Dear parents/guardians,
Re: 5th Frome Monthly Subscriptions & Payments
Following the publication of our annual accounts at the last Group AGM in May, those of you who attended will have noted the on-going struggle we have year on year to remain financially viable. Whilst we have endeavoured to keep costs down and have continued to charge the same level of subscriptions for the last 6 years, we are now in a position where unfortunately we are this year going to have to raise the monthly subscriptions by £1.50 a month to £13. This will take effect from October the 1st. This increase, which still provides excellent value for money, will allow us to continue to run the Group and maintain the weekly activities which your children enjoy so much.
Like all other scout groups the subs we charge are made up of a number of elements. These include the following:
The Capitation fee - This is a sum determined each year following the census of all adult and youth members which takes place in January. The fees payable for each young person are calculated on the number of young people in each Scout County. This fee is split so that an element goes to help run the national organisation, another to the county association, then a further amount to the district (we are in the East Somerset District).
Rental of Selwood School - Currently we pay in the region of £60 per night for the hire of the hall, a charge we have been informed will rise by 10% rise as from the 1st September. Whilst we have tried to negate this cost by running activities at Tedbury camp site during the summer term, Tedbury itself also charges us for use of the site, albeit at a lower rate than Selwood.
Insurance - We have to fund the insurance of the groups camping equipment, which if you have seen the store at Ray's you will know is quite extensive. This cost like most insurance costs has also risen considerably over the last few years.
Upkeep and replacement of camping equipment - Whilst we try to raise money for the purchase or replacement of larger items such as tents, much of the smaller items of equipment have to be funded via subscriptions. The fees we charge for camps only cover the running costs of camps themselves.
General running costs - This is the amount that each section requires to put on its activities each week purchasing general materials etc for use on a Thursday night. In addition, costs such as the badges the scouts achieve come out of this.
Proposed new store – Having been given notice that we need to relocate our stores, we have been looking at a number of options over the last 6 months. The preferred option is now to purchase a shipping container and site at a new location. The purchase of this is likely to be in the region of £2,000 plus fitting out costs and then any potential site rental costs.
Gift Aid:
In order to help increase our income, we will be launching a new initiative to get all those who are taxpayers and paying subs, signed up for “Gift Aid”. As a registered charity, the Gift Aid scheme allows us to claim an additional 25% of your subscriptions at no extra cost to you. All you need to do is complete the form that we will supply. As you can imagine this will make a huge difference to our income and help keep the ongoing cost of subs down.
*Future Payment of Subs & OSM*
To coincide with the increase in sub’s, from October 1st, we will also be changing how we collect payments. Soon we will be introducing our Online Scout Manager (OSM) Parent Portal. Along with other benefits to both you and the leaders, we will be able to manage payments more easily for both our subs and camps/events. Keep an eye on your inbox over the next few weeks for more information and your personalised invitation.
As always we will continue to monitor our expenditure through our Executive Committee and hopefully, we can again cap the subscriptions for a few more years. We do need your help with this however, particularly with fund raising activities such as the Christmas Fair.
Finally, if you feel you would be able to help us keep the Group going in any way, even if it’s just on an occasional basis, please either speak to myself or a leader. We would welcome any parents who would like to join us either as a uniformed leader, or parent helper at Thursday meetings, and/or to assist on the Executive Committee which oversees the running of the sections. We cannot run the Group without you!
Regards,
David Hoare
Chairman - 5th Frome Scout Group
https://www.5thfromescouts.org.uk/