The Membership Fee due after the Census in 2026 will be as Follows:
Membership Fee £60.50 – £60 for early Payment
This is broken down:
- £44.00 – UK Headquarters Subscription – An increase of £1
- £4.00 – Scouts Scotland Subscription – An increase of £1
- £7.50 – SE Scotland – Unchanged
- £5.00 – Midlothian – Unchanged
- £0.50 – early payment rebate still applies
Midlothian Fee
Midlothian Groups and Units also now get the following benefits:
- Free Use of Borthwick Scout Campsite
- Free Supply of Midlothian Badges for Uniform Use Only
UK/Scottish Fee
Next year, 47.5% of the subscription will go to UK Headquarters, this is a 1.5% increase since last year and will support:
· Development of our new strategy
· Insurance for our members and volunteers
· Programme support and development
· Safety and safeguarding
· Volunteer experience ongoing support
The remaining funds will support Scouting in Scotland through:
· Programme and section support with a Scottish accent
· Growth initiatives for Districts and Regions
· National partnerships to enhance programme delivery
· Supporting more young people from all backgrounds to fully participate in Scouting
· Implementing our new strategy to best support Scottish members
· Volunteer compliance and policy support
· Youth voice tools and engagement
· Events for youth members and adult volunteers
· Adult learning and adventurous activity training
· Complaint resolution support
· Scout Adventures Centres experiences and events
· Cashback and Development Grants programmes
· DofE awards and youth work alignment
· Fundraising and development
· Support for international trips and events
· Website and digital member resources
· Media and public affairs, including youth advocacy
· Representation within the third sector
Why the Change?
In August, our Board reviewed financial projections and the impact of the current challenges across the sector. Key considerations included:
· Smaller than expected increase in youth membership
· Continuing inflationary pressures
· The impact of UK Government increases on businesses for National Insurance Contributions
· Uncertainty on Scottish Government core funding beyond 2025
· A challenging fundraising landscape
We’re working hard to minimise deficits and are grateful for generous legacies that will help support our members. The Board has designated these legacies for the future benefit of our members.
Supporting Groups and Families
If your Group needs financial support, please visit our funding page and speak with your District and Region. We’re here to help.
The money raised by the Membership Fee is used to provide direct support to local Scouting in South East Scotland. Most notably since 2018 we have introduced support staff within the Region to provide resource and assistance to Groups and Districts for both existing and new provision. Since we first recruited a Scouting Support Officer in 2019 and then expanded to two roles in 2024 the majority of groups across all 7 districts having benefited from this investment as we continue to work towards the aims of our Skills for Life Strategy.
SE Scotland Fee
Our Regional Membership Fee also allows us to:
- Support Districts to grow and reach even more young people in our communities.
- Provide programme and section support
- Ensure our volunteers are compliant and follow policy, organisation and rules in Scotland.
- Support adult learning opportunities.
- Support for international trips and events
- Support permit training and skill development for adventurous activities.
We are very conscious that Groups and Districts and their members/parents/guardians are facing increased costs including increased energy costs and more general cost of living expenses. Finance should never be a barrier to a young person taking part in Scouting and there are various financial support options available to support this. For more information on these please go to South East Scotland Scouts and Scouts Scotland Funding pages.
