How to organise a safe and legal event

If you are organising your own fundraising event for Macmillan, it's really important that you and any other people taking part are safe, and that all money collected is handled correctly. Read through some of the practical things to consider, and contact our Supporter Care team on 0300 1000 200 (Monday - Friday 9:30am-4:30pm) or fundraising@macmillan.org.uk if you have any questions.

Some useful information on organising your own event can be found on the Fundraising Regulator, Institute of Fundraising and UK Government websites.

The Fundraising Regulator and the Institute of Fundraising have also issued guidance which aims to support charities and other fundraising organisations return to fundraising activities in a responsible way during the current pandemic. This can be found on the Institute of Fundraising website.

Public collections take place in a public space. Public collections are governed by strict legal requirements and must be licensed by the Local Authority. Before you approach your local authority for a licence, please contact our Supporter Care team on 0300 1000 200 (Monday - Friday 9:30am-4:30pm) or fundraising@macmillan.org.uk.

We can provide collection materials, and confirm that we don't already have a Macmillan-organised collection or another supporter applying to collect at the same location. Some popular premises for public collections may require you to arrange public liability insurance. It's worth checking with your contact beforehand.

Private collections take place on private premises and do not need the permission of the local authority. If you're organising a private collection, for example inside a train station or at a supermarket, you need the permission of the owner of the premises.

House to House and Business to Business (including pub to pub) collections can also only be carried out under a licence. Due to increasing levels of concern and distrust from the public around these types of collections, Macmillan asks that supporters do not carry out house to house or business to business collections on our behalf. We would be happy to discuss alternative fundraising ideas with you – just give our Supporter Care team a call on 0300 1000 200.

Make sure any electronic or paper record you keep about people involved in a fundraising event complies with data protection law. As a rule of thumb, don't keep information about people any longer than you have to, and don't share information or data about someone without their permission. More information can be found at the Information Commissioner's Office.

You may need to have first aid provision at your event. This will depend on how many people are involved, the type of activity they are doing, and what first aid facilities are already available at the venue.

If you think you might need first aid support, check with an organisation such as St John’s Ambulance or the Red Cross. They will be able to advise you further and can also provide first aid support for your event.

Follow the professional advice of equipment manufacturers and staff supervising any facilities. Events need to be adequately risk-assessed to find, reduce and control the risk to all those taking part and members of the public who may be attending. It is best practice to complete a risk assessment form to show that you have considered and mitigated any potential risks around your event, but it is not a legal requirement unless the organiser is an employer.

Macmillan 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 organised in aid of Macmillan.

Help for how to complete a risk assessment can be found at the Health and Safety Executive.

In addition to health and safety issues, please consider possible risks to Macmillan's reputation. If you are using third parties please check these are reputable organisations. If the nature of your event may be considered controversial by some, contact our Supporter Care team on 0300 1000 200 (Monday - Friday 9:30am-4:30pm) or email fundraising@macmillan.org.uk for advice on whether there could be any problems.

Please ensure that all materials promoting your event specify that it is ‘in aid of’ Macmillan (and any other charities you're supporting).

The easiest way to do this is to download editable posters on the Macmillan Orders website. All materials on this site carry our logo and include our charity numbers.

If there are children at your event, you should ensure that they have permission to take part and have someone to look after them. Adults looking after children should have carried out appropriate checks. See the Government's Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) information for more guidance.