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Home \ Pension Credit toolkit \ Tools \ Setting up your own event

Setting up your own event

We know that using an event to promote the benefits on Pension Credit can be very effective. But setting it up can be daunting. So we’ve produced some tips to help you, including:

Getting started

Developing an idea

An event is a great way of encouraging people to check if they are entitled to Pension Credit in a friendly environment. This checklist covers everything you will need to consider.

A step-by-step approach

Plan your event one step at a time. Before you start thinking about ideas, consider the following:

With a little help from your friends

Get some people to help you and start by sharing ideas. Meeting somewhere relaxing will help get the creative juices flowing. It’s important your event is fun for you to organise and for people to attend. Decide who is going to be in charge of each bit of work and make a to-do list to make sure everything gets done on time.

Test your ideas

Ask any pension age neighbours and friends what they think of your plans. Keep an open mind and you might get some exciting new ideas out of it.

Decide on a location

Cafes, bingo-halls, markets, libraries and community centres are ideal for events. If you explain that your event is in a good cause, you might be able to get the venue for free. 

Think about how many people might come, and how easy it is for them to get there. For example, is there a bus-stop nearby?  People are more likely to drop in if it’s easy to get to your event

Choose a date and time

Speak to your chosen venue to check they are free on your chosen date.

Check local papers to make sure there are no other events already planned. Think about how long you need for your event. Think about when people are most likely to come along – for example, they’re more likely to come if it’s easy for them to combine with something else (like their regular market morning).

Taking care of the pennies

Your budget will depend on the kind of event you want to run. Many events can be run at little or no cost, and you may want to think about things like:

Will anyone sponsor you?

Talk to any local organisations that might be able to help with your event. You could try local businesses, shops or other organisations. People might be willing to offer all kinds of help, such as:

Safety first

You need to do a basic risk assessment. This is nothing to worry about. You just need to try to think about any risks involved, and then try to prevent them where possible.

This checklist tells you the important things to think about, such as:

Working with vulnerable adults and children

You also need to work out if a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check is required. None of our suggestions should require this but we need to make you aware of the guidelines.

If parents and/or carers are not present at your event, and the adults in charge will have unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults, you will need to carry out background checks from the Criminal Records Bureau (www.crb.gov.uk).

These checks can take some time to obtain and should be factored into your planning timetable.

Insurance

If you are holding a large event you should consider taking out the appropriate Personal Accident and Public Liability Insurance. The Department for Work and Pensions cannot accept responsibility for claims, of whatever nature, which may arise from an event that is outside of its control. You can get more information form the Business Link website – www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action

Choosing your event

Getting people in the door

Think about what might attract people to your event – if you have any new ideas for events we’d love to hear about them.

Coffee morning

A coffee (or tea) morning is a great way to bring people together. Pensioners tell us they like an informal chat about Pension Credit as it means they can get help and ask questions about the application process.

Make sure everyone is clear who is doing what, such as:

Bingo event

Piggyback on the popularity of an activity like bingo, where pensioners may attend that are still not getting the benefits they are entitled to. Traditional invitations, such as writing to people, don’t work for everyone, and some people prefer to have an informal chat about Pension Credit face to face.

Make sure everyone is clear who is doing what, such as:

Market stall event

Events at market places can be a real hit and give the chance for pensioners to understand how they might get extra money every week. It’s another informal way that has proved successful in encouraging pensioners and their families to ask questions and understand the application process.

Make sure everyone is clear who is doing what, such as:

Library event

Many libraries have an IT suite and hosting an event in a local library could be a way for those with computer skills to help pensioners check out if they are eligible for extra money on www.direct.gov.uk/mypensioncredit. Even if an IT event isn’t right for you, the local library may still be a good venue.

Make sure everyone is clear who is doing what, such as:

Publicising your event

Promoting your event

People will only come along if they know about it. We have designed some poster templates to help you promote your event. They include space for you to put in the date, time and location of your event as well as your contact details.

You can use the posters on local notice boards, like your library or supermarket. You can also print them off as A5 flyers to give out to neighbours, friends and family.

Poster templates

There are four versions to choose from. To use them:

The posters are all A4 size. But you can also use them to publicise your event by printing them off as A5 flyers and hand them out.

Talk to the press

Shout about your achievements by sending a press release to your local media. To make it as simple as possible, we’ve designed a press release template for you to adapt and distribute either before or after your event. Strong photographs really help to bring a story alive; take as many as you can and issue the best with the press release.

Writing your press release

First of all – look at our template – it might save you some hard work.

Who am I writing this for?

Take a look at some of the publications you’re targeting to understand the kind of story they like and the language they use.

How should I put my press release together?

News editors are busy people so the ‘news’ should always be first.  It can help to use the five ‘W’ rule: Who, What, Where, Why, When to make sure the important information is at the beginning.  Then you can provide any other background information

What about the headline?

Keep it short and punchy – try to make it no more than six words.

How long should a press release be?
Generally, a press release should be no more than one-and-a-half to two pages.

Journalists get hundreds of press releases every week, so anything you can do to make your point clearly will be a big bonus for them.

Pick up the phone

The quickest way to get a journalist interested is to call them and briefly outline the story. That way you will quickly know whether they are interested.

TV and Radio

Press releases can also be used to get your local radio, and even TV, interested. But first, check you have the following:

The best approach is to let them know about your event at least two days in advance so they can plan accordingly.

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