Licensed to fundraise

Licensed to fundraise

There are specific laws covering fundraising activities which are designed to protect you, the public and Guide Dogs. Please ensure that you have read this guide and have complied with the relevant regulations before you hold your fundraising event.

If you have any questions please do contact the Events Team on 0845 600 6787 or email events@guidedogs.org.uk.

Collections

Please contact Guide Dogs in the first instance as we will be able to provide you with a letter of authority to collect funds, and will also ensure that your collection proposal (venue and date) does not conflict with any current bookings. Wherever you are planning to hold a cash collection, you first need to seek permission to do so. In a private place, such as a shop or pub, this will need to be obtained from the owner or manager. In a public place, such as your local high street, you will need to obtain a public collection licence or permit from the local authority.


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Entertainment and alcohol

If you wish to have a function and sell alcohol there is now a new system of licensing in place, which requires a single Premises Licence. This can be obtained from the relevant local authority. A designated premises supervisor needs to be named on the licence and anyone else authorising the sale of alcohol must hold a Personal Licence. It may be that your chosen venue has these licences already, so check in advance with the owner.

If you are planning on holding an occasional or temporary event, you may be able to get a Temporary Event Notice but you will need to contact the relevant local authority to see if this is appropriate.

It is important that you comply with these terms, since by failing to do so you may invalidate any insurance cover that you have.


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Raffles

It is legal to hold a raffle at an event providing it is incidental to another fundraising event, such as a disco or summer fair, which is taking place on private property. You must ensure that tickets are only sold during the course of the event, at the same venue, that there are no cash prizes, and that no more than £250 is spent on prizes. Under 16s are not permitted to buy or sell these raffle tickets.

If you would like to sell tickets to a wider audience over a longer period of time, you need to have tickets printed and adhere to a number of regulations including registration with the local authority. You should seek further guidance from Guide Dogs if you are planning to run a raffle of this nature.

We recommend that you always seek advice from the Guide Dogs Events Team in order to ensure that your raffle, lottery, tombola, 100 club, lucky programme, sweepstake, tote, race night and scratch cards comply with the most up to date legal requirements.

NB: The rules and regulations concerning raffles and lotteries are different in Northern Ireland.