Running a school fete stall: checklist
Written for the volunteer who said yes in September and is now reading this on the Friday. The float and the rota are the two things that actually matter.
37 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Before the day
- Confirm your pitch and its size
- Rota with at least two people at all times
- Agree prices and write them down
- Float in small coins, countedFifty pounds in change is a normal starting float for a busy stall.
- Card reader charged and tested
- Signs made — big, simple and readable at five metres
- Ask the organisers about insurance and food rules
- The stall
- Table, and a cloth
- Gazebo or parasol
- Weights for everything, or the wind takes it
- Cash box that closes, and somewhere to keep it
- Bin bags×3
- Tape, string and scissors
- Pens and paper
- Chairs for the volunteers
- If you are selling food
- Allergen list written out and visible
- Gloves and hand sanitiser
- Cool box for anything chilled
- Serving tongs
- Napkins
- Check what the organisers allow — often no home-cooked meat
- The volunteers
- Sun cream and hats
- Waterproofs
- Water and something to eat
- A phone number for the organiser
- A plan for toilet breaks
- Somebody named to close up at the end
- Closing
- Count the takings with two people present
- Hand the money over as agreed, and get it acknowledged
- Clear the pitch completely
- Return borrowed tables and gazebos
- Note what to do differently next year, while you remember
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- How much float does a stall need?
- Enough in small coins for the first hour — most stalls start with about fifty pounds in change. Card readers help but do not remove the need for coins.
- What do stalls always forget?
- Weights for the signs, a bin, and enough volunteers for a toilet break. The wind takes anything unweighted within the first hour.