Advice on Halloween and Bonfire Night fundraising
Howard Lake | 10 October 2005 | News
With Halloween and Bonfire Night approaching, both popular occasions for fundraising events, UK Fundraising seeks advice on running safe events on these occasions.
Schools have often run firework and bonfire events to raise funds, and for this reason the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations (NCPTA) has drawn up a code of practice for these events.
The seven part code covers consulting Police and Fire Brigade Authorities at least seven days in advance and complying with their recommendations complied in full; keeping spectators at least 25 metres from the display and/or bonfire; complying with firework manufacturers’ instructions; and providing at least one steward for every 250 spectators.
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NCPTA’s 13,000 membership associations enjoy insurance cover for any bonfire/firework parties or events that they hold, provided they adhere in full to the seven point code of practice.
One NCPTA association has came up with a safer alternative to traditional Halloween events such as ‘trick or treating’ by offering a “bright fun-filled party for children to celebrate the good bright things in life.” The PTA of Reigate Parish Church School invited pupils to leave their “witches and wizards costumes in the wardrobe” and come to the party in their brightest, sparkliest clothes.
The PTA provided activities on arrival such as “sparkletastic” face painting and “make your own” shiny belts and garlands using metallic paper chains. This was followed by team games, a sparkly face, mask-making craft activity, and a fairytale story. The event finished with a disco and a bags of sweets for all.
There are plenty of suppliers who provide glow-in-the-dark materials suitable for Halloween and firework parties. Glowsticks.co.uk, for example, offers a wide range of glow & flash novelties such as glow necklaces, glow bracelets & glow sticks, together with flashing products such as the rubber star necklace, flashing fish, flashing batons, flashing rings, and flashing boppers. Glowsticks.co.uk offer a 5% discount to UK Fundraising readers buying online.
10 tips for insuring fundraising events
UK Fundraising asked specialist event insurers Insurex Expo-Sure what fundraising event organisers should focus on. They offered their top 10 tips for event organisers:
1. Insure early – as soon as you are committed to the venue. This is to ensure maximum cover and best rates. Insurers can’t cover incidents that have already happened.
2. There is an opportunity to lower your premium by carrying out a full risk management exercise.
3. Identify the susceptibility of your attendees to be affected by disrupted transport. If this is likely, insurance may be needed to protect against any enforced reduced attendance at your event. For example, if most of your guests are flying in from overseas your event could be severely affected by an airport strike.
4. Ensure the site of the event is secure and all attendees, visitors, and sub-contractors are readily identifiable. Don’t rely on the venue to know who is walking into your event.
5. Check the venues for slipping and tripping hazards as a significant proportion of accident claims involve attendees, visitors, sub-contractors etc falling over.
6. It is paramount that you negotiate and check your venue contract closely. Make sure you understand it as the terms can be beyond your normal legal obligations. Your venue will rarely provide you with the insurance cover you need.
7. Make sure you have adequate public liability insurance. Usually venues expect a public liability limit of indemnity of a minimum of £2 million any one occurrence. Some venues require as much as £25 million. Sub-contractors must have a similar limit.
8. Ensure your exhibitors, delegates and sub-contractors receive your terms and conditions so they are aware of their responsibilities. Failure to do so could mean, for example, an exhibitor who suffers damage to his exhibits will try to claim against you.
9. Consult your legal department or lawyers when you issue your contract and terms and conditions, and when you sign your venue contract. Make sure you take out adequate insurance with a proven and acceptable event insurer.
10. Obtain the best cover you can afford, and plan to improve the insurance budget for the next event. By planning ahead you can make sure you have enough money in the budget to get the best cover available to you.
- Charities making the most of Halloween 2017 on Twitter (31 October 2017)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.