When you’re organising a fundraising event of any kind it’s important to identify potential risks so that everyone involved stays healthy and safe.

The Doula Association Pay it Forward Program is supported hugely by your donations, so stay safe while fundraising and together we can help make a lasting difference for families. Take a look at our checklist to make sure you keep the fun in fundraising.

Carry out a risk assessment

Identify all the potential hazards that might cause harm to yourself and/or others at your fundraising event by following these steps:
  • Identify the potential risks and hazards by using the health and safety checklist below
  • Identify who could be injured or made ill
  • Prioritise the risks as low/medium/high
  • Record the actions you need to take to remove or control those risks
  • Review your assessment as you plan/once you have set up your event to check for any additional hazards or risks.

You could also contact your local council for resources, advice and guidance within your local community, or search online for template risk assessment forms, for example, Healthy Working Living.

Insurance
If you’re organising your own fundraising event, you are responsible for making sure the event has sufficient insurance.
You may need public liability cover for some events to help protect you should a third party make claims due to injury or damage to a property. Please check with your insurer or the venue insurer if they can provide suitable cover.


Health and safety checklist

The venue
  • Have you got a backup plan in case of bad weather or a problem with the venue?
  • Have you put safety measures in place to make sure equipment is properly situated?
  • If your event is in a public place, do you have permission from the council or landowner?
  • Have you informed your local highways office or police if you are likely to cause any disruption to traffic?
  • If members of the public will be attending your event, have you made sure that this is covered by public liability insurance?


Weather
  • Have you considered how the weather could affect your event? What you will do to reduce the risks?


Fire hazards
  • Have you double-checked fire exits to your venue, and do you know where the assembly points are?
  • Are all the fire exits clearly marked?
  • Will there be marshals to direct people to a safe place?


First aid
  • Have you arranged adequate first aid supplies at the event?
  • Do you have qualified first aiders at the event?


Children
  • Will children be attending and have you organised enough marshals to station hazardous areas (for example, where there might be hot food and drinks or sharp objects)?
  • Have you set up a system for lost children?
  • Do you need Disclosure and Barring Service  (DBS) checks for individuals looking after the children? For more information, see https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-servicewww.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service


Adequate helpers
  • Have you got enough volunteers to help you in case of emergency?
  • Have you put together a list of key contact phone numbers in case of incident?
  • Have you sent them the risk assessment and briefed them about health and safety?
  • Have you organised a briefing for the start of the event?


Our liability
The Doula Association Pay it Forward Program accepts no liability for third-party events. The advice given is not exhaustive, it is simply for guidance to help you organise your event, so please consider other potential risks, and seek further advice where required.


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