Welcome
This is our first newsletter for such a very long time, for those parents that are just joining the Group, we hope that your child is enjoying their first steps to all the adventure that Scouting holds.
We are into a new year, well almost out of January and all the sections are back at the Hut and have their plans in place for most of the year so we have lots of dates for events, camps and trips for your diaries.
Toddington Scout Group is a very small Group that manages to do the most amazing Scouting. This cannot be done without parental support, this does not mean that we want you to put on a uniform, although you would be more than welcome as we always need more Leaders.
Do you have skills or talent in something that you would like to show our young people? We love a trip out and we have been to the Fire Station, Heart Radio and the Doctors Surgery to name a few. Could you come in and show us how to make something? Cooking is always a favourite, over the years we have made Truffles, Sherbet and all sorts of things with spam?
Can You Help?
Well here is the first begging part of our newsletter, you may notice that in the dates for your diary section we are doing a number of fundraising events. With Christmas out of the way here at Toddington Scout Group we are offering to help you once again….. Yes when you are doing your spring clean/New Year de-clutter think of us and our Tombola Stalls, Raffle Prizes or Ball lots.
If that present from Aunty Maud is sitting festering at the back of a cupboard let us love it for you! If you are never going to drink those twelve bottles of red wine...give them to us - the Leaders always need a drink! No seriously, if you do not want it and it is too good to throw away please think of us first.
What do Subs Pay for?
As you know we charge £12 per month for eleven months of the year, which equates to a total of £132.
Firstly out of this £132 there is the £42 per child fees that we have to pay into our District, this covers the Scouting insurances that we all have to pay and for any District events. That leaves us with £90 per child. We then try to operate on £1 per week per child so any pack night if they are cooking, or making Christmas decorations, Chinese lanterns, maps for hiking you name it we do it, for a £1 a week? How?!
So - we are down to £50 left per child, how much is a badge well that’s about a £1, how many badges does your child do? If they are a Cub or a Beaver I would say lots but let’s guess on an average of ten, this then leaves us with £40 and we have not yet paid for light, heat, all the other insurances etc., we have not replaced any worn out or broken equipment or even thought about doing a hot dog on a night up at the campsite
Let’s be honest we all try and fund raise knowing that we want the money to go into the Hut Fund but also know that we will have to help out each section so that we can continue to offer the fantastic Scouting experiences that Toddington is known for.
Toddington has NEVER denied any child Scouting.
We hope that this has given a clearer idea of how funds are used but please do not hesitate to ask any Leader should you require more detail.
I want to say in the politest way possible is please pay your subs promptly.
Now for the bad news, we like everybody else have tried to keep our subs low, so in fact we have not raised our subs for 16 years, it has been a very hard decision but from September we will be increasing our subs to £15 a month, which equates to £3.75 a week.
Dates for your Diaries
11th March - Cub Sleep Over at Hut
20th May - Quiz Night with Fish & Chips, & Bar @ Village Hall—£15 per head
23rd June - Scout Camp
1st July - Beaver Camp
2nd July - Annual Fun Afternoon - Milton Bryan Campsite - 2 pm onwards, whole family event!
7th July - Cub Camp
14th—October - Annual Scout Ball - £50 pp
4th November - Fireworks @ Toddington Fires Station
Car Parking
Please can I remind you that there is no car parking at the Hut, please do not use the car park as a turn around. We ask that you walk your child to the Hut.
Please can we be considerate of our neighbor's as we have the pensioners on one side and the home owners on the other.
Finally
am going to finish this newsletter as I started, by welcoming you to Toddington Scout Group, your child if he / she joins Beavers at 6 and stays till they finish Explorers at 18, they are with us longer than any of their Schools, Scouting offers opportunities for our young people that will stay with them for life, memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.
We cannot do this without the right facilities, funding and most importantly support. We are empowering your young people with:
Skills for Life
What do we offer you as parents? Exactly the same...memories and friendships that will stand the test of time.
Please do not hesitate to contact me, if you would like to discuss any-thing in this
newsletter.
Karen
Email - gsl@toddingtonscoutgroup.org