07 September 2019
Letting church buildings
Many churches play a vital role in their community and earn an income by offering their premises for hire to local clubs and classes.
Community
Church events – your responsibilities
29 March 2022
Whatever your church event - fetes, concerts, garden parties, you have a duty of care for employees, volunteers and those attending.
Depending on the level of involvement your church has with an event, there may be different responsibilities that fall to you as the organiser.
As the event organisers the church needs to be aware that all entertainment events are subject to the Health and Safety at Work Act etc.
How involved is your church?
There are three levels of involvement that we commonly see churches take on when involved in events:
If the church is running the event
If the church is organising the event, including all the activities, they may need careful planning especially larger events such as fetes for example.
Most of the time, such activities represent little or no additional risk. However, larger events or unusual activities can present more significant ones. These will need to be properly managed to ensure people remain safe.
If the church is a beneficiary
If your church is a beneficiary of an event but is not involved in the event’s organisation, you will have less responsibility.
An example could be a local business holding a cake sale with the proceeds being donated to the church. In this case, the business would need to ensure their public liability insurance covers the event.
The business hosting the event should contact their household insurer to check they have public liability cover as part of their policy – to make sure they are covered should anyone attending suffer an injury.
If the church is a facilitator
If using the services of an independent provider to manage all aspects of the event, the church would be deemed the facilitator. The most common instance where this would be the case is a hazardous event such as a large fireworks display.
In this case, the church should check that the specialist provider has adequate public liability in place.
Planning your church event
Planning your event with care and due diligence can ensure the health and safety of all involved. We have produced guides to planning and publicising your event, to help you identify and address any health and safety or security concerns.
You may also be interested in our ‘How to organise events guide’ for some top tips to give yourself the best possible chance of making your event successful.
