Planning your event

Organising a carol singing event for The Children’s Society can be really simple and lots of fun.  To help ensure that it is, please consider the following points to think about before, during and after your event:

Preparing to carol

When planning your carolling event, consider where you’re going to sing, who you'll be carolling with, and what supplies and permissions you’ll need.

• Decide the type of event you want to hold. You could carol with a local singing group, church or school. Or you could arrange a 'carols by candlelight' event, or carol from door-to-door, in an office or on your local high street. For more ideas, see our carol singing ideas.
• Check if you need permission to sing. For door-to-door collections, inform your local authority at least one month before your event. Call the main switchboard, explain what you plan to do and they should put you through to the correct department. Collections on private property need permission from the landowner and it would be worth checking with the local authority as well.  For street collections, you will need to speak to the local authority to get written permission. For advice on getting any permission, please contact our Supporter Care Team on 0300 303 700, from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
• Order your free carol singing resources so that everyone knows you are supporting The Children’s Society.
• Get local businesses involved by asking for donations from cafes if they would like to promote their festive treats, or simply invite staff to join you.
• Use our invitations and posters to encourage friends, family, colleagues, your local church, choir, schools or youth groups to join your carol singing. Printed resources are available to order. You can also download invitations, posters and a carol book.

Running your event

As your Christmas carol fundraising event begins and proceeds, please ensure that:

• All collectors are wearing an ID badge (available in our carol singing resources) if you are collecting in your community. Collectors must be over age 16 -- and over 18 in London -- but anyone under these ages can of course sing.
• You stand out and sing, sing, sing! You can add a few festive notes to your carolling, like tinsel, Santa hats or festive outfits. Or why not take a Christmas Tree?
• Bring warm drinks - or even better, get the local café to donate some.
• Get photographs. Contact the local press to see if they are sending a photographer. Take your own photographs and send to us to report your success!

Afterwards

When you've sung the day's last carol and your event is complete, the final step is to deliver all money you've collected to The Children’s Society:

• After counting all money collected, use the official carol singing giro if possible – it's included with every order of our resources. Instructions for use are on the giro form.
• Alternatively, please send a cheque made payable to 'The Children's Society' and post to: Carol Singing, The Children's Society, Edward Rudolf House, Margery St, London WC1X 0JL.

Thank you

On our behalf, please thank everyone involved in your event – your carol singers, supporters, the venue and any local business contributors. Please let them know how much they have helped vulnerable children and young people this winter.

And thank you for carolling and raising funds for vulnerable young people.