To think serving alcohol at a school fayre seems off

[Mummy0b]

Just that really, it seems off to me.
Not against drinking in any way, i actually work in a bar (possibly why it seems more of a concern to me) but theres a time and a place for drinking and a school fayre doesnt seem like one of them. Ive witnessed so many happy, family occasions descend into utter chaos because of excess alcohol consumption and it seems like a school fayre would do fine without a bar.
Additionally, i know many people who struggle with alcohol addiction and i dont think they would expect to be confronted with that temptation at a school event
So AIBU to think people could go without a drink at a school fayre?

I worked in "rough" schools where staff had to run the fetes because we never had parent volunteers. Alcohol was unheard of there.

Then for a brief period I worked in a more affluent area with strong PTAs and Pimms/strawberries and fizz/ mulled wine were always a feature and very popular

So, I think it deepends which demographic you're used to whether it seems odd or not.

It's not about it being necessary it's about it being enjoyable & raising funds. Same as any of the other stalls.

I manage perfectly well on very numerous occasions, it's not all or nothing, lots of areas in between!

Ours has Pimms and it’s very popular

It's notnthat people can't go without, it's that alcohol sales geberally do well and are very profitable and these events are there to make money. That is actually what they're for.

What stall would you run that would match the Pimms tent for profits?

I’m French. It’s absolutely standard to have wine available at pretty much every sort of social event.

I really don’t get this tendency by so many in Britain to have such horrible views about their compatriots; do you really hate those around you as much as you seem to?

It’s very sad.

OP,I think you're projecting your own issues on to this.
You mention you grew up with an alcoholic parent, which must have been extremely difficult for you. So of course you personally are going to have certain feelings in connection with parents drinking around children, and of course you personally are going to bristle when people laugh at a child who says 'Mummy's favourite drink is wine.' That is totally understandable.

But I think you need to realise that most people did not grow up with an alcoholic parent, and that most people are perfectly OK to enjoy a drink at a social event without getting hammered and without their children being affected in any negative way whatsoever. Most people can have a chuckle with their kids about Mummy liking wine without a) being any kind of addict or b) harming their kids. I regularly used to give my dad a bottle of whisky for Father's Day when I was little. He wasn't an alcoholic and I understood that just because whisky was Daddy's favourite drink, he still probably only drank it about once a week.

Of course people can 'manage for one afternoon without alcohol'. 99% of the parents and teachers attending will manage pretty much all their afternoons without alcohol. Going to an event and having a drink there is a treat for them, not their daily routine. The alcohol is not being served because they can't live without it, it's being served because it's a special event.

If you don't approve of drinking at the school fayre, don't drink at the school fayre. It really is that simple. Your particular personal discomfort around people drinking in certain situations is something you have to manage for yourself. The event isn't about you.

I find it pretty sad that this is what schools have to resort to for fundraising.

That's just a bit dramatic......

I'm with you OP. Can't quite put my finger on it, but it seems off to me.
Also excludes some religious groups who won't attend a premises serving alcohol - which seems a bit off when it is your school.
I do drink.
A school fair serving alcohol wouldn't make me refuse to attend, but I do think it is an odd thing to do.
I guess it depends what you have been used to. For me, I've never been to a school fair that serves alcohol and not once have I thought...'You know what this fair needs? - Alcohol'

Nothing wrong with Fayre. I especially like anything Ye Olde

Our children go to an affluent school and children in years 4,5 and 6 were asked to bring in a bottle of wine for the school fair tombola. I felt a little uneasy about it - especially seeing 9 and 10 years olds pretending to swig the bottles in the playground as they were lining up for registration.

I am sure the wine tombola is very profitable for the school, but I don’t think it sends the right message to children; that alcohol needs to be a part of every event.

I really don’t get this tendency by so many in Britain to have such horrible views about their compatriots; do you really hate those around you as much as you seem to?

It’s a weird form of British exceptionalism I think, it’s on here a lot. See also the style and beauty threads where people declare British women to be uniquely ugly and those threads where people say that convenience food is only found here. Bizarre. I’m also not British.

It’s not necessary.

It's not 'necessary' to, for example, have a dessert after a meal, or go on holiday, or treat the kids to an ice cream on a hot day, or listen to music in the car, or any number of other things. If we only did things that were 'necessary' life would be really fucking miserable.

It makes money. The whole point is fundraising and it will make more than most other stalls.

The pinks and beer tent and mulled wine at Christmas, together with the bottle stall make the most money at ours, always have done.

I really fought with my eldest's PTA becuase they wanted the money alcohol brings. Now that I am a school employee, I am glad I did that, as so many children need a safe fun space which is FOR them and without alcohol. I have seen so many kids dragged round Spoons, exhausted on a Friday at 10pm with their parents completely blotto.

Ours does beer, wine and Pimm's, mulled wine at Christmas. There have never been any issues at all.

I've never seen this (I dont have school aged children anymore so maybe more common these days) and don't particularly like the idea. I'm certainly not a prude by any means but I do think as a society, we normalise day to day alcohol consumption too much. Also hate the 'don't let mummy's glass go empty' type jokes.

Which religious group are you claiming could not attend the school fair if there was a Pimms tent?

Muslims, Christians, Jews, Mormons, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists all could, so which group couldn’t?

My husband drinks with a Zoroastrian, so they could go too.

When DS was a lot younger, we accidentally went to the school fair for Westminster School, right by Westminster Abbey - we were passing, saw something was on, ended up staying hours. It was a very classy affair (falconry, ffs) but they had one of those bouncy slides, which if you paid a fiver you could have unlimited goes on.

However, the parents who were ostensibly in charge of the slide were pissed as farts, and the slide became dangerous, with too many kids gathered at the top, and it started to buckle....

Whereupon a small group of kids got themselves organised (and drafted DS into their organising group). They marshalled the top and bottom of the slide, kept things safe, and they had a wonderful time. it was quite extraordinary to see.

I don't know if the fair's policy to serve wine at lunchtime to parents was to further a "resilience" module for the kids, but it worked! (And It could also have gone horribly, horribly wrong.)

My husband was amused when we first went to the hyper market in my home town (not a tourist place) to see the same kinds of processed foods as he did in England. He’d fallen for this strange idea that we all live on artisanal, seasonal haute cuisine, whereas the reality is that we too buy frozen pizzas, ready-mashed potatoes, or packet soups.

That is actually brilliant....and awful, but mostly brilliant.

From my experience of working in schools, definitely the posher the school the more alcohol will be flowing at school events. Maybe that's why they turn out such self assured kids 😆

Totally normal here. The bar will make loads of money!

I guess it depends what you have been used to. For me, I've never been to a school fair that serves alcohol and not once have I thought...'You know what this fair needs? - Alcohol'

😂 You must be right that it depends on what you’re used to. When you’re helping out with a Christmas Bazaar from start to finish, a shift on the mulled wine stall is all that makes it bearable! Summer doesn’t feel quite so hectic as there seems to be more help available and it’s outside.

It’s not like people get drunk and it helps raise money as part of a family event so I think it’s harmless.

Children handing over a bottle of wine as a teacher gift with a label attached that they have written and signed themselves is odd though.