taking pics of kids at xmas party & food issues- legality

faerie_girl

The community organisation i am with are trying to arrange a christmas party for the children of our estate.

I am trying to find offical guidlines with regards to the proper way of getting parents permisson to take photos of the christmas party. We were hoping to put these pictures in the next newsletter after the party and maybe on our website.

I have been trying to look at govenment websites to see the proper way of getting permission.

Also we want to make our own cakes etc.. Obviously we need to see if any children have food allergies etc what is government guidlines on this?

I have don't a few searches on google but i haven't found anything offical.

Thank-you Faerie

minimoneysaver

If it were me, I'd send an A4 letter to each family invited, ask for kids names, ages & allergies and a bottom slip for parents to sign giving permission for film and photography of children. Keep it simple. Ask your local school/nursery for examples. They all use letters of a similar format. Not only that, but it'll help you to know final numbers for the party.

ceebeeby

Hey fairie, what a fab thing to do. An alternative way of doing the photos, is in your invites, pop down a wee sentance to say you're going to take photos of all the kids, if anyone has any objections then let you know ...

Re: alergies / abilities / disabilities - this is something you need to know in advance (for baking etc.) Again, you can do it from the other way round, let you know if they do ... if you don't hear from them you assume they don't

(does everyone read English?)

Sounds great fun ... good luck x

Savvy_Sue

I wouldn't rely on opting out in this situation. But opting in only works for the people who READ the invitation and reply. Sadly you can't rely on that either!

So you then need to nobble people as they come in and double check they are happy for photos to be taken and published in the next newsletter - are you also getting the local press in? Make sure that's covered too. Then you need a way to identify those children who CANNOT be photographed!

The other way round it is to take lots of shots of children where their faces aren't visible. We have a similar problem at work, in that we NEVER show the faces of our clients in the photos we show publicly. So we'll have children on trampolines or playing a game, back view. Or in extreme cases I'll 'smudge' their faces. It's a method of last resort!

As for the food, the simplest way is to keep as much as possible allergy friendly, so DEFINITELY no nuts. And if you value your sanity check your food colourings in squash and little sweets etc.

It's possible your local council can advise if you ring up and ask for the Children's Service. There should be something like that!

Good luck! I'm pleased to say our work Christmas party is now held on Thursdays, and I don't work Thursdays! :rotfl:

faerie_girl

Thanks for everyone's advice. They party is for children up to the age of 12 and the parents will be required to attend also as this will be held in a pub's party room.
Also we will be handing out age related gifts from a special guest to the kids. do you think for example to give the same gifts in the following age range 0-2 3-4 5-7 etc or maybe get every child something different. We will be having a budget of about £3 per child for the gifts.

Thanks for all the advice so far. I am the youngest member of this group at 20years old and don't have a lot of experience with children but i am trying lol

Savvy_Sue

Presents: this is definitely a situation where KISS applies (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) Not that I'm suggesting you're stupid ...

Unless you can be VERY sure about the age, gender and number of children coming, then getting presents by age group is definitely the way to go! Getting gifts for £3 will be quite a challenge (although not for MSEs!) so it will probably be easier to get the same for each age group. OR go for 'pick'n'mix' type presents - crayons, colouring books, joke books, 'silly' things - and then making sure that what goes in the younger presents is age appropriate. (BTW, Hawkin's Bazaar might be worth a look!)

You need to think in advance what you will do about the family who turn up with an extra child in tow - stepchild unexpectedly present, cousin, nephew etc. And also how you make sure that you have enough presents ... at work we greet each child, and write their name on two labels, with their age on one. One label goes on the child, the other (with their age) is whisked off to the present room. Of course we've already got a list of who we're expecting, and we've identified a suitable present for them, but we can never be quite sure, so this way if a stray child appears we can always find a present for them! Although sometimes we've been doing a little last minute present adjusting!

I hope that makes sense ...

Katgoddess

I work in a Children's Centre and we have a section on our registration form where people can opt out of publicity. But for large events where all and sundry can turn up we do something extra to cover our backs.

We have an activity register which we use for monitoring and fire safety so we know who is in the building. At the top we put in BIG LETTERS the "photos will be taken which may be used for publicity blah blah blah." And a tick box next to where they sign their name where they can opt in or out. Something like this...

Parent's name | Address | Child's Name | Child's Age | Time In | Time Out | Please tick if you do not wish photos of your child to be used for publicity (in tiny letters because it won't fit in the column otherwise)

We also put a few signs up on the way in as well. You never know who might be a domestic violence victim in hiding.

The pictures of individual children (eg santa giving a present to one child) which go in the local newspaper are normally children of staff anyway.

Savvy_Sue

Katgoddess wrote: »

We have an activity register which we use for monitoring and fire safety so we know who is in the building. At the top we put in BIG LETTERS the "photos will be taken which may be used for publicity blah blah blah." And a tick box next to where they sign their name where they can opt in or out.

And how do you then identify which children you can't photograph? Red cross on their name label? Extra badge?

hogshead

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

And how do you then identify which children you can't photograph? Red cross on their name label? Extra badge?

I'd be inclined to put a stamp on the back of their hand for those who opt out. That way when photographs are being taken simply look if anyone in said group has a stamp & remove them for a few seconds. They really won't worry & the parents will already have pre warned them this will happen.

Also with regards to presents, def go with age groups. You could even do age group & gender splits if you're really organised.
Have you looked at www.yellowmoon.org.uk or www.bakerross.co.uk
They have great little ideas & if you have a local group or school who use yellowmoon you can use their code to earn them cash back.

Good luck & def have a few extras for those who loose their, extras who may drop in, expect the unexpected & have fun.