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Autumn 2009 Fundraising News

 

The Fund Raising Team got off to an early start for the forthcoming season with a planning meeting in August. There is now a small core team taking care of our fund raising events and activities, but we would like a few more to come along and offer their assistance. No experience necessary, all training provided – it’s that sort of job! And, unlike a sectional leader, it’s not even ‘ just two hours a week’ – we meet a couple of times each term with perhaps an extra meeting now and again, then some smaller team meetings to plan and organise specific events if they need some more time spent on them.

Please give me a call if you think you could help out, or if you would like to find out more. My number is at the end of this letter.

This letter aims to explain why the Group needs to raise funds to support the running of the facilities and the sectional programmes, and I have also outlined the plans we have hatched too.

 

 

Why does the group need to raise funds?

 

Simply, because running a Scout Group with four training sections costs money. In addition, we require to cover the costs involved in maintaining the hall – heating, power, insurance – and in providing the basics for each of the sections, training the leaders, and lots of other things. Last year we have spent £3,378 on new equipment for the sections. This has been paid entirely from the fund raising efforts over the previous years. The need to raise additional funds to support the work of the whole group has never been as important, as we strive to sustain an active programme and provide a similar standard of opportunities, despite the state of the economy, and without delving any deeper into the pockets of parents! We did well, we raised just over £7000 in total, including grants, sponsorship and a list of events we arranged and carried out.

 

 

What help do we get?

 

There are quite a lot of external sources of funding which we actively pursue and sometimes strike lucky. We have been fortunate in the past in securing grant assistance from various places, sponsorship from local and other businesses, and support from within Scouting from the District, the Region, and from Scottish and National HQ. We will continue to seek and pursue any such opportunities that we identify. We also get indirect support, as a charitable body, by not paying taxes, Council tax, some of the rates bill, etc.

Subscriptions cover about two-thirds of the costs of running the sections, and without fund raising we would need subs to at least double the current rates. We believe this is both undesirable and discouraging. To avoid the need for parents to dig ever deeper into their own pockets (as if you don’t have to do that already) our fundraising activities are designed to raise money from the  

But we do need to make up the balance from within our own resources.

wider community. This can be through us carrying out tasks in return for funds, from running social events and selling tickets to participate, clearly the more variety of events and activities that we arrange the more people may be encouraged to part with their money!

 

 

Communications:

 

We utilise a number of methods of communicating with everyone, none are perfect (otherwise we would use that method all the time) but we find one suits some people better than others:

    We utilise a number of methods of communicating with everyone, none are perfect (otherwise we would use that method all the time) but we find one suits some

    • Are you registered on the Scouts or Cubs e-mail Group? If you don’t wish to participate through this means, I am happy to arrange e-mail correspondence directly to you instead – just send me a note of your e-mail address.
    • Do you get the notes sent home with your Beaver, Cub, Scout or Explorer? If school notes are anything to go by, the likelihood of notes making it home by this means probably diminish with age! Please do ask regularly if there are any notes home!
    • We copy all parental correspondence regarding fundraising on the group website:
    http://www.southqueensferryscouts.org/
      • If you prefer correspondence delivered through your letterbox, let me know - we can find the money to cover it – we are after all a fund raising team!

     

 

Programme:

 

Singa Longa Mama Mia – 10th October: tickets out now!

Hogmanay Ceilidh – 31st December: tickets available from October

Queensferry Calendars – photos by members of the Group - perfect Christmas gifts for home or abroad – post service available

 

 A full programme of events will be circulated later in September once we tie in a few more dates!

 Ian Harrower

 

Group Fund Raising Team Leader phone: 0131 331 1108

 

Ian.harrower2@virgin.net

mobile: 07801 717202

Other ongoing enterprises:

 

 www.easyfundraising.org.uk/queensferryscoutsfund

This earned us over £176 so far this year!

Collect all your copper coins in a jar.

Old mobile phones are worth money – pop them in the collecting box at the Scout Hall