FAQ - תשובות לכל השאלות
General:
What is Israeli Scouts Western Europe (ISWE) and what role it play?
Israel Scouts Western Europe (ISWE), also known as the “Hanhaga” is the parent organisation under which TzofimUK operate. As the parent organisation, ISWE maintains the non-profit status of the TzofimUK. ISWE includes a number of programs: Tzofim Chapters, Garin Tzabar, Other educational programmes etc. ISWE provides accounting services, insurance coverage and services, guidance and training for our shinshinim (שינשינים) and coordinating team. ISWE also provides multiple levels of guidance to the Rosh Shevet, Treasurer and parents' forum, including professional, legal, psychological and leadership guidance.
Who is responsible for the activity?
Chapter activity is managed and run by our leaders' body. The coordination of all logistic and educational aspects is led by the Merakzim Bogrim (מרכזים/ות בוגרים/ות), the paid merakez/et and the shinshin/it merakez/et. To support the leading body there is the ISWE Shlicha (שליחה) and Rosh HaShevet (ראש השבט) as well as other volunteering parents. They engage in on-going mentoring, feedback and auditing of the activity.
What is the Komuna of Shinshinim (קומונת השינישנים)?
In Britain, we are privileged to be part of the Jewish Agency (JAFI) and Tzofim-Israeli Scouts shinshinim programme. The shinshinim are young graduates of Tzofim movement from Israel, chosen to be young emissaries in the UK. They postpone their military service by 1 year and volunteer within the Jewish and Israeli community in various programmes such as - school, youth movements, Israeli Embassy and other Israeli organisations. They live together in 2 communes, the larger (10 members) based in North London and the 2nd (3 members) based in Manchester.
Are the parents' forum (פורום הורי הצופים), Rosh HaShevet (ראש השבט) and Treasurer (גיזבר) volunteering roles?
Yes. All parents involved in supporting the activity do so on a full volunteering capacity. Rosh Hashevet is the leader of the parents' forum and engages in the daily mentoring of the leading body. The treasurer is in charged of the budget.
Registration:
Do I need to register my child before he/she attends?
Yes. For health & safety reasons, you must complete a registration form and pay the fee before your child attends any activity of Tzofim. This includes shachbag (year 11-13) members.
Can my child attend a trial session?
Yes. All new members can attend up to 2 trial sessions at no cost. Should the child not want to continue, full refund will be issued as long as notification (in writing) has been given and the child did not attend any further sessions. More about our policy on our Membership Policies pages.
What information you collect at registration and why?
In addition to personal details and contact details of the member's guardians, we will ask you to provide information about the health status of your child, allergies and any other matter you would want to bring to our attention. We will also ask you to consent to their participation in the activity.
Can my child join during the year and after the year has started?
Yes. You are welcome to join Tzofim at any point during the year. We suggest not to join in the last 3 sessions of the year.
More about our policy on our Membership Policies pages.
Can I cancel my child's membership?
Yes. In case that a participant doesn't want to take part in the activity anymore, they are entitled to cancel their membership at any point during of the year. More about our policy on our Membership Policies pages.
Can my child join trips and camps without being an active member of Tzofim?
No. To ensure we get to know your child as well as allowing him/her and the group to get to know each other, only active members of Tzofim can join our special activities such as Trips and camps. Your child should attend at least 2 sessions with the group before they are allowed to join the special activity.
Payments:
Is TzofimUK a charity?
Yes. TzofimUK operates under our governing charity Israeli Scouts Western Europe (ISWE).
Do all members pay membership fees?
Yes. Absolutely. All members pay for weekly activity as well as for trips, events and camps
How much does Tzofim cost?
Payment to Tzofim is calculated based on a yearly membership.
Different members pay a slightly adjusted rate based on rate - please choose the right one when paying.
Information about costs and for payments, please visit our PAY page.
Are there any discounts available?
For fairness and equality, all members of Tzofim, pay equal fees for the activity. There are special discounts for Early Bird payment and siblings/family discounts.
More about our policy on our Membership Policies pages.
Are there any bursaries available?
Yes. At Tzofim we aim that no child who wishes to attend won't be able to do so because of temporary or permanent financial difficulties. We assign a certain amount in our budget help those who need financial aid. To make sure these funds are used in a fair way, you would need to apply and explain the circumstances so that your request can be assessed in accordance. More about our policy on our Membership Policies pages.
What does the membership fee cover?
The membership fee covers all our regular and fixed expenses that allow us to run regular weekly activity. This includes - venue hire, security, insurance, materials and what we pay our paid staff coordinator and for the shinshinim.
What are my payment options?
You can choose to pay for the whole year in advance, when you register. If you do that during the Early Bird period you can enjoy paying last year's fees.
You can pay the yearly fee in 1 payment or in instalments. Note that instalments are due in consecutive months and not per term.
It remains the parent's responsibility to make payments when choosing this method.
Siblings discounts for families are available, make sure to choose the correct type of membership when paying.
How do I make payment Tzofim?
Payments to Tzofim are made through our website. We use PayPal to facilitate the transactions.
You do not need a PayPal account to complete payments, when logging in from a desktop computer, you will be given the option to checkout as a guest and then enter your card details.
If you are experiencing difficulties, please get in touch. In some cases we will facilitate bank transfers but unfortunately, we do not accept cheques or cash.
Why do we pay for trips and camps in addition? Can't the the membership fees cover all expenses?
The membership fees cover all regular and fixed costs to run the weekly activities as mentioned above.
Trips and camps include additional costs such as - transportation, food, security etc.
Because of this, these events are budgeted separately taking in account specific needs and predicted participation per event.
Does Tzofim make a profit from fees paid by the members' families?
No. We are a non-profit organisation. Some times, at the end of a budget year, we find we have not used all the money we have collected.
When this happens we invest any surplus funds back into the members' welfare.
We invest in the growth of our activity and in resources then offered to our members at no additional charge.
Does any of the membership fees we pay used to cover other ISWE programmes?
No. Money collected as membership from Tzofim's families or money collected to cover special events, is used for the members only. ISWE programmes and events are budgeted separately.
If I my child's joins late in the year, do I still pay the full Yearly membership fee?
Yes, but late registration will pay a prorated membership fee.
More about our policy on our Membership Policies pages.
If I cancel my child's membership, will I get a refund?
If you cancel your child's membership you will be reimbursed the proportional part of any unattended time. An admin fee for handling and insurance, will be deducted from the refunded amount..
To cancel your membership you must do so in writing by contacting us.
More about our policy on our Membership Policies pages.
If I pay for a special event (trip, camp etc.) and can't attend, will I receive a refund?
In the event of cancellation by the participant in a special activity, depending on the time of cancellation, we will do our best to refund as much of the payment as possible.
An Admin cancellation fee will apply.
Cancellation on the day of the activity will be refunded only in the event of illness.