How to Organise Your Event

Students who are excited about planning their own event will probably still need some guidance and input from an adult. These are the basics to remember - also available as a download.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How far in advance do I need to start planning my party?

This depends to a certain extent on your school, but once you have permission from the Head Teacher, and a date set, you can arrange your event quickly. See the check-list below and work out for yourself how long you feel you require to plan this.

When should I hold my event?

Ideally some time during Anti-Bullying Week (17th – 22nd November 2009). If you cannot find a date during this week which suits you though, hold the event whenever you can.

Who should come to the bake sale?

The simple answer is anyone who is hungry and has a few pounds to spare!
There are lots of ways of hosting your Kidscape Kids Bake event:

Have an after-school event and invite parents to attend (and the teachers and students of course).
Schedule a break-time event for the teachers.
Organise a break-time event for students.
Stage the event during a school open day, and invite all visitors to attend. This will impress prospective students and families and provide a welcoming atmosphere.
Invite parents, students and teachers for a special Saturday or Sunday afternoon treat!
Easy no-fuss bake sale—have order sheets ready, with a short selection of your best goods, have everyone pre-pay, then deliver the biscuits and cakes later. What could be better than baked treats delivered to your desk?!

How much should I charge for the cakes and treats?

There is advice on this in the Planning section of this advice sheet, however this is largely up to you and your neighbourhood. Adults can pay more than children.

Planning the Lead-Up to Your Event

Things You Need to Do Before Your Event

Get permission from the school: Contact your Head Teacher to get permission to hold the event.
Select a date: Ideally some time during Anti-Bullying Week (17th – 22nd November 2009). If you cannot find a date during this week which suits you though, hold the event whenever you can.
Select a venue and time: Be it lunch break, after school, or even at the weekend, in the canteen, assembly room, or simply a classroom.
Publicise your event: Be sure to let everyone know what’s happening! If it’s for students, put up posters around the school; if it’s for parents; send a letter home; if it’s for staff, publicise it in the staff room; if it’s for the local community, find the relevant organisations to contact and let them know they are invited (and be sure to get an idea of numbers who will be attending). Write something for the school paper. Have it included in the school calendar.
Allocate responsibilities: Be sure to divide up the work that needs to be done. Perhaps spend a form-time session working out what needs to be done, and who will be doing it. Remind and re-remind your students to bring their baked goods in on the day of the event!

Important things to remember

Plan what each person will be baking: You don’t want 15 chocolate cakes and nothing else! Discuss what each student would like to make, and make sure you have an equal spread of different types of cake, biscuits, brownies, etc. And that you have lots of the ones you know will be favourites! Remind them to mark their contributions if nuts are included in the recipe.
Organise sub-committees for publicity etc: Organise a small group of students to create posters to put up around the school publicising the event. Organise another small group who will deal with collecting money, and another group who will be in charge of setting up on the day – they should create labels for the cakes in advance of the event. (Obviously if students are too young for this, this responsibility is best held by teachers/parents).
Price your cakes etc: Work out what you want to charge for your baked goods. A rough guide would be £1.50 for a piece of cake, and £0.50 for a biscuit, but use your best judgement here for what people are likely to want to pay. You could also sell whole cakes for people to take home with them for approximately £5.00.
Work out any extra requirements you may need for the event: How many tables do you need? Do you have enough change? Do you have cash boxes? Are you also selling drinks? Have you got paper plates, drinks, plastic forks, etc? And don’t forget hygiene—disposable plastic gloves for the servers, lots of paper towels and napkins.

Advice for the Event Itself - On the Day

Things to Remember on the Day:

The food! Be sure to remind the students to bring in the baked goods the day before the event.
Publicity material: On the Kidscape Kids Bake website, you can download information leaflets about Kidscape and the Kidscape Kids Bake – be sure to have this information available on the day. There are also lots of posters for you to decorate your stand.
Set up time: Allow yourself at least half an hour to set up the food and decorations.
Have fun: Enjoy your event! Be sure to take lots of photos and send them in to Kidscape for our photo gallery. Remember to enter the best decorated cake into our competition…
Collect the cash: Be sure to keep track of how much money you have raised and keep the cash safe.

After the Event

The Final Things To Do

Send donations to Kidscape: There are a couple of ways you can return the money raised to Kidscape, but please do this as soon as possible after the event

Send a cheque: Get the adult leading the event to bank the money raised, and send on a cheque for that exact sum, payable to ‘Kidscape’ to:
Brenda Stafford, Kidscape, 2 Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0DH
Include a short letter with the cheque explaining about your event, and a return address so we can send you a receipt, and an email address where we can contact you if you win the ‘most money raised’ competition.
Bank transfer: Get the adult leading the event to cash the money raised, and do an online bank transfer for that exact sum.
Once you have done this, send an email to kidsbake@kidscape.org.uk or letter to Kidscape at the address above detailing: a) name, b) school name, c) address, d) amount raised/transferred, e) date of transfer, f) email address where we can contact you if you win the Best Fundraising competition. Account details are:
Account Name: Kidscape Charity
Account Number: 00861818
Sort Code: 30-93-97
Bank Address: Lloyds, 4 West Street, Havant
Send photos to Kidscape: We’d love to see some photos of your wonderful Kidscape Kids Bake events, so we can celebrate your fantastic achievement on our website and in our newsletter. Please send photos to kidsbake@kidscape.org.uk. Remember, you must send a photo over to be in with a chance of winning in the Best Decorated Cake competition.
Give yourself a big pat on the back! Or maybe a nice piece of congratulatory cake… you deserve it!