Finances
Gift Aid
Gift Aid is a tax relief set up by the Government to enable charities to claim back 25p for every eligible £1 donation that is made to the charity.
1st North Leigh Scout Group is a charity and so we’re able to claim 25% on eligible donations made to us by UK taxpayers. This includes any subscription fees we receive from parents or carers and for sponsored challenges.
We ask that, if you are a UK taxpayer, you sign up to Gift Aid on Online Scout Manager (OSM), which enables us to recover significant sums of the tax you pay at no cost to yourself.
If you have not received an OSM request from your child’s section leader, please remind them to send you one.
Alternatively, you can download our Gift Aid declaration form and give it to your child’s section leader or to one of the Group’s Executive members.
Did you know, if you are lucky enough to be a higher rate tax payer you can also claim a tax refund? If you pay income tax at the higher or additional rate and want to receive the additional tax relief due to you, you must include all your Gift Aid donations on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue and Customs to adjust your tax code.
Subscriptions
Scouting costs money, and as a movement we get very little National or Local government aid. The Leaders and Executive Committee are all unpaid volunteers and do their best to offer quality Scouting for the lowest possible cost. The main sources of income for the group are the membership subscriptions paid by all members, and our fundraising events.
Subscriptions are used to cover basic running costs such as badges, insurance, group equipment, building rental and the annual capitation fees that we pay to our District, County and National HQ.
Subscriptions are paid at the start of each term, and apply for the whole of the term. In the event that a parent wishes their child to leave any of the sections of the 1st North Leigh Scout Group before their normal leaving age, we request that notice be given to the Section Leader before the last session of the term in which they are leaving. This is to allow the Section Leaders to consult the waiting list about filling the place for the next term.
If a child leaves partway through a term, except in exceptional situations, no refunds of subscriptions will be provided.
Fundraising
Fundraising is vital in helping us provide great activities and experiences, whilst also helping us to keep subscriptions as low as we can. Our main source of fundraising income is the annual Duck Race.
If you have any other good ideas for fundraising please tell us!
Thank you!
Additional Costs
Sometimes, we ask for a contribution towards activities undertaken over and above the ‘normal’ section night activities where we might be paying for the use of outside facilities, instructors’ expenses, camp site fees. However the aim is to even out the financial burden by spacing out the more expensive events, and all sections also make maximum use of the considerable volunteer resources available within the Scout movement in the way of equipment, instructors etc.
Payment for camps and trips usually consists of a deposit when you sign up and then a balance closer to the event. Unless we have to cancel an event, deposits are NOT refundable as we use them as deposits for activity and site bookings several months in advance. It is sometimes possible to refund the balance for a camp if a child is unable to attend through illness; however, this depends on the nature of the trip and the number of participants and the obligations we have entered into on the assumption that your child will attend.
Benevolent Fund
It has been a principle of Scouting since it started in 1907 that it should be available to any interested young person, and the ability to pay should never be a limiting factor.
We have a Benevolent Fund to help when times are difficult. You can download the Benevolent Fund Information Sheet and Application Form from here:
Alternatively, you can contact the Group Scout Leader or Group Chair (see Contacts Page for details), in the strictest of confidence, to discuss your situation. We will do our best to help if we can.
Please don’t let your child miss out!
Every Little Helps
If you can spare some time each year, maybe just an hour or 2 to help out at events or erecting tents, every little helps to raise more funds. If you have any other good ideas for fundraising please tell us!
Thank you!