We know we know we’ve been a little quiet over the last couple of months, especially given that we were looking to re-start some form of face-to-face activities in September/October. Our volunteers have been working extremely hard behind the scenes to ensure that we have everything in place for a safe return.

The truth is that our preparations to return to face-to-face activities have taken us a little longer than we originally anticipated. Unfortunately, we now find ourselves in the midst of another lockdown which is inevitably going to delay this further.

So, we’re getting in touch just to give you a little update with where things currently stand. Despite the current lockdown, we’re continuing to work through making sure we have everything in place to allow us to return to face-to-face when the time allows. With that said, and I’m sure you can understand – we can’t give an exact timeframe for this at the moment. All we can ask for here is your continued patience.

With that said though, in the very near future we are looking to re-establish an online programme for all of our members to join in and engage with us. We’re looking to incorporate a number of different technologies to facilitate this, such as Zoom (for the very first time) – so please do support your sections to help make this a success.

Your section leaders will be in touch with you all separately to give some further details on this soon.

A quick note on subs:

While we are not meeting face to face (to keep everyone safe) it is more important than ever to make sure that we can continue into the future.

Unfortunately, we still have fixed costs, which we have to pay, whether we’re meeting face to face or not. Our fixed costs include our rent, utilities, licences, and costs incurred at a national level (covering vital services such as insurance and safeguarding support). All of these still need to be paid.

Given that we haven’t yet returned to face-to-face activities, we’re still running with the following solution with the hope of giving as much support as we can to our parents and guardians:

  • for those of you who are able, we would really appreciate it if you could continue to pay your monthly subs via Online Scout Manager.
  • for those who are struggling, we ask if you could make a contribution of £6 a month. This will help cover our essential costs over the next few months. It will mean that we can still be here ready to welcome your children back when the crisis passes. If you want to support us via this option, you can do so via our Fundraising website, using this link – https://fundraising.1stinceandelton.org.uk/product/subs-contribution-1-month/. You can pay for it with Credit/Debit Card or BACS all in one go by changing the product quantity, or you can pay month by month.
  • and for those that are facing significant financial challenges at the moment, we do not wish to cause any further financial hardship and fully understand if you are unable to make any contribution.

We are a local charity, run by unpaid volunteers, as well as being part of a national membership organisation. We rely on income from parents and carers to keep operating. By supporting us financially now, we can make sure our Scout Group is still here for your child when these challenging times have passed.

In the meantime, if you do have any questions – then please reach out to your section leaders. Stay safe.