A-Z of "get together" ideas

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Art exhibition and sale
If you enjoy all things arty, why not ask local artists, photographers and galleries to donate pictures so you can host your own art exhibition while donating a percentage of sales to us?

Baby/toddler picnic
This is a great way of meeting other parents and is a fun day out for all - organise a picnic and when you're collecting the money for the provisions from those involved, just donate a percentage to us.

Ball
If you enjoy organising activities, why not organise an evening with dinner, music and even a raffle for family, friends and colleagues. Be sure that you prepare a detailed budget so you know how much to price your tickets at. You could always make it themed with fancy dress such as Star Trek, schooldays or an era such as the 80s! Or even hold it on a particular ocassion such as Burn's Night, Easter, Halloween, or Christmas.

Barbeque
For those balmy summer evenings (yes, even in the UK!) what could be better than a barbeque? You can hire a private or pub garden and sell tickets in advance, or even host it in your own garden and ask friends to make a donation.

Bingo evening
If you're a bingo player you could approach your Bingo Hall to arrange a benefit night. Alternatively, you and your family and friends could arrange your own bingo night!

Bowling
Bowling is great fun for a whole range of ages so why not organise a bowling tournament where teams pay an entry fee and the overall winners get a prize?

Charity lunch or dinner
For those of you who enjoy their food! Book a venue of your choice, organise the catering and get your family, friends and colleagues to buy tickets to cover your costs and donate a percentage to us.

Cheese and wine party
You could host this at home or at a venue or your choice and invite people to buy tickets in advance, then find local suppliers or pubs/restaurants to donate the food and wine.

Coffee morning
Why not ask your friends around to yours for a coffee morning where you can sell cakes, jams and anything else you might have for sale?

Darts tournament
You can arrange this at your local pub by asking teams to enter a knock-out tournament over an evening, or even several days or weeks. Simply charge the teams an entry fee and arrange a grand prize or trophy for the winning team.

Easter egg hunt
Kids really enjoy this one - and so do many of the parents too! For an entry fee, kids can hunt around a garden, field or any other suitable place for carefully concealed eggs. Even better if you can manage to get local shops or supermakets to donate the eggs.

Fashion show
If your local college has fashion and/or art on its curriculum, why not find out when they are putting on a show and see if they are willing to host it in aid of the charity?

Fete/fun day
If you enjoy organising activities, you could find other volunteers to help you set up a fete or fun day. Your day could include a raffle or tombola, competitions to guess the name or weight of things plus stalls selling plants, cakes or anything else you can think of!

Horse racing night
These can provide you and your friends with great entertainment as you place your bets in a venue of your choice. There are many companies offering horse racing night or other themed night packages - Race Night Services also offer advice on how to organise an evening.

Karaoke night
Always good fun, particularly after a few drinks! If you find a local pub willing to host the karaoke, you can simply charge people per song they sing.

Lecture or talk
Lectures or talks by experts or even celebrities can be very interesting and informative. If you can find someone prepared to donate their time to give a talk or performance, you can organise a venue and charge admission.

Pantomime or play
If you're a budding actor or actress, why not organise a pantomime or play either with your own family and friends, or with your local amateur dramatics society? A pecentage of the ticket sales could be donated to the charity.

Party
This could be a birthday, anniversary, engagement or wedding party - simply ask your guests to make a charity donation instead of receiving a gift.

Pet competition
For all you animal lovers out there, holding your own version of "Crufts" is a fun way of raising money. Entrants can pay to enter their pet and, after judging, prizes can be awarded; you could always approach your local pet shop to see if they would donate suitable prizes.

Pop quiz
You could organise this at your own home, your local pub or any other suitable venue. Simply charge people an entry fee for taking part and ask questions on pop music taken from pop quiz CDs or DVDs. These music and theme tune discs are available at www.amazon.co.uk.

Quiz night
These are great fun in the pub - you can charge an entry fee for people to take part either individually or as a team. You can ask general knowledge questions or keep to a theme such as the 1980s - if you're stuck Free Quizzes will compile questions for you for as little as £1. The pub may supply the prizes or trophy due to increased custom.

Raffle
A raffle is a great way to raise funds. Getting the prizes to put in the raffle can be a challenge but if you approach local businesses and shops you will find that many are happy to donate something. Don't forget to ask your friends and family or even put a notice up at work. Once you have collected your prizes, you can sell the raffle tickets to your family, friends and colleagues. Raffles are usually held at an event such as a ball or fete.

Snooker or pool tournament
A tournament always add an bit of excitement to an evening in the pub and these can be arranged for an evening or over several days or weeks. Charge teams an entry fee for entering a knock-out tournament and end with a grand final and prize giving to the winning team.

Treasure hunt
This can be organised on foot or by car and can keep people busy all day! Clues or objects are placed or hidden around a selected route and participants can either pay a fee to play or be sponsored per clue/object they find. The first team/individual back to the start with all the answers is the winner.

Wine tasting
If you enjoy your wine and want to know your Chablis from your Chardonnay why not invite an 'expert' or local wine dealer to bring some wine along to a venue of your choice? You and your friends can try out the different samples and donate some of the proceeds of the sales to the charity.

If you can think of anything we've forgotten please contact us and we'll add it to our list!