Guides costs HELP

[BakeryChaney]

How much does girl guides cost?
I know it varies from place to place but if you are a leader, volunteer or parent can you tell me how much you pay please? Trying to get a rough figure before committing. And how often? Termly, weekly, monthly?
TIA everyone.

DD's has just gone up from £26 a term to £30. There is a discount for siblings.

@kennythekangaroo and really helpful. Does she enjoy it? At £30 a term does that roughly mean £5-7 a session? Thanks for replying.

Meetings are normally weekly and a term could be about 12 weeks so a session cost would be a few pounds. Does depend on the area and how expensive the venue is. Uniform and camps etc would be on top of the term price but leaders are normally mindful of costs and try to make things available to as many as possible.

Thanks @Fredthefrog that's really good to hear.

I used to run a brownies unit and it was £30 a term but it will depend on the cost of the venue. My DC are now in scouts and it's £40 a term.

Our costs are:

£20 joining fee - this is a one off and gets the girl joining her badge book, handbook, brownie bag and some starting badges for her sash. We can waive this in financial hardship cases
£20 per term subs for average of 12 sessions
£35-45 annual membership fee every Feb (some units will charge higher termly subs and not charge this separately. We charge separately as our parents told us they preferred this).

Trips and outings are charged separately at cost and we can offer grants / subsidies / second hand uniform etc for girls in need.

Ours is £7 joining fee (covers necker and badge book), then £30 a term. We’ve built the annual fee into that so we don’t have to ask for anymore in February.

£30 for a full school term so about 12 weeks.
She really enjoys it, she has done a couple of residentials pre-Covid and has recently been chosen for an international selection camp.

Ours is £100 a year, we pay £50 in Feb and Aug, no other costs other than uniform.

We pay £45/term and then extra for camps etc. The yearly fee is included in that. Cubs is a bit cheaper at £30/term but they generally do shorter terms and the meetings are shorter too. Seems very good value to me either way and super grateful to the volunteers who make it happen.

£35 a term (follows school terms, so 3x a year). No other fees. It was less but hall hire went up recently due to heating costs etc rising. It’s good value for money.

Ours has just gone up to £3.00 a week it used to be £2.50 and it is just term time only. I did pay something when she joined as like a signing up fee and for the badge book etc. I can’t remember how much it was though, I think about £20.

I have to say I wasn’t sure if she would stick with it but she absolutely loves it. She’s going to high school in September and we were discussing maybe dropping some after school activities (she does a lot) and she said she definitely doesn’t want to stop guides (which is the cheapest one so that’s a win for me).

We used to pay £22 a term a couple of years ago. I don't recall paying any joining/membership fees (and I had three children in multiple groups).

Obviously there's uniform to buy but ours had a lot of second hand stuff donated that they sold to raise money. If you're buying new I'd suggest going and trying it on because sizes are hit and miss, even across items that are supposed to be identical.

For trips we were given fair warning at the beginning of the year so we could budget.

Only one of mine enjoyed Rainbows, the others I felt were too young at 5 so they went straight to Brownies instead. Generally, they enjoyed this. One went to Guides but only did about a year until they didn't want to go any more.

Ours is £30 a term.
Uniform can be looked up on the website, dd only has a polo shirt and a jacket. Hers has lasted well. I think if you posted on your free cycle you might find it for free.
I think it's best value activity. There are optional extras, so Dd is going on a 3 day camp which is £60.

Thanks to everyone. I think that's manageable and it sounds like the benefits are huge.

Are camps hundreds of pounds? Are they back on now COVID isn't as prominent with groups meeting up etc? DD already does a few other after-school activities (which are ££££££) but I think she would really enjoy this so I'm keen to make it work financially.

I would also say it's excellent for broadening friendship groups. When dd started at secondary she already knew some of the years 8 and 9.

It will vary vastly between units, you need to speak to the leader to get an idea.

When I ran it, we used a church hall where I went to church and paid no rent, just helped with some gardening and polishing the brass etc, which we did as part of our meetings and I kept costs down by doing very low cost activities and outings and camping in farmers' fields close to home.

Other units will do foreign trips and have high overheads.

If the leader knows cost might be a barrier for you, most will find a way to help.

@SpiderinaWingMirror that's cheaper than I was imagining and really valuable experience. In the future I would like DD to consider D of E so 3 day camp sounds like a great start.

They can be, depending on the kind of trips your unit does. We did very basic camping n farmers' fields where the girls did all the chores, including emptying the chemical toilets. We also stayed fairly close to home to reduce travel costs.

Other units will use "proper" campsites with activities laid on. Some even go abroad.

In my experience brownie/guide camp was much cheaper than school residential to give some idea. If you contact the local leader I'm sure they would let you know costs. There is often second hand uniform available and you definitely don't need any for the first few weeks until they do their promise.

Are camps hundreds of pounds? Are they back on now COVID isn't as prominent with groups meeting up etc?

A 3-day summer camp here is £75 this year, with loads of outdoor activities at a dedicated outdoor-bound centre.

In my experience brownie/guide camp was much cheaper than school residential to give some idea.

Yes, in contrast the 5-day/4-night school residential at similar outdoor-bound place was over £300. (Vs £75 for 3 days/2 nights).

I'm a Guide leader in the SE. We charge £30 a term. All weekly activities are included but we may occasionally also do an extra weekend activity. An example would be a day in the school holidays doing outdoor cooking and games which might be £5 a head to cover food and equipment.
Guides can choose which uniform items they have but most have a polo shirt and hooded jacket. Most units have a stock of second hand and it's often on Facebook market place. If a girl tells me that her mum bought second hand I will always make a positive comment about how good that is for the environment.
We run traditional camps which are usually around £40 to 50 for 3 or 4 nights which includes all food and activities. We sometimes also go to a bigger event camp such as the Festival style Wellies and Wristbands which is a bit over £100 I think. We are always mindful about costs and have access to grants for girls who would otherwise be unable to attend.
If you are at all worried about cost please speak to the leaders as they will be able to help and keep it all confidential.

Our upcoming camp is a water sports weekend, organised by our region, I think it’s costing the girls £90 each.

Our last one was a weekend with just our unit in a Guiding owned cottage and cost £35 each.

There is an upcoming international being run by the county which I expect is £££. I posted about it on our parent Facebook page instead of advertising straight to the girls, so parents could decide whether to tell them it was happening. Only 2 girls from our unit have signed up.

My DD is still in Brownies but we pay £35 per full term. She went on a 2 night Pack holiday and that was £40. We have a Zoo trip coming up and that was £10 including coach and entry. They also all got given a chocolate egg this Easter. I think it is brilliant value for money. I have bought a few bits of uniform but also got some hand me downs through the group. I also bought the badge book for her.