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Volunteer for Thames Valley Air Ambulance

Fundraising Compliance and best practice

Whether you’re planning a bake sale, raffle, or street collection, it’s essential to ensure your fundraising activities meet legal requirements and uphold the reputation of Thames Valley Air Ambulance. This guide outlines the key areas fundraisers must follow to stay compliant and aligned with the latest standards. 

Event Insurance

Fundraising events – whether a plant sale, fete, fun run, or a dinner dance – carry risks. These can include: 

  • Injury to attendees or volunteers 
  • Damage to venue property 
  • Event cancellation due to weather or illness 
  • Theft or loss of equipment 

While public liability insurance is not legally required in the UK, it is often mandatory by venues and strongly recommended by the Fundraising Regulator. 

Important: You Are Not Automatically Covered 

Unfortunately, unless advised otherwise by the fundraising team, you are not insured under our charity’s general insurance policy. This means: 

  • You may be personally liable for any claims or damages. 
  • You must arrange your own event insurance if required. 
  • Ensure your policy includes: 
    • Public liability
    • Cancellation cover 
    • Equipment/property damage
    • Employer’s liability (if you have staff or volunteers) 

Best Practice guides

A risk assessment is essential for any fundraising activity to ensure the safety and well-being of participants, volunteers, and the public. It helps identify potential hazards, evaluate the likelihood and impact of those risks, and implement measures to mitigate them. This process not only protects people and property but also safeguards the reputation of the organisation and ensures compliance with legal and insurance requirements. By proactively assessing risks, organisers can plan more effectively and deliver a successful, secure event. 
The team can help with templates and checklists for these. 

The team can help with templates and checklists for these. 

Fundraisers must comply with the Gambling Act 2005: 

  • Incidental lotteries (e.g. raffles at events): No licence is needed if tickets are sold and drawn at the event – this covers most of the activity we would typically expect our supporters to undertake. It’s important to note that tickets cannot be sold over multiple days. Many people will just use cloakroom tickets for these raffles and that is fine to do so.  
  • Small society lotteries: Must register with your local authority. 
  • Online raffles: Require a Gambling Commission licence. 

Ensure ticket pricing, prize limits, and promotional materials meet legal standards

  • Street or public collections require a permit from your local council. 
  • Door-to-door collections are regulated and must be authorised. 
  • TVAA can provide secure containers for your collections 

  • Count cash in a secure place with two unrelated people. 
  • Use sealed containers for public collections. 
  • Bank cash as soon as possible. 
  • Keep records and reconcile income summaries. 
  • Do not deduct expenses unless pre-agreed. 

If you’re serving food at events: 

  • Follow food hygiene regulations. 
  • Register with your local authority if preparing food regularly.
  •  Provide allergen information and ensure safe storage and handling. 

Using the thames valley air ambulance brand

Our brand is a powerful tool for building trust and recognition. Please see our brand guidelines for further information.  
We can provide images for us and ‘proudly supporting / in aid of’ logos on request.  

Paying In Fundraising Money 

Once your fundraising activity is complete, we’d love you to be able to pay in the money promptly – not least so as we can reciprocate with thanking you!  

If you have cash that you cannot pay in yourself please contact us and we can arrange a pick up. 

  • Via https://www.tvairambulance.org.uk/donate/ 
  • Follow prompts for ‘single donation’ 
  • Include event details or reference numbers if available – this could be the ORG / IND reference number given to you 

Contact our supporter care team for:  

  • Bank account details 
  • A unique reference code 

A paying-in slip (if needed for in-branch deposits) 

Contact our supporter care team for:  

  • Call us direct on 0300 999 0135 to pay by debit or credit card. 
  • Ensure you have your event name or reference ready. 

  • Send a cheque payable to ‘Thames Valley Air Ambulance’ to  Thames Valley Air Ambulance, Stokenchurch House, Oxford Road, Stokenchurch, HP14 3SX  
  • Please include a cover letter with your name, event details, and contact info. 

If you used JustGiving, Enthuse, or similar:

  • Donations are usually transferred automatically. 
  • You can manually add offline donations to your page. 
  • Do not tick Gift Aid for group or third-party donations. 

We’re here to help!

For any queries relating to your fundraising, please do get in touch:
Email: fundraising@tvairambulance.org.uk 
Tel: 0300 999 0135