Guide Camp

[MoanyMum12]

To think that £40 is a ridiculous amount of money for Guide camp?!
Two nights in a tent for £40...

DD sorry

I think£40 is cheap and will cover the costs only, not including the Leaders time.
Asking a parent volunteer to cough up the same amount isn't on though. Frankly I would expect your place to be free as you presumably won't be doing the same activities, so it's just good and pitch fees.

YABU. This will include cost of pitches, food, activities etc. Excellent value I’d say.

So if money is tight - just don't send your daughter...

or say you can't help...

Ah, good drip feed. Changes the replies nicely for you. I wonder why you didn't say it was £80 and you were going as a volunteer in your op.

I run Brownie camps and as we don't (can't) make a profit the cost vary from year to year depending on what's in stock.
For a one night camp:
£4.95 pp camp fee
£6 pp food

If we have more than 15 girls that cost will cover leaders too. If less than £15 I'd add a pound.
Then: any planned activity (archery or canoeing etc) at the provider rate, tent repair (split pole etc), gas canisters and firewood, loo rolls, hand sanitizer, washing up liquid, tortch batteries etc etc.

Some years a 1 night camp costs £12, others £22.

I don't charge adult volunteers though (but they don't get to do the activities). Guide helpers (10-14YO) or young leaders (14-18) pay for their food but everything else is covered and they are expected to work!

I am genuinely puzzled by your original AIBU @MoanyMum12

• You help out at Guides so know it is volunteer led.
• You know they need adults to for the camp to go ahead.
• You must know that they don't make a profit.
• You also knew that £40 included all food and activities etc.

Yet your opening AIBU was "Two nights in a tent for £40..."

it's just comes across as GFery.

Sounds pretty standard to me.

I'm actually an Army Cadet instructor and charges are £10 a weekend due to facilities equipment that we get through the MOD. I don't think you are going to find cheaper activities without switching organisations.

£35 a weekend (two nights here) for Scouts and I see it as an absolute bargain!
Overnight care, breakfast, dinner, evening meal and all the activities they do on top.....
Barg.

If I needed a parent as I didn't have enough adults then I would not charge them - if the parent wanted to come because they can't cut the apron strings then I would ask for a food contribution.

Oh and £40 for a weekend is cheap - I think my last cub camp weekend was £60 - we do not make a profit

Try and think of how you could feed and amazingly entertain your DD for 2 days and nights for less than £20 a day. Sure local park and playing with toys would be cheaper but value for money? No chance.

Oh and as a parent who sends their child to Cub/Scouts camp regularly, just want to say you're all ace and we don't all think it's a rip off, it's a bargain child free weekend in my eyes!
Plus the kids love it, have a great time

DS1 off to winter camp tonight. Was £150 for 2 nights, dropped to £120 because transport is no longer provided.

But different households. My parents wouldn't have been able to afford £40 for a two night guide camp. Ultimately only you know if YABU.

our guide camps are generally around £35-£45 depending where it is, the girls enjoy it and have had some great experience's so seems worth it, I don't think it's too bad as it covers all food and activities as well as tent hire/fee's

DS1 off to winter camp tonight. Was £150 for 2 nights

Gilwell ? My (adult) ds has been there a couple of days, setting up

But £40 for my DD, plus £40 for me (as they have said they needmanother adult)

Great dripfeed asking a completely different question from what you asked in your opening post there MoanyMum12

If you'd come on and asked "AIBU to not want to pay £40 to go along and help out on my dd's guide camp because they need another adult?" - ie, what you've changed your question to - you'd have got a completely different set of answers from what you originally asked.

Winter Camp is epic! DD went 5 consecutive years!!!

Regarding charging the adults - I have known small units needing to charge something towards food. DD paid £5 as a YL on a Rainbows' overnight, for example.

Ds1 is off to Gilwell tonight too! We inly had to pay £50 because they did lots of fund-raising activities last term to help subsidise the trip.

My dc all loved Winter Camp. they'll be complaining this year isn't cold enough though!

It's good value - food, activities, wear and tear on the equipment, possibly transport

YABU. Ungrateful parents like you are the reason why I stopped volunteering for the Sea Cadets. I also find it odd that they asked a parent to volunteer for an overnight camp and strange that you didn't mention this at the start.

As a Brownie leader we usually pay a portion of the costs for us anyway. As an example if the camp included a trip to a paying attraction then we pay that out of our pockets not the parents. When we go to pgl we pay a portion of the costs (usually to cover food). It is not just our time we give up but also for many of us it is some of our annual leave as well. We also buy our own uniforms our own sleeping bags and so on.

As an aside and I did once start a thread in this, although it received few replies, given how much time we voluntarily invest in these groups and activities for other peoples children to enjoy - it really irritates me when parents use it as a punishment and dont send their kids if they have misbehaved.

It's fantastic value for your Guide.

I wouldn't be willing to volunteer if they also expected me to pay £40 for myself.

The price they charged should have factored in what would be required to cover food costs etc for Troop leaders and volunteers.

It’s wonderful there are people willing to look after our kids and give them such great experiences. £40 for a weekend away is amazing value.

@sweeneytoddsrazor you really shouldn't be paying for any aspect of volunteering even food!

Uniform is also a justified unit expense. Please claim - otherwise people like the OP will throw the sacrifice back in your face; and worse, the next leader after you (who may be struggling with finances) ends up subsidising the unit and parents like the OP out of her food budget because the books show a massive spike in spend as you've absorbed the real cost of running the unit.

It costs what it costs.