Cash-only kids club

[BluePony]

My DS goes to a club similar Beavers/Cubs but not that. It’s run by volunteers so I suspect IABU. However, every week it’s £3. So it’s a great value for a kids club. But they only take cash and don’t seem to give change or let you pay for a few weeks at one time. I never have change and if I want cash, I have to go to a certain cash point that’s out of my way. I don’t mind doing that but then I have to find a way of getting change from it. My bank (which I’m fortunate to have where I live as it’s a small town) doesn’t do that anymore when I’ve been in as they’ve been low on change. So it’s really inconvenient. My DD does brownies but you pay it twice a year via a bank transfer. AIBU to find this really annoying? Each week I have to go out of my way to get the cash, then find a way to get change from the cash. Even times I’ve been into shops to try and buy something I don’t even want for £1, they’ve said they don’t have enough change (fair enough).

Yanbu as it is a pain

Had to get my car window repaired and they wanted me to compare the crack to a £1 coin - i said impossible 😭😭, I would have to withdraw cash and then go to a shop!

But I would in your case, go to the bank and withdraw like £50 in pound coins and keep them in a jar

It could be a responsibility for ds to keep an eye on how much is in there?

If they offer change, everyone would pay with a £20 note. Bank transfer would be more admin. Chasing the non payers.

Do you only shop online? Trolley token. Or google size and cut a circle out? I can draw a £1 coin from memory.

What a ridiculous comment. Clearly you have no concept of how much time and admin goes in to running a kids activity. Taking weekly, cash only, exact change subs probably cuts down on the admin needed, giving the volunteers more time to do the more important stuff such as DBS, keeping emergency contact records, planning the activities. It's not at all daft to cut down on unnecessary admin, even if it is a bit of a pain for the parents.

I don't understand people who never carry cash. I always get £50 out of the bank for when I need to pay in cash and when it runs out, I get another £50. It probably lasts me 6 weeks - 2 months but at least I have always cash on me.

I didnt do anything, just took a photo and submitted it - got it fixed this morning fine so it cant have been that important

I have one of those £1 key rings for a shoping trolley - all shopping done using contactless on my phone

That said, I do have £10 in my car as I needed cash to get my nails done

We had a cash only kids’ activity, but there was the option to buy a concession card which covered 10 weeks of the activity (would still need to pay cash for the card). That’s pretty simple to administer. Yes there would be the initial printing of the cards. But then it’s no harder to tick/sign the card each week instead of taking cash.

When my DD used to attend it was $5 per time so easy enough to find a $5 note. Then the cost went up to $8 and I remember thinking, what a random number, who could easily find that in cash!

Okay so you can’t drive and you only have a coop near you. Do you have a partner or husband? Can they drive to a bigger supermarket and get a £20 out and spend it for some small change. I feel like you are just being a bit difficult implying it’s impossible, surly you can’t live so rurally?

Could try asking at the end of the session if you can swap a £20 note for the coins they’ve collected.

I'm sorry but I cannot understand why you're whinging about this

It's £3 for a kids club and you're not satisfied?

This is why clubs like that close down

There is another solution to the change issue if it is a real problem - they could put the price up to £5

Could 10 of you parents get together and one of you pay every 10 weeks so it's £30?

I go to the bank twice a year to withdraw a couple of rolls of coins for DDs pocket money. Suggest you do the same.

I just go to the bank and get £40 in £1 coins periodically. They live in the glove box and all the random bring £1 / £2 subs get paid.

Yes or op could just pay £5 each time, with the extra £2 being a donation.

What's the convenience worth to you, op? I'm not being sarcastic, I'd probably occasionally just do that.

What a ridiculous post.

We were cash only as it meant no money was being taken out of the funds for fuel and parking for someone to go to the nearest bank (a fair distance now). It also meant we could buy supplies of snacks and drinks by sending someone to the shop with cash, rather than having to pay extra for a bank account that allowed transfers, or expecting people to wait for reimbursement by cheque.

Volunteers are sorting equipment and activities, their legal requirements, the set up and everything needed every session. It's not too much to ask parents to have cash for said sessions.

How did the club pay insurance ? Surely that wasn't paid cash?

Instead of going to the cash point and then the bank to exchange money, just go to the bank and ask to withdraw money in small bills.

If they don’t have the money that day they can order it so if the visit is out of your way, call in advance if you have concerns about their supply and let them know you are coming in. Mine has no problems with local currency but I have to call in advance for foreign currency because they don’t stock any.

I periodically go get 100 in 1s for the oddball things I will need them for. I keep the stash at home for anyone in the household who needs it. I only return to the bank when it runs low.

Arcade sounds like a good idea but alternatively can you order them from your bank? If you just go in and ask for 20 and they say they don’t have enough could you ask them to get, say, £150 in for a specific day and just get a year’s worth all at once?

My local Post Office acts like a Cashpoint and they're happy to give you coins if they have them. I regularly get £40 of pound coins to pay for the ferry crossing.

When I used to run a kids club I paid for insurance and my DBS check out of my own account. I started off having a business account but the fees weren’t worth it for the small amount of money it was used for.
I kept accounts and did a tax return every year but just used my own account.

How did the club pay insurance ? Surely that wasn't paid cash?

It was paid by cheque, the funding applied for it went straight into the bank and came out by cheque - same with training and big equipment

That didn't require people to go to the bank so no money spend on parking etc

When I used to run a kids club I paid for insurance and my DBS check out of my own account. I started off having a business account but the fees weren’t worth it for the small amount of money it was used for.
I kept accounts and did a tax return every year but just used my own account.

Our club originally started with that, but then the original treasurer had a whole load of trouble when she needed to show her bank statements for something.

When I took over we managed to find a free bank account where we could literally have money come in from funders and send cheques out. Anything else cost (or wasn't allowed) so we did that and were strictly cash for everything except the one amount of funding we got a year to pay for insurance, CRB (as was), training and big equipment. A business bank account would have been unaffordable for them.

This is genuis !

Brilliant idea.