Small raffles and alcohol?

[Zetec-S]

My wife is involved in the running of a small event at the local village hall. As part of the event they organise a small raffle selling tickets on the day to help raise funds for the club. We're not talking about big numbers here, probably £50-£100 worth of sales throughout the day, with the draw at the end before everyone leaves.

As with many small groups like this there are always a few "troublemakers" who want to stir things up, so I've read up on the legislation and am confident it would be classed as either an "incidental lottery" or "private society lottery" https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Organisi... so no issues with how it is fundamentally run.

All the prizes are donated by people attending, and are usually things like various knick-knacks, boxes of chocolates and bottles of wine. My main concern is around the alcohol prizes, as although most people there are adults, there are some children there as well, some of whom would also want to buy tickets. Obviously common sense would apply and she wouldn't be handing out bottles of wine to 7 year olds, but there will also be a few teenagers there who may or may not be over 18.

From a "cover her arse" legal point of view what would be the recommended approach? Only sell tickets to over 18's? Ask for ID if anyone selects a bottle of wine as a prize?

I guess my main concern is that I don't want her to hand out a bottle of wine to someone who turns out to be 17, and then for the parents to kick up a fuss about supplying alcohol to a child...

[NewbishDelight]

Just make it clear that alcohol cannot be given to those under 18, and that ID will be necessary.

Do the alcohol early in the raffle.

If under 18 they get the first non-alcohol prize further down the list.

[Pica-Pica]

The supermarket method is ‘if you look under 25, please do not be offended if we ask for ID as proof of being over 18’. Just put similar words, or make a statement at the beginning of the draw (assuming you do get alcohol as prizes). Also check any other gifts in case they are age-limited (some tools, kitchen knives etc, may fall into this category). It may be wise to have three people to judge the age of the winner, if they appear close to 25, that avoids any single person being deemed ‘reckless’. That all sounds a bit OTT, but there you go.

[Zetec-S]

Thanks for the replies, I think I'll suggest she uses the "think 25" approach for the time being. And if there are a lot of under 18's then perhaps consider having 2 raffles, one for alcohol and one for everything else.

[Herr Schnell]

You've got it covered already with the Gambling Act incidental non commercial definition but just in case someone makes a stink on the day here's what the Licensing Act says too:

Licensing Act said:

The provision of bottles of alcohol as prizes in raffles and tombolas is exempt from the licensing regulations, provided the the raffle/lottery fulfils certain conditions (The Licensing Act 2003 [Section 175]). These are:

The raffle must be promoted as an incidental event (i.e. it’s not the main event) within an ‘exempt entertainment’ – defined as a bazaar, sale of work, fete, dinner, dance, sporting or athletic event, or other entertainment of a similar character;
after deduction of expenses, the whole proceeds of the entertainment are applied for purposes other than private gain;
the alcohol is in a sealed container;
no prize is a money prize;
tickets are only issued when the entertainment takes place (i.e. tickets are not sold in advance)
the raffle/lottery is not the main inducement to attend
it is NOT permissible to sell tickets which can then be exchanged for an alcoholic drink, or to ask for a donation in return for alcohol.

https://www.resourcecentre.org.uk/information/licensing-and-regulations/#Alcohol

[Zetec-S]

Danke Herr Schnell