Head has banned alcohol at a fundraiser - your views please!

[beansprout]

The PTA is holding a fundraising concert this week at our primary school. Various children will be doing their stuff from about 5-7pm and as with all PTA events, refreshments will be available as part of the fundraising effort.

We are a community school and a muslim teacher has indicated that if alcohol (wine) is sold, no muslim parents will attend. The head has now said that no alcohol can be sold at the event. The PTA have already bought the wine and can't see the problem and indeed, quite a few people are up in arms about this.

My view is that diversity is all about inclusion rather than exclusion so on that basis, it seems a bit odd. I don't drink at all so have no particular view on whether or not wine should be available at this event.

Could other people give me their views on this, in particular, what to do?!!

Crikey - I couldn't face most of our PTA events without a glass of wine in hand. We serve wine at early evening events. Who said it's always 6pm somewhere? I go by the 5pm rule! Having said that, not many muslims turn up for our events so maybe that is why. You don't need a licence if you are not selling the wine - but you can ask for a donation

We have mulled wine at our afternoon Christmas fayre and pimms/beer at our summer one. I've not seen or heard of anyone getting pissed. Some people have a drink. Some risky dads might even have two beers. But so what? It doesn't make people alcoholics to have a drink at a social event.

It seems a perfectly pleasant and lucrative choice to make.

I got pished on triple strenth Pimms at a school barbie AND at the summer fayre. Made working on the second hand book stall MILES more fun

How square is that Head? BUT saying that (ie reading the actual OP) 5-7 is a tad early to be having a snifter

This is alcohol central round here, but they never sell alcohol at school events. Probably because lots of people would get paralytic.

Parents nights out are a completely different story .

Could you have a speakeasy in the PE cupboard?

lol Shaz, bravo

weblette, I thought of that song too when I read Libra's comment. Eagerly followed your link and yay! love that song and now humming away.

I'm trying to think of a school fundraiser at our school where drinks aren't served....nope, can't think of one, they all seem to have alcohol involved.

On the whole its just a glass of wine for a donation or included as part of the ticket price (non-alcoholic alternatives available obviously) -I think that gets around the need for a licence.

However at the summer event they have a proper bar selling locally brewed beer, wine etc.

As for the PTA meetings, they're held in the local pub.

My DC's primary school has bottles of wine as prizes for a raffle at the summer fair etc but never any drinking on the premises.

I must admit that if I saw someone necking wine at a school event I couldn't help but wonder why they couldn't last very long without booze.

Gosh do people judge folk for having a glass of wine with lunch too? After all that is pretty early in the day, and if you do have one you obviously couldnt last without alcohol!!!

Now if someone rang the PTA and said, 'I am a recovering alcoholic and therefore if you are going to serve alcohol to other people I won't come' they would be told (quite rightly) that this is their problem, no one else's. But mention superstition and suddenly everyone's flapping - look, there is no need for rational people to put themselves out to placate the superstitious in shared space.

I see it as a time and a place thing. Wine with lunch while in a restaurant with friends - fine. Drinking in a pub or at home - fine. Drinking while in a school or (as I have once seen) a hospital - odd.

We used to have wine at most events at primary school- pampering evenings,PTA meetings, anything in the evening- especially if it was Talent Night. Dear God, you'd need a glass to sit through that.
5-7 may be a bit early- but I am looking forward to the summer fair on Saturday and having a glass- the bar can raise hundreds of pounds for the school.

Ridiculous. I've just come home from a Muslim country where they delighted in showing me how good their wine was - excellent grape climate, they don't drink it but love showing it off to surprised foreigners!
It's crazy to presume that the presence of alcohol offends these adults and if, after asking them you find it does, well weigh up the pro's v's the con's...I'm afraid a licensed bar is a great fundraiser, what's more important?

Thing is, 5-7pm is dinnertime to some people therefore it;s a time of day when they might like a glass of wine or can of lager.

Snorbs -re: wine in hospital -I had a knee operation about 12 yrs ago in a well-respected orthopaedic hospital in the UK. On Sunday afternoon on the ward, they came round with a glass of sherry for anyone who wanted one.

IIRC the ward was built (and named) after a very generous donation from someone who stipulated that patients should be offered a drink in his/her memory every Sunday!

(FYI -I declined the offer as a) I can't stand sherry b) I don't generally drink during the day c)I was drugged up to the eyeballs on painkillers)

Hospitals? How can anyone stay in hospital without a drink? I had my dinner (M&S) brought in every day along with an airplane size bottle of wine. Is that not the civilsed approach to suffering?

lol Hully - DP felt so sorry for me when I had my knee op that he brought in a home-made veggie lasagne.

All the other patients were drooling

Our PTA make loads of money from alcohol at events The quiz night raised hundreds!

Every event I've been too so far (fireworks, fashion show, quiz night, race night tomorrow) has had a bar....

So if we went to to Saudi, or Qatar or any country in that part of the world and we rang up and said we are not turning up to the next school do, if it is dry function could you see them, changing their rules/mindset to placate us ??

No ??

Didn't think so.

FFS

ridiculous,we serve drink at psa events in the evening.it makes it more sociable and people part with their cash more easily.

that's crazy. these fundraisers are hard. One needs a drink....

Our PTA events always have a bar. The school fete which is generally a sunny June afternoon has a highly profitable Pimms stall.

Sports day is a sight to behold, picnic hampers stuffed to the gills and always thermos flasks of Caiprina (sic) or Pimms. Most families drive so there's never any drunken behaviour and parents take it in turns to hold afternoon Barbecues for groups of friends.

We have lots of muslim families, and its never been an issue. They just don't partake (me either, for different reasons). We have had Pimms tents at summer fetes, mulled wine at Xmas fair, and wine at Pampering Evenings.

That said, we never seem to make a profit on the Pimms....how come its so profitable for everyone else?! Are we not charging enough?!