Events, and the Gift Aid catch

Fairs, quiz nights, car washes — record the event, list the jobs that need covering, and put names against them. Helpers are just a name and a contact; they don't need an account, because the person running the tombola is never going to make one.

The Small Donations Scheme covers cash and contactless card donations only. Not bank transfers, not Direct Debit, not anything paid online. That is the opposite of what most people assume, and it means the bucket at your summer fair may be eligible where a donation through a website isn't.

To claim on that cash your treasurer needs specific records, and the one groups miss is the date it reached the bank — not just the date it was counted. The event page asks for the amount, both dates, the postcode it was collected at and roughly how many came, and tells you which of those are still missing. It links to the rules on gov.uk rather than repeating them here, because tax rules change and a stale copy inside our software would be worse than none.

We record; we don't claim. Nothing here works out what you can claim or submits anything to HMRC — your treasurer does that, and should check the current rules before relying on any of it.