Face panting

barrymung

Been thinking about business that t'other half could undertake in her spare time and wondered about face painting at Children's parties and fetes etc..

Anyone done this? Is there any money in it? Sufficient work?

Savvy_Sue

It's HARD work - and IMO more physical than you might expect.

You're sort of scrunched up low down painting wriggly children. So I'd get handcramps as well as backache!

I've never done it myself, but observed at school fetes (when I was running round with the coffee) that it was one of the more difficult stalls to get a break from - if you've got a long queue, you don't want one of your face painters to disappear!

rheme

barrymung wrote: »

Been thinking about business that t'other half could undertake in her spare time and wondered about face painting at Children's parties and fetes etc..

Anyone done this? Is there any money in it? Sufficient work?

You will probably find that as it is working with children it will be necessary to be police checked. However, this stands for 2 years.

Savvy_Sue

rheme wrote: »

You will probably find that as it is working with children it will be necessary to be police checked. However, this stands for 2 years.

Difficult to get a CRB checked if you are not employed by someone else. However, I'd also say that this is NOT the kind of situation where you'd NEED to be CRB checked: not as if you will ever be alone with children, their parents are usually around, and you're usually in full public view!

BTW, have just spotted the typo in the title: face PANTING! :rotfl:

mollymunchkin

http://www.facepaintingchat.co.uk/

This site will probably answer most of your questions. Good luck!

the_optimist

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I'd also say that this is NOT the kind of situation where you'd NEED to be CRB checked: not as if you will ever be alone with children, their parents are usually around, and you're usually in full public view!

I agree but unfortunately some schools don't. My daughter wanted to sell some jewellery at a school fete (jewellery for adults, so no contact with children at all) and was refused a stall because she wasn't CRB checked!

Savvy_Sue

the_optimist wrote: »

I agree but unfortunately some schools don't. My daughter wanted to sell some jewellery at a school fete (jewellery for adults, so no contact with children at all) and was refused a stall because she wasn't CRB checked!

That's ridiculous, and I would be contacting the CRB for advice, because there are strict limits on who can and cannot even ASK for a CRB check - IMO the school is exceeding its authority.

You cannot ask for a CRB check just because you feel like it. An employer can only ask for one in certain circumstances - NOT if the person will not have contact with either children or vulnerable adults. An employer cannot accept a CRB check carried out by anyone else, so it's completely worthless unless they have requested one. Since they're unlikely to be prepared to pay for a CRB check for everyone who enters school premises (and they couldn't anyway because they don't have the right to ask for one in the situation you describe) ... oh I'm just getting cross now, anyone would think that carrying out a CRB check made our children safer ...

the_optimist

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

... oh I'm just getting cross now, anyone would think that carrying out a CRB check made our children safer ...

I know exactly how you feel, especially as a CRB check is only really accurate on the day it was actually done. Anybody could do 'bad things' the next day.....

It's too late for my daughter's stall this time but next time we'll kick up a fuss.

vikingaero

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

That's ridiculous, and I would be contacting the CRB for advice, because there are strict limits on who can and cannot even ASK for a CRB check - IMO the school is exceeding its authority.
...

My daughters school does a basic CRB check on all parents who want to help out on school trips and if they hold a position on the Parents Association which entails a lot of time on the school premises during termtime.

Savvy_Sue

vikingaero wrote: »

My daughters school does a basic CRB check on all parents who want to help out on school trips and if they hold a position on the Parents Association which entails a lot of time on the school premises during termtime.

That's an entirely reasonable thing for the school to do and for volunteers they can probably get the check done for free. But it's also an entirely different situation to the one described by the optimist where someone was offering to run a stall at a fete.

When parents volunteer in school or to go on school trips, they need to be vetted in case a situation arises where children need to be left in their sole care. And the school has the right to ask for such a check to be carried out.

At a school fete, children are the responsibility of the adult who brings them. Obviously a school would take reasonable steps to ensure the suitability of such offers, eg someone offering to take individual photos, in private, without a responsible (and CRB checked) adult present at all times, might not be a wise move, but running a jewellery stall?

And I say again, individuals cannot normally get a CRB check carried out - there may be exceptions, but they are that, exceptions. And in the case described, any CRB check shown to the school which wasn't obtained by the school is pretty much worthless, because such checks are not 'portable'.

So if a parent is helping in school, helping at Brownies, AND helping at Sunday School, all three places would normally carry out their own CRB check, because they can't rely on a check carried out for someone else.

Back on topic: what's a face painter going to do, in plain view of other adults and children? OK, they can strike up 'friendship' and gain trust, but as PARENTS we are responsible for our children, what they do, where they go, at least at the age where face painting is attractive ... No amount of CRB checking removes that responsibility from us.

mikewebs

Hi there

Just a few thoughts.
1) why just do face painting? Why not expand your idea to offer something unique in your area? Say a face painting unicyclist!

2) Remember that you will need a crb check (if you are employed by your own company you should be ok for getting this check done), also (more importantly some may say) you must have public liability insurance - you do NOT want to be sued if your face paints react with a child's skin! You would have to factor al this into your costing out of the service.

3) Is there really that big a market in your area? Once you are all set up you could ask a local shopping centre for floorspace to face paint for a day - maybe donating part of your proceeds to charity?

As I say, just a few thoughts maybe they'll help you, maybe they won't.

Hope you (and your better half) are successful.