to think 20 quid too much.

[whyme2]

Dd 1 and 2 attend rainbows. They came home last week with a letter asking for 20 pound each so they could spend the night in the church hall where they have their meetings and have breakfast there.
Is this normal? It seems a huge amount of money for nothing imho. I am contemplating what to say to the rainbow leader next week.

I didn't realise Rainbows was for the rich. I'm sure baden Powell would turn in his grave.

So AIBU to say to the leader that it is prohibatively(sp?) expensive.

I checked with my friend and it is definately 20 pound (sorry, pound sign not working on my lap top) It is just not any kind of value for money is it?

I know when I was a leader we always had some group funds to contribute or did a fundraising thing first.

My girls went to a centenary party a couple of months ago which cost 5pound and they did a few activities and had a piece of cake. It sounded okay but I expected a lunch or special activity for that much.

At least I know it is unreasonable and I will talk to the rainbow leader next time. I can't see us continuing if everything is going to be this expensive.

I keep returning to this thread as I find it so OTT - our Cubs had a full day out recently with loads of fun activities for £1 (sent a packed lunch but got hot dogs and drinks later) - and that was paid for out of cub funds rather than parents paying. Please let us know what the Rainbow leader says.

That is rather a lot for an overnight. I'm a Brownie leader, and our last camp for Brownies, which was in tents for the older ones and in a hall for the younger ones, included 6 meals, snacks, drinks, crafts and outdoor activities including raft-building and stuff, was £25 for 2 nights.

Sometimes we have charged up to £35 for two nights if we are staying somewhere more expensive, but £20 for one night still seems excessive. The only residential which was more was London which we still did for £55 for two nights, and that was because it included a train fare from the northwest, and the London Eye, dinner out etc.

Having said that, the £5 for the party is probably fairly reasonable, depending on where it is and what kind of activities were on offer. Our Brownie Takeover centenary event is this Sat and is £12 per girl which includes a whole day out at a big country park (entry fee normally £8 for all the bits we are doing), activities, crafts, and a BBQ and entertainment.

D

it's too much for a sleep-over

Meant to add, I would think £10 per girl should be more than adequate to break even for that kind of event. Or perhaps £10 per girl plus bring a bag of croissants/loaf of bread/pot of jam/tick the item on the list you want to bring to contribute to breakfast type of thing.

D

How on earth does it cost £20 a head?

presumably they use the hall every week so the hire is included in the subs, maybe an extra £50 tops for overnight use?

so assuming 20 Rainbows, that would equal £2.50/head
plus breakfast £2/head

it shouldn't be more than £5 surely?

let us know!

My DD did a Brownies event that cost £40(!) for all day and one night in a proper dormitory. That did include entry into Whipsnade Zoo which went some way to explaining the costs but it still seemed an awful lot.

Stupidly I'd already paid the deposit before they finalised how much the whole thing would cost .

God that's a lot for a sleepover isn't it?

DD1 hasn't had a sleepover with Rainbows but she has had a couple of days out, neither of which we had to pay for.

You must ask why it's so expensive, and report back!

Snorbs - did they go by coach? I am shocked by how much coaches cost to hire. hundreds.

[nodding] yes amidaiwish , coaches are tres tres expensive, the coach hire normally costs more than the actual activity/entry fee whenever we are unfortunate enough to have to use them.

Snorbs I would be protesting in future about having to pay a deposit to 'secure' your place before you knew the full costs. That's not acceptable. We have only ever done this in the context of 'deposit is £x, final costs TBC but will not be more than £y'. Both times we have done that we have come in way under the max we had quoted.

D

Nope, no coaches involved. Transport to/from the zoo was done in the cars of volunteers. We supplied packed lunches for the zoo trip so the £40 included a BBQ dinner in the evening plus toast in the morning.

I wasn't happy but by the time we discovered how much it would all cost I'd already told my DD she could go. I'm not going to make the same mistake again about paying deposit without knowing the final costs.

Way too much.

I didn't know Rainbows had overnighters - DD didn't get to stay away like this until she was in the Brownies.

I will report back after i've spoken to the leader.