Everyone you meet at 1st Bedworth Scout Group are volunteers, no one is paid to carry out their role, whether that is a section Leader working with  youngsters directly or an administrator working in the background. In fact it costs our leaders to take part in Scouting as they pay to take part in camps and activities the same as the youngsters do. It is our group’s policy that leaders pay to take part in activities and there are no plans to change this.    

There are some costs that are beyond our control. Each year every member of the Scout Association has to pay a membership fee to Scout Headquarters in London, this is a charge made mainly to cover insurance  and also to provide services and resources. This year that will be around  £26.00 per person, we collect this as a part of the youngsters subscriptions each week. That leaves just over £1 to cover the cost heating, lighting and water bills, to pay for  badges, to maintain the building, to cover all the materials tents and other equipment needed to run a highly successful programme and to carry out the compulsory training of our Leaders/

We have not needed to increase our subscriptions to our members for over seven years due to financial & budgetary controls and increased membership, but due to the continuous increases in electricity and other utility bills and ever increasing costs of materials to run a quality programme we have no choice but to raise the subs to £2.00 per week to meet these costs.

This is not a decision the Executive have taken lightly and with the current economic situation a decision to defer the start of increase to the 1st February 2012 was agreed, this is to allow  parents to get over the Christmas expense.  As utility bill payers we hope everyone will understand the reasons for this increase.    

If anyone has any problems or concerns meeting the increase in subs should talk in total confidence to Dave Woodward our Group Scout Leader.