Date : 10th January 2021
Dear parents and carers
A very happy new year to you all and we hope you had the best Christmas you could under the circumstances.
The leaders met last Wednesday, virtually of course, to discuss our plans for the next term and based on the fact we are in Lockdown #3 – We are unable to return to face to face Scouting.
As such, leaders have planned an exciting term of activities. All sections will run individual ‘Teams’ sessions as follows:
Beavers: 6pm Tuesday (starting back on 19th January)
Cubs: 7pm Monday (starting back on 18th January)
Scouts: 7pm Friday (starting back on 15th January)
Group Online Meeting on Friday 29th January at 7pm
At the end of January, the scout group will need to pay the annual national census (Scout Association membership fee) for your child. Although we are not meeting at the moment, we still have to pay your child’s membership at a cost of £40.50 (Headquarters have raised the national membership fee for 2021 by 26%).
Last year’s fees were £43.50, fees for this year were due to go up, however the County have agreed to reduce their portion, and the District are not adding their fee at all. Hence the slight reduction for this year only.
Depending on the circumstances next year, the annual national census (membership) could be higher than this year’s amount. Therefore, if your child is not interested or is unable to participate in Scouting currently, then please do let us know so we can remove them from the system. As a charity, we obviously don’t want to pay for members that do not intend to return. However, if your child wishes to return later when everything is a little more settled, again, please do let us know. Surprisingly, we are still getting requests to join the Group, so would like to have a clear picture of our membership and be able to complete the census accurately.
We hope to see as many of you as possible at our virtual meetings over the next few weeks.
Best wishes
Denise Bloomfield (GSL) / Stuart Parker (AGSL)
18th Ipswich Scout Group
Website: www.18thipswich.org.uk