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It will soon be time for school kids all across the country to be free of the routine of school days for the six weeks of the summer holidays. With parents wondering how they will keep them entertained for the duration, for event organisers it’s the perfect opportunity to plan a family fun event, aimed at the whole family – not just the children.

Safety is always an important consideration at any event, but never more so than when children are going to be present. But this doesn’t mean that it can’t still be fun!

With thorough planning and conscientious decision making, it's possible to create a fantastic family fun day within a safe environment.  Here's our how to guide to organising a family orientated event:

Work As A Team

Creating an Event Committee from the start allows jobs to be delegated, taking the pressure off of one sole organiser.  Bringing together a group of people also means bringing together a wide range of skills and experience, ensuring all areas of the organisation process are covered. Having input from others will also allow you to consider points that you might not have previously thought about.

Regular committee meetings mean that progress can be monitored, and you can make sure that tasks aren’t being doubled up on. It's really important to ensure at least one member of your committee has up to date first aid training, and that you provide a designated place where attendees can go should they require this assistance.

Choose a Suitable Site.. and Optimise Space!

First things first, where will you hold the event?  As families are your target audience, you will need to think about providing for a range of age groups. Source a large, well-enclosed grassy area which has lots of open space for children to run free in, with room for picnicking families to relax in. A few key points to consider:

Capacity

Choose a space which caters comfortably for the amount of attendees you hope to attract. 

Bathroom facilities

 If you're thinking of hiring a sports ground or something similar, chances are they will have their own facilities which will be available to you and your guests throughout. If you're making the most of a large grassy area or an open field in the forest, you will need to think about hiring portable toilet blocks, where there are kids, there must be toilets! There are several sites online that can help you with how many you will need, depending on your expected attendance. If there aren’t enough toilets, you will quickly find disgruntled comments on social media!

First Aid

Ensure you have a designated, well signposted area for first aid, and that at least one of your committee members or volunteers has up to date first aid training. Again, depending on attendance numbers, St Johns Ambulance may attend your event

Back Up Plan

You can count on British weather to be unpredictable, so having a wet weather plan is a good idea. By erecting a marquee, you give the option for people to shelter from the rain - or from the heat if you're lucky enough to have sunshine.  Long range weather forecasts are a good way of predicting what's going to happen on the day so use this to your advantage.

If it is not possible to have your event if the weather is inclement, you may want to consider looking at some adverse weather cancellation insurance cover.

Access for Suppliers & Traders

Ensure the designated area for suppliers and traders who are transporting equipment onto the site is big enough not to interfere with your guests access.  Keeping these areas separate will allow for access for all parties throughout the event without putting your guests at risk.

  Disabled Access

Make sure your event is accessible for all and ensure that wheelchair users are able to enjoy your event as much as everyone else.  Think slopes, rails and disabled toilet facilities.

Parking

Ensure there is plenty of easily accessible parking facilities, with stewards directing people where to park.

Litter Collection & Recycling

As an event organiser, it’s vital to recognise your social responsibilities with regards to the local community as well as the environment.

Providing enough waste disposal encourages people not to drop litter on the ground making the clean up process a lot less hard work. Supplying recycling facilities as well as general waste is a way of being kind to the environment inspiring people to think more consciously about what they're throwing away. We all have a responsibility when it comes to being environmentally aware & this is highlighted even more when it comes to organising an event and involving the community.  Think recycle, recycle, recycle!

Risk Assessments

As the organiser, ensuring the safety of all your guests at the event will be essential and a risk assessment is an important step when it comes to the organisation process.  Without a valid risk assessment, you will struggle to find an insurance company willing to offer the all important cover, and without a comprehensive insurance policy in place, you may struggle to hold your event at all.

•Identify the hazards

•Decide who might be harmed & how

•Evaluate the risks & decide on precautions

•Record your finds & implement them

•Review your assessment and update if necessary

Insurance

'What happens if someone is accidentally injured at my event?'

Even with the most amount of forward planning, things don't always go to plan.  By taking out a comprehensive one off event insurance policy, if the unexpected should happen, knowing your personal liability is protected can be priceless.

• Public Liability

Public liability provides cover for your legal liability to pay damages, claimants costs and expenses which arise as a result of and in connection with your event

• Employers Liability

Provides cover for your legal liability to pay damages, claimants costs and expenses which arise as a result of an injury to anyone you employ at your event including temporary staff, volunteers or helpers, whether paid or unpaid.

• Event Equipment

Event equipment provides cover for any loss of, or damage to equipment that you have hired or which you own whilst in your custody care and control at your event.

• Cancellation, Abandonment & Postponement

Cancellation provides cover for your irrecoverable costs incurred as a result of the unavoidable cancellation, abandonment or postponement of your event for reasons beyond your control excluding extreme adverse weather conditions.

It will be your responsibility as the organiser to ensure all third parties (suppliers/traders/entertainment companies) all carry their own public liability insurance policies as your policy will cover your negligence but not theirs.

Many Hands Make Light Work

Spreading the work out between committee members will take the pressure off of one sole person on the day of the event, but you may want to think about employing the services of other volunteers. Consider employing the services of an external company to help as stewards, guiding guests with parking or as a general 'go to' person for information on the structure of the event.

If you're employing the services of volunteers, you may need to ensure CRB checks are carried out if they haven't been done already.  When it comes to children, you can't take any chances.

Entertainment

Children need to be stimulated, but this doesn't necessarily mean that it needs to be expensive.

By getting creative you can keep the whole family entertained whilst wearing out the little ones!

•Get active – children have a lot of energy so get them moving.

•Sports day activities are a great way of getting kids active within a fun environment, think egg & spoon race, three legged race & a sac race, add in prizes for an even bigger incentive!

•You could get the entire family involved too by organising a big game of rounders or cricket.

•Get crafty – Hold creative workshops, making things can keep the kids entertained for hours, think crafty & handmade, recycled colourful materials.

•Circus Skills – Employ the services of a circus company to give demonstrations & teach both the kids & adults various circus skills like juggling, poi twirling or hula hooping.

•Anything that bounces- Bouncy castles are a big hit at family fun days, you could lose your child for hours on a giant inflatable castle!

Food & Drink

By providing food at your event, you take away the need for your guests to leave!  Keep them fed, watered & entertained and you'll guarantee they stay all day.

•Food vans – Employ the services of food trucks to offer a whole range of different cuisine giving your guests a variety to choose from.

•Cake stalls – Ask people in the local community to make cakes for a stall and donate the money to a charity of your choice, bringing a competition element into this too, best cake wins a prize!

•Drinking water – Try and do without plastic and opt for a drinking station where attendees can refill water bottles with tap water.

Marketing the Event

As with any event, no matter the size, if people don't know it's happening, they won't attend!

Get the word out early so people can mark it on their calenders; whichever avenue you choose to go down as far as promoting is concerned, make sure it's as informative as possible, clear & visually captivating.

•Social Media – It's free, instant & easy to use.  Set yourself up an event page, invite relevant people/businesses & away you go.

•Leaflets/posters – When designing your leaflet or poster, make it as visually pleasing and as informative as possible.  You could ask schools, nurseries and youth clubs to display them on their noticeboards.

•Word of mouth – spread the word, it's amazing how quickly information is passed on to people by simply chatting about an event.

•Website – Create a website, a hub for all the relevant information in connection with the event.  Most people will hear of an event and look it up on google, make your presence known online.

There's a lot to think about when it comes to organising an event, but the more time you give yourself, the more chance you'll have of a stress free process; the more people you involve the better, spread the workload out and most importantly, when it comes to the event day, make time to enjoy the day yourself, relax and look around at how all your hard work is paying off!

For more information when it comes to one off event insurance, please do not hesitate to contact our expert team of underwriting assistants.

https://www.events-insurance.co.uk/event-insurance-policies/one-off-insurance/overview