing to be a part of, to see it grow. Special moments include seeing holiday makers graduate, seeing helpers progress to group leaders. On the first holiday I was petrified, out of my comfort zone and I loved every single minute of it. It has been an amazing thing for the school to commit to.”
Finally, Karen, our Secretary of the Board of Trustees discussed our membership strategy. Looking ahead for SuperTroop we are eager to recruit new members. We need great people to keep us accountable by attending our AGM in October - which can be done either in person or online - to vote in elections, re-elections and other formal motions. We are looking for people from a broad range of backgrounds, the key components are a genuine interest in SuperTroop and an understanding of our aims. If you are interested in becoming a member please visit our Become a Member page.
There is so much to celebrate and to be inspired by as the planning of the next holiday begins - stay tuned!