Resource Keep your Fundraising Safe, Legal and Fun Whilst doing any fundraising for NRAS, we want to ensure everything stays safe, legal and fun! Read our top tips here. Print The information on this page is specifically intended to provide general guidance only and is not legal advice. The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society cannot accept responsibility for any accidents, injuries, loss or damages which occur because of your fundraising activity or event. When promoting your fundraising or creating any of your own fundraising materials, you must say that you are fundraising “in aid of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, registered charity in England and Wales (1134859) and Scotland (SC039721).” Safe & Legal ↓ Plan Ahead – Permits/Licenses ↓ Keeping Safe ↓ Public Liability Insurance ↓ Food and Drink ↓ First Aid ↓ Children and Vulnerable Adults ↓ Suppliers ↓ Collecting and Handling Money ↓ Data Protection ↓ If you are under 18 ↓ Other useful resources ↓ Contact us Plan Ahead – Permits/Licenses It’s always a good idea to plan ahead before your fundraising starts. If you’re holding an event in a public place, you must get permission first. This can be from either the local authority or the property owner. Depending on your event, you may need to arrange necessary permits and safety checks. It’s also important to check with your local authority to see whether you need any licenses for things like: entertainment, including recorded music selling alcohol holding a raffle, lottery or auction doing a cash collection in a public place or street putting up banners or signs in public space If you’re organising a mass participation event, it’s also useful to liaise with your local safety advisory group within your local authority or council. Read Government guidance on organising a voluntary event Read guidance from the Health and Safety Executive Learn about Safety Advisory Groups You should read guidance provided by the Gambling Commission if you are holding any raffle, sweepstake, lottery or bingo activity to make sure your activity is legal. Keeping Safe You’ll need to complete a risk assessment for your event. A risk assessment will help ensure that you’ve thought of any potential hazards and have put measures in place to minimise any risk. You can download risk assessment templates from the Health and Safety Executive. You’ll also need to ensure that suppliers of any goods or services are a reputable company with their own risk assessment. Download risk assessment and guidance from the Health and Safety Executive. Public Liability Insurance Depending on your event, you may decide to take out public liability insurance. You should also check that any suppliers you hire are also covered in case anyone is in an accident caused by their equipment or service. Learn more about public liability insurance Food and Drink The Food Standards Agency provides guidelines for preparing, handling, and cooking food. If you’re using a caterer, you’ll need to ensure they have a Food Hygiene Certificate and public liability insurance. If you intend to serve alcohol, you’ll need to obtain a license from your local council. Food Standards Agency guidelines. First Aid After carrying out a risk assessment and taking all necessary steps to remove the identified areas of risk, you may still require a trained first aider(s) at your event. This could be due to the size or type of event you are planning. You can find out more by reading the guidelines about Event First Aid cover. Things to consider: the number of people type of event and risk involved type of people, including their ages location and type of venue how long the event lasts the weather proximity to local medical facilities what experience you have of similar events any welfare and first aid facilities are at the venue You should make it clear to people taking part that they’re responsible for ensuring that they’re fit and well to take part. Read more about event medical cover (link is external) As a basic guide, there should always be someone on hand to help at smaller events. If you’re holding a larger event involving around 500 people, there should be a minimum of 2 qualified first-aiders on site. If you are planning on holding a large-scale event, please give our fundraising team a call on 01628 823524 (option 2). We can provide information and advice to support you. You can get advice from the following organisations (external links): St John Ambulance British Red Cross Children and Vulnerable Adults Children and vulnerable adults need to be considered as part of your risk assessment, and when employing suppliers for goods or services. You should consider any applicable age restrictions on gambling, alcohol and collecting or handling of money are followed. That children are properly looked after during the activity or event and have permission to participate from a parent and/or guardian. If any photography or filming is taking place during the fundraising activity or event notify people attending and obtain written consent to capture their image. For children consent should be obtained from a parent and/or guardian. If children or vulnerable adults will be present at your fundraising activity or event you should carry out appropriate checks on any adults volunteering or employed to help. The Government’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides further information on how to do this. If you have a concern for the safety of a child or vulnerable adult information on help and support can be found here(link is external). Learn more about the Government’s Disclosure and Barring Service Suppliers Many professional services follow a Code of Practice to ensure services are provided safely. For example, the Health and Safety Executive offers guidance on amusements and attractions like bouncy castle and fun fair rides. They work with the Professional Inflatable Play association on bouncy castles and inflatable attractions and the Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme (ADIPS) on amusement rides. The Face Painters Association – FACE provides information which can be used to validate face. painters Learn more about Professional Inflatable Play Association- PIPA (link is external) Learn more about the Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme-ADIPS (link is external) Read the Face Painter’s Association Code of Practice (link is external) Collecting and Handling Money If you’re collecting money on private property, you must get permission from the landowner – for example, the owner of the pub, or the manager of the train station. If you are collecting cash donations on the street, you will need a license. Licenses are available from your local authority or council. They’ll also provide you with any rules and guidance for your collection. If you’re collecting money in a public place or street, you will need a licence to collect from the local authority. They’ll also provide you with any rules and guidance for your collection. If you are collecting on private land or property, you will need written permission for the person responsible for that site. Please do not conduct door to door collections as a fundraising activity or event. You need to stay safe when you are collecting and handling money, our top tips are: have 2 people present when money is being handled, transported and counted use a collecting tin or bucket provided by NRAS and make sure it is sealed don’t leave money unattended and use a secure place to count money collected deposit the money as soon as possible, ideally on the same day but if not possible keep the money in a safe or secure location if confronted by someone, you should hand the money over and report it to the Police straight away Data Protection Only collect the information you need. Keep it safe, do not share it, and only keep it for as long as you need. You can find information about how we protect and use personal data in our privacy policy. If you have any questions about fundraising and the law, please contact us and we’ll be more than happy to help. If you are under 18 If you’re aged under 18, you must have your parent or guardian’s permission to fundraise. Other useful resources Organising a voluntary event – GOV.UK guidance Running an event safely – HSE guidance Safety Advisory Groups – HSE guidance Risk assessment template and examples – HSE guidance Contact us If you have any more questions about your fundraising event, please get in touch. We’re here with all the help and information you need: Email: fundraising@nras.org.uk Telephone: 01628 823524 (option 2)
Safe & Legal ↓ Plan Ahead – Permits/Licenses ↓ Keeping Safe ↓ Public Liability Insurance ↓ Food and Drink ↓ First Aid ↓ Children and Vulnerable Adults ↓ Suppliers ↓ Collecting and Handling Money ↓ Data Protection ↓ If you are under 18 ↓ Other useful resources ↓ Contact us