Welcome back!
As we start a new scouting year, we would like to welcome our new starters and current members alike to another year at 6th Farnborough. Our volunteer Leaders are currently working on the programme of activities for the term, and we look forward to working with your children helping them gain badges as they progress through the sections.
We start this new term with a wonderful new storage shed, as we have finally been able to replace our old one over the summer (see full article below!).
This does however mean we have vastly depleted our available funds, and we still have projects we would like to do, so we will need to do lots of fundraising in order to increase our coffers again! Our easy ways to help fund raise story below goves some simple ways you can support the group just by changing your online shopping habits slightly, or playing a local lottery rather than the national one.
If you have any comments or suggestions for activities, or know of funding sources, then please do get in touch via your Section Leaders or our group secretary.
Garage update
For those that are new to the Group this term, you join us at exciting times. The Committee and Leaders have been wanting to replace our old storage garage for years! Built from concrete sheets in the days when asbestos was used in everything it was breaking down with holes in the wall had a dodgey roof.
We are extremely pleased to announce we have finally achieved our goal! After two planning applications, a bat survey, and finally raising enough money - we, has finally been replaced with a new purpose built treated wooden structure, making our storage for camping equipment etc larger and safer! This is been along time coming and been a wish of committee and leaders alike for several years, and it's is wonderful to finally see it become a reality.
We have many people to thank for helping with the fundraising for this project, including the Blackwater Valley District Group and Waitrose, and lots of other people who have done small funsraising initiatives over the past few years going back to pre-COVID! We are immensely grateful to everyone who has helped us achieve this, it will make such a difference to Group and extend the life of our camping and other useful equipment.
Many thanks to all of you who also helped us clear our the old garage ready for it's demolition!
Subs payment increase and payment dates reminder
Just a quick reminder - as announced at our AGM in July, due to the increase of our capitation costs from District and Scouting HQ, we have increased our subs from September 2022 to £48 a term. For those paying by direct debit, the Winter subs payment will be taken on the 3rd October 2022. For those using other payment methods - please talk to your section leaders or directly with our treasurer, Olly, who will be happy to help you.
For those new to the Group this term - you can set up direct debits via our OSM parent portal. If you have not received a link to set up your parent portal access, please let our Group secretary, Liane, know and she will send you one.
Dates when subs are due are:
- 3rd Oct 2022 - Winter Subs due | £48
- 7th Feb 2023 - Spring Subs due | £48
- 8th May 2023 - Summer subs due | £48
You can also find these dates on our website home page, and via OSM in the My Child > Payments > Subscriptions area.
The Committee are firm believers that money should not be a barrier to Scouting - so if you require help in any way, please get in touch with your section leader or our treasurer to see what help is available to you.
Easy ways to help fundraise for 6th Farnborough
With our replacement garage storage project completed, it's now time to look at our other projects we want to do. While the committee looks at our list of things to do and priorotises our next one, we really need to crack on with fundraising for them! We have registered with a number of schemes which are easy ways to raise money for the group, and we encourage all our parents to use them wherever possible!
Easy Fundraising website
The the committee look for ways to raise money for the Group - here are some easy ways you can help us raise money just by changing your online shopping habits!
Easyfundraising is website which partners with over 7,000 online retailers, including Tesco, Boots, Vodafone and JustEat. All you need to do is create an account with Easy fundraising, and choose 6th Farnborough Scout Group as your chosen charity. Then - when you do your online shopping start from the Easy Fundraising website (https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk), and then go to your retailer of choice and shop as normal!
Details on how the Easy Fundraising site works can be found on their how it works page.
There is also the Easy Fundraising App you can download for your mobile (Google Play store | Apple store) making it even easier to use!
This method of fundraising does not cost you anything. All the money is generated by referal fees from the retilers you use for online shopping.
Amazon smile
If you shop regualrly with Amazon, then changing just one little thing can help raise funds for us. You simply change your link to the Amazon site to be https://smile.amazon.co.uk, and login in. Choose 6th Farnbrorough Scouts as your chosen charity, and then shop as normal.
Again you can even do this via your phone Amazon App (Download the Amazon app from the Google play store | Apple Store).
To choose 6th Farnborough in the phone app - simple open the app and choose the three horizontal lines at the bottom right hand corner. Scroll to the bottom and expand out the "settings"option. Click on the Amazon Smile one, and do a search for "6th Farnborough Scout Group". Don't forget to make sure you turn the "mobile app" option on too!
Again, this method doesn't cost you anything, as the money is donated by Amazon.
Rushmoor Community Lottery
The Rushmoor Community Lottery is a fabulous local lottery run by the Rushmoor Borough Council. For each ticket sold, 60% goes to supporting the local Rushmoor Community, and charities like our Group. Simply sign up at their website, buy a lottery ticket or two and choose the 6th Farnborough Scout Group as your nominated charity to support. Tickets costs just £1 each, which is cheaper than the National Lottery!
Each ticket has a chance of winning the top weekly prize of £25,000. So if you like to play the lottery, consider switching to one where you know it will support a local cause. Tickets can be bought automatically each week, so once you have signed up, you don't need to do anything else. If you have a winning ticket, you will be notified by the Rushmoor Community Lottery.
PayPal Giving
PayPal Giving fund works slightly differently in that, once you register with it, and choose 6th Farnborough as your chosen charity, you will be given the option to add a donation every time you use PayPal to make an online purchase. It's just like some of the self service tills you get at supermarkets that ask if you want to add 50p as a donation to the charity they are supporting that month.
Your donation is then added to your online purchase, and the amount of your donation goes to PayPal. PayPal saves up all the donations to our Group and then sends us a payment once a month.
Help spread the word!
If you could spread the word to your family, friends and colleagues about these easy methods to help us fundraise money we would be grateful. Every little helps us to maintain the Trailblazers Den and buy the equipment, supplies and services we need in order to create a rich and varied programme for your children.
Squirrels section - Leaders wanted!
This summer the committee had a stall at the North Camp summer fayre to raise awareness of Scouting and the benefits of it to the local community. It was a successful event for us, and we ended up adding quite a number of children to our waiting list! We have a small number of 4-5 years olds on our list, so we are keen to open a Squirrel Drey to offer Scouting to this age range, but we are in need of volunteer leaders to do so!
If you know anyone who might be interested in helping us establish a Squirrel Drey in our Group we would love to hear from you! More information about Squirrel Dreys can be found on our Squirrel's page.
Uniform reminder
Just reminder that all children should wear their uniform to meetings unless told otherwise, and sensible outdoor shoes should they be doing activities outside of the Trailblazers Den. The woods around the Den can get particularly muddy this time of year!