Good Grief...

Just had an enquiry from the local village "twinning" society's chairman.

Someone had told him that you need a public entertainment license to go carol singing. He asked if we knew how much that might be (answer: £124 in our area - it varies). All he wants to do is send a few people around the village, carol singing to raise a little bit of money towards bringing over some members of the twin village's orchestra for some music and a bit of a get-together next year. Ideally, he would like to sell some raffle tickets and provide some background music with the aid of a portable stereo playing carol tunes.

We figured out that in order to do this completely legally, he would need to get:

An entertainment license (temporary event edition)
A performing rights society license (for the stereo music)
A gambling and betting license (to sell raffle tickets)
A door-to-door collections license (to collect money)
A CRB check on every adult present (to safeguard the junior singers)
A complete risk assessment in order to qualify for all of the above
Public liability insurance

We've no idea of what this lot would actually cost, but I'm guessing that you certainly wouldn't be able to do it for under £500.

Hot Toddys for singers: £5
Mince Pies: £4.50
Candles in jars: 75p
Useless Fecking Legislation: £500

Frustration levels? Priceless...

*Great* Britain, huh?