Dear Parents / Carers

First of all may I welcome you to 1^st Crowborough Scout Group. I am the group scout leader and I oversee the running of the group. If at any time you wish to contact me and ask any questions, please feel free to do so, especially if you have concerns about the way things are being organised.

1^st Crowborough is made up of; Beavers who cater for 6 to 8 year olds; Cubs, who cater for 8 to 10 ½ year olds; Scouts who cater for the 10 ½ to 13 ½ year old young people and then Explorers who look after the young people from 13 ½. Following on from that are the Network Scouts and the Fellowship.

The group has 3 Beaver colonies, 3 Cub packs, 3 Scout troops and we fully support the District ‘Tullis’ Explorer Unit. We are lucky enough to have over 200 young people in the sections, all ably looked after by Section leaders, assistants and helpers. These leaders, assistants and helpers are all volunteers, who are parents of current boys and girls, parents of ex members or grand parents of members! We are one of the largest groups in the Country, something that we are all very proud of.

This welcome pack is designed to

• Provide you with the current subscription rate - I make the request that all subscriptions are paid to your young persons’ leader by the third week of the start of term. Of course if you wish to pay for a full year, please feel free to do so at the start of the appropriate term.

• Inform you where you can purchase the required uniform.

• Let us know if you mind photographs of the young person entering into 1^st Crowborough, appearing on the Group’s web site.

A representative from the group will try and get to meet with you when your young person gets ‘invested’ into Beavers, Cubs or Scouts, so that we can discuss ‘Gift Aid’ and perhaps talk to you about helping us out in some way. Of course, if you would like to get involved, please let the section leader know; we are always looking out for new people to try new ideas and ensure that Scouting remains a ‘movement’ and doesn’t get stuck in the past!

I hope you find this pack informative and useful. Welcome to 1^st Crowborough!

Yours in Scouting

John Easton

Subscriptions

These are collected termly or if you wish, you can pay an annual fee. The subscription goes towards paying for the upkeep of the Scout Hut, activities and badges, but most importantly to the Scout Association for membership. This membership amongst other administrative matters provides insurance cover for the young people and adults that belong to the Scout Association. Without these subs’ the young people cannot be covered by the insurance. We do operate a genuine hardship policy and we would never exclude a young person through an inability to pay the subscriptions. Please feel free to contact me confidentially where arrangements can be made to assist.

We need the subscriptions paid to the leaders by the 3^rd week after the start of the Group term (January, April and September) to ensure that the insurance remains current.

Please can you pay the leader who looks after your young person and if paying by cheque, please make them payable to ‘1^st Crowborough Scout Group’.

Current subscriptions are;

• Beavers - £30 per term

• Cubs - £34 per term

• Scouts - £35 per term

Of course, the subscriptions are always reviewed and so if these figures change, you will be informed of the new rate.

Uniform

The leader, who is going to be responsible for the young person you care for during their time in Scouting, will be able to provide you with uniform requirements. Uniform can be purchased from ‘Phillip Manns’ shop in Crowborough, or through the internet at:- http://www.scoutshops.com

Internet

We have a web site managed and controlled by one of the leaders. This web site can be found at www.1c.org.uk and is designed to provide a fun and informative view of 1st Crowborough Scout Group. It is also used as a diary so that you can see where we are meeting and when, plus what we have been up to. It has many links that give information relating to the History of the group and Crowborough…take a look.

The site is very well managed and I ensure that it contains nothing that will bring the group into disrepute or upset any parents, carers or most of all, the young people who appear in it. It does contain photographs of the youngsters enjoying themselves, taking part in activities and generally showing how exciting Scouting can be.

I am, of course, aware of the concerns that are cast over photographs published on the internet and we do our absolute best to protect the identity of those that appear. We also insist that the photographs show the group in a positive light and that no-one could take offence to any of them that appear.

To this end, I would ask for your permission to allow us to use photographs of the young person you care for in the manner described above, to promote the enjoyment that can be achieved from the Scout Association.

If you do not agree with this, please can you return this part of the welcome pack to the section leader so that we can ensure that the young person you care for does not appear on the website.

If you do grant permission, you need not return this form.

I………………………………………………………..do not give permission for the young person I care for……………………………………………………………………(name) to have any photographs they appear in, to appear on the 1st Crowborough Scout Group web site.

Signed………………………………………………………………………………………..date……………………………………………..

To be returned to the Leader if permission is withheld.