PTA Fundraiser help

[bubble30]

Hi. I am planning on arranging a family bingo event as a PTA fundraiser for my son's school. Has anybody arranged a bingo night before? Did you need a license? How did you work out how many people would come? what equipment did you need? What refreshments did you provide? How many games of Bingo did you play and what kind of format did you use? Where did you get prizes from? Are there any other things I need to consider that I haven't mentioned here? Thanks a lot for any help x

• we have easter egg bingo
• use a bingo machine that we borrow from the local old peoples day centre (we give them a box of chocs and a bottle of wine)
• prizes are easter eggs (ask for donations to school - rarely have to buy extras)
• double numbers "88, 11 etc" are "chocolate frenzy" (shouted out) and if you have one you get a mini egg
• 6 games, refreshments after 3 games are soft drinks and crisps
• I don't think we have ever considered the need for a licence....
• location is the school hall
• people coming is fairly standard year on year, approx 120 kids in school, get approx 80 people inc adults

You don't need a licence for 'Prize Bingo', ie no cash prizes. A raffle afterwards is popular if you get donations that aren't quite big enough to qualify as Bingo prizes.