Beavers

[wickedfairy]

DS has not long started Beavers and enjoys going. I am glad that he likes it but.....

Every week - numerous, numerous emails/texts telling me about what is happening this week (usually only a few days before) and I need to do/buy something, which doesn't give me a lot of time to get it sorted, especially as we are working and sometimes the emails come the day before and DS is at the childminders straight away before Beavers the next day. It costs 400 pounds a year (yes, really) and although I think it is expensive, we can/will pay, as DS enjoys it. There is a parents rota, which you are automatically put on and our working hours will make it difficult to ba around for the majority of these times, although they will not be too frequent.

Thing is, for paying a hefty amount - I just want to pay and leave them to it, tbh. I don't want to help, I don't want loads of mails asking me to do things - I just want to pay and for him to turn up and enjoy himself.

So - AIBU and a total grumpy cow? (I am suspecting that I probably am - what do you all think?)

So getting your basically saying if a parent can't/won't help out their child should miss out? How is that being inclusive?

I would much rather be open to all and have parent helpers who want to help than force parents to help and restrict opportunities for their children because they can't

I am referring to those parents who wont not cant.

I take it you volunteer in some capacity ? I hope over time you dont become cynical and disillusioned by the type of behaviour I saw and heard about from my friend

I have volunteered for 17 years most of them as a youth worker. I have seen everything but I also know better than to discriminate against young people based on their parents. Infact it could easily be argued those with less supportive parents benefit even more, or at least in different ways, to those who's parents are at everything

That sounds a much more reasonable price: we pay £10 per month for Cubs and same for Scouts, plus cost of any camps.

Yes, parent volunteers are needed, though we do it via ad hoc requests. Perhaps you need to have a pre-emptive strike with whoever draws up the rota for yours, explaining your work limitations and getting slots that are reasonably convenient? Also, I think it is reasonable to ask for longer notice of what is coming up (especially if parents need to provide items). Ours (more or less) manages this termly, though there are quite a lot of changes over the course of a term.

I'm glad the pricing has been cleared up but gutted I didn't get to screech my indignation at it first

Where we used to live, it was £75 a year, split over three terms so it was never that much to pay. The beavers, cubs and scouts all paid the same. Apart from scout association subs, that was mostly spent on activities and buying and maintaining their site on a watersports broad. They had a couple of small sailing boats, a couple of dozen assorted canoes and 2 of those zorb things, like giant hamster balls. The scouts go to the broad every week in addition to usual meetings. Beavers and cubs have a couple of activity days there a year so the younger ones are subsiding the older ones to an extent, but it is assumed that they will all progress up to scouts so will benefit from it in the end anyway.

The scouts even subsidised a 12 day trip to Italy last year out of those subs and fundraising so it only cost £300 for nearly 2 weeks of water sports activities. I can only assume the leaders are budgeting geniuses!

Yes, all cleared up thanks to MN!!

We will help, it just wont be all the time due to work and babies. Although I do admit, I felt less inclined when I thought they were charging a fortune, whether that was "proper" of me or not....

DH will be more involved as he likes that kind of thing anyway and is interested in helping out on camps, etc (taking him back to his youth!) and also combined with the fact that DS looked absolutely horrified when we broached the subject of camp without mummy or daddy being there - I thought he would think it exciting, but he nearly cried (he is only young though). So, unless he changes his outlook, to get him to even go on camp and enjoy it, DH will at least have to go with him to the first one!

Please Please Please tell us what county you are in, OP.

I'm in Norfolk. £75/yr here for 46 weeks of (completely brilliant loons) Scouts. £90 for 37 weeks of (amazing & clever) Girl Guides, £37 for 37 weeks of (cheap & cheerful fun) Badgers.

Oh, and we don't ever have to help out, although any help we can offer is appreciated.

Ah, just saw your post about the letter confusion, lol.
You really must check on prices carefully before signing up for things. :)

YANBU - we pay £20 a term!!! For that we don't have to provide much at all. They do lots of interesting things too. We can help if we want but there is no pressure to really.

YANBU. The end of last year and Beavers was always prefixed by bloody. There is always such a lot of extra stuff. This year I made a decision that DS1 would only do the bare minimum ie weekly meetings. I just wasn't keeping up with all the school stuff, beavers stuff, PTA stuff etc and was forgetting actual important things. My life is sooooo much easier this term.