It is important that you consider both the Health and Safety and Legal requirements when holding your own fundraising event. You will have full responsibility for the event and if you need insurance you will need to organise this yourself. The Charity cannot accept any liability.
Here are some guidelines which you may need to consider to make sure your event is a huge success. We advise you take time to read through them.
The list is not exhaustive and you may need to consider other things depending upon the type of event you are organising.
In alphabetical order:
Alcohol and Public Entertainment Licenses
It is important that you contact your local authority, the police and other relevant parties if you wish to sell alcohol, play live/recorded music, organise a dance, show a film or performance of a play or hold any type of sporting event or entertainment of a similar nature. You may find that the venue you are planning to use already has a license or you may need to apply for a temporary entertainment notice (TEN) license from your local council. More information about Rugby Borough Council application process can be found on this link or by contacting the Public Health and Licensing Team on 01788 533884 or by
Children
Anyone under the age of 18 years needs to be supervised at all times and they should not be given a role which requires them to collect money from strangers. It is also vitally important that the appropriate checks are made of the people volunteering/helping at your event, if it involves children or vulnerable people. Please check with your local authority.
Collections
Collections fall into two categories Public and Private and the legal requirements differ as follows:
Collections in Public places
These are governed by strict legal requirements and must be licensed by the Local Authority. You also need to have a letter of authority from the Charity. You may also find that if you wish to raise funds in certain public places you will also need to arrange public liability insurance. Again, it is important that you check such requirements in plenty of time before the event.
Please do not carry out house to house collections as these are already organised by the Charity. If you would like to become involved in this type of fundraising we are always looking for new volunteers and would love to hear from you.
We also organise collections at local supermarkets and again we would love to hear from you if you are able to provide a few hours from time to time to help out.
We have a small team who look after a number of collection boxes situated throughout the town and local villages. Please let us know if you are aware of any new places we can place a box and/or if you are interested in joining the team.
To find our more about this topic please contact
Collections in Private places
For these you do not need the permission of the local authority. However, you do, of course, need the permission of the owner of the premises!
Contracts
You may be asked to sign a contract when booking a venue or for services to be provided at your event. It is important to remember that although you will be raising funds for the Charity you will be doing so in your own name and not as a representative of the Charity. Therefore, any contracts you are asked to sign must be done so in your own name. The Charity cannot accept any liability for any contracts you sign.
Data Protection
It is important that if you keep any electronic or paper records of the people involved in your fundraising event then these records must comply with the Data Protection Act. For example you should only note relevant personal information and then only retain it for an appropriate length of time. You should not pass the information onto any third party without the permission of the people concerned. More information can be found at the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
Fees and charges
For Rugby Borough Council fees and charges click here
First Aid
Hopefully you will not need to use any first aid services but you need to make sure that you have adequate cover, especially if you are organising a larger event. You can find useful information on the British Red Cross and St. John Ambulance websites.
Food Hygiene
It is extremely important that relevant guidelines are followed if any food is prepared, served or offered for sale.
Advice is available from the Rugby Borough Council Public Health and Licensing Team by phone on 01788 533851 or
Health and Safety Risk Assessments
The Charity cannot accept liability for any loss, damage or injury suffered by yourself or anyone else as a result of taking part in a fundraising event you organise. It is important that any fundraising event you organise is risk-assessed to find, reduce and control the risk to all those taking part and members of the public who may attend.
You can find helpful guidance on how undertake a risk assessment on the Health & Safety Executive website. This tends to be for larger events. Alternatively, advice for Rugby residents is available from the Rugby Borough Council Public Health and Licensing Team on 01788 533882 or by emailing
Insurance
As mentioned in other sections it is crucial that any event venue or equipment is covered by appropriate insurance. However, you may also need to consider arranging Public Liability cover which will protect you against claims made by third parties for injury or property damage as a result of negligence. If the event is a private one then this may not be necessary. Please check your household insurance or with your Local Authority as appropriate.
Photographs
The Charity only publishes photographs of people which have been taken by our volunteer photographers or members of the committee with the consent of those who appear in the photos.
Fundraisers should exercise similar consideration especially when taking photographs of children where it is especially important to gain the consent of parents.
Raffles, Lotteries and Prize Draws
The Charity organises a Christmas Raffle each year and would welcome help in selling tickets.
If you wish to sell tickets at an event and will make the draw as part of the event then you do not need a lottery licence.
However, if you wish to sell tickets over a period of time then you will need a Lottery Licence and there are strict guidelines which you must adhere to. These are likely to be small lotteries which are licensed by the Council. Click here to download more information from Rugby Borough Council or from the Gambling Commission. Or contact the Council Public Health and Licensing Team on 01788 533884 or them
Promoting Your Event:
It is important to make sure that your event is as well publicised as possible.
Once you have registered your event with us we can discuss ways that we can help you with this.
If you would like to develop you own publicity material then it is important you contact our communications team before using our logos.
It is important to remember that any literature you produce must also carry the following statements:
‘Raising Funds in aid of The Friends of the Hospital of St. Cross'
Charity registration name: The Friends of the Hospital of St. Cross Charity registration number: 218485
You must clearly explain how much of the money taken will be passed to the Charity. For example:
‘all of the money raised from this event will be donated to The Friends of the Hospital of St. Cross’
‘the profits from this event will be donated to The Friends of the Hospital of St. Cross’
‘the raffle held on the day at this event is in aid of The Friends of the Hospital of St. Cross’
Please remember to make it clear that whilst you are fundraising for the Charity you are not a representative of the Charity unless you are a Trustee of the Charity.
If you wish, we will endeavour to advertise your event on our website, on social media and within our newsletters and via the local media with whom we have an extremely good working relationship.
However, you may decide that you would prefer to contact the local media yourself to let them know about your event – this is generally best done by email to the relevant editor.