As part of the The Scout Association we are governed by the Scouts policies: https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/policy/ and the Scouts POR (Policy, Organisation and Rules): https://www.scouts.org.uk/por/. The Parks Scout Group has additional policies as detailed below:
Waiting list
Young people wanting to join Scouts is at an all time high. For this reason, our group have established a priority list for new members based on the order below:
- Leaders or Trustee member’s children
- Siblings of existing member
- Proximity to group
- Time on list
The group admin will invite new members each term (or more frequently if spaces become available). If no response after two invite emails or before the deadline whichever is first, the group admin will invite the next person on the list and the person goes to the end of the wait list.
Subs and payments
Subs are due termly and will typically be requested within 3 weeks of the new term and should be paid before the half term break. The GoCardless process that we use in the parent portal typically takes 2- 3 working days to withdraw the funds once initiated. Please do email your section leader or group lead/deputy lead volunteer if there are challenges paying when the subs are requested.
Gift aid
We are registered to be able to reclaim GiftAid against subs. This is at no extra cost to you provided you are a UK tax payer. You can acknowledge eligibility in the Online Scout Manager Parent Portal. It is your responsibility to notify us if your eligibility changes. The Parks Scouts are then able to reclaim gift aid for the government.
Absences
If a young person has three absences in a term, and we are not informed, the group leadership team will try to contact the members family. We have a duty of care to our young people which we take seriously.
We may consider reviewing the young person’s membership within our group if this is appropriate.
Refunds
If someone leaves during a half term, we can refund the following half of that specific term due to how long it takes to have someone from the wait list take the space. Example: if they leave before February holiday next term, we would refund half a term. If they leave after February Spring term holidays, no refund.
Please also note, unless stated for a specific activity, event payments will be non-refundable if we are informed less than 14 days before an event. We usually have had to pay deposits for external activities or camping.
Complaints
Any safeguarding complaints, should follow the Yellow Card response as outlined here: https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/policy/safeguarding-policy-and-procedures/.
Where possible, matters should try to be resolved with the individual directly. If this is not possible, the complaint should initially be raised with the group lead volunteer or deputy group lead volunteer. All complaints will be handled confidentially and responded to within 14 days.
If you still feel the complaint has been handled unsatisfactorily, you should email the district leader volunteers.
