Youth Event Support scheme
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Youth Event Support (Y.E.S)
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Nelson Youth Council is keen to see more parties and events happening in Nelson for young people. They support events that are:
1. safe and alcohol&otherdrug-free
2. mainly organised by young people
3. for young people
- YES offers funding or underwriting for youth events in Nelson.
- Applications for YES are considered every 2 months, and must be made at least four weeks prior to the event. If the applicant is not eligible for financial support, (e.g. applicant has not applied within four week timeframe) they could still receive mentor support.
- Age range eligible for YES applicants is 12-25 years old, and events need to be available for this age range. Older people can be part of the organising crew, but the applicant who attends YES meetings must be under 25.
- Events need to be safe, alcohol and other-drug free, and held within the Nelson rating zone.
- Any events for young people, from skate comps, after-ball parties, chess comps, gigs, fun-run, an amazing race, promo events, environmental cleanup, youth rights events, seminars, performing arts, workshops, film festival, breakdancing, hip hop, environmental forums, political forums, religious rallies, rock concerts, dance parties or other events !!!
- An event must have appropriate safety and security measures in place to qualify for YES funding,
eg HYPE, Security, youth workers, parents, teachers, tutors, St. Johns, Fire
crew, Maori Wardens, Event Staff, Police etc.
Health and Safety are priorities, so that events are as safe and successful as possible. - Successful YES applicants are required to acknowledge NYC support at the event and in the promotion of the event, and need to provide copies of YES pamphlets at events.
If you want to apply to YES for your event, contact
NicolaMercer @ Nelson City
Council
03 546 0217
join up this email address: nicola.mercer @ ncc.govt.nz
at least 4 weeks before your event
Here's some Event Planning Guidelines to check out below...
You can also download: Planning Safe Events Guide - Safety Guidelines for Event Managers (A Nelson Safer Community Council project) - pdf copy 785K
And: "Planning Safe Events Checklist ("Planning Safe Events Checklist 2") " - pdf copy 194K
Event Planning Guidelines
1 Budget- A YES mentor can provide an Event Planning Checklist to help the applicant work out all of the costs involved in the event. Include any income (eg money from ticket sales or sponsorship).
- A good way to start your budget is to work out how much money you might make.
- Take the lowest number of people who you think will come, e.g. 100 people
- Multiply this number of people by the price of the tickets,e.g. 100 people x $8 each = $800
- This will give you an idea of how
much money you could bring in to
cover your costs.
Ideally your budgeted costs would be lower than this, (say $600 on the above example) making it more likely that you will make a profit, or if less people attend you would still cover your costs. - Work out what things you need to pay for before or after the event. This will give you an idea of how much cash you need before the event, and how much afterwards.
- Keep all your receipts because NCC will need to see them if an applicant claims a YES payment.
- Choose someone responsible and trustworthy to be in
charge of all cash (from tickets sales, door sales, sponsorship etc). You might
need to set up a bank account, or use an existing one, to keep your money safe.
Your YES Mentor can help you work through Worksheet 2: Budget
2 Sponsorship
- Getting sponsorship from a business or organisation can help keep costs down.
- Look for sponsors early! They might need a few months to make a decision about larger sums of money. You can get in touch with them by writing or contacting them directly.
- Make a clear arrangement about what you will offer them in exchange for their help, e.g. include their name in your posters and flyers.
|
Sponsorship possibilities |
Contact details |
Who |
|
Notes: |
||
3 Venue
Book a venue well ahead of time as many places get booked in advance. If it's a music gig, find one that is away from where people live so you don't get shut down for being too noisy.
Some outdoor venues need resource consent. Contact the Nelson City Council to check: 546 0200
Emergency services, like ambulances, must be able to get there easily.
During the event the main organiser should be present at all times and readily contactable by the police.
- Your venue must:
- Be easy to get to for emergency services like ambulances
- Have sign-posted, unblocked exits.
- Have a functional telephone, or mobile phone, which is available for use at all times.
- Have enough clean working toilets for the numbers attending.
|
Venue |
Phone/ Contact Person |
Cost |
Availability |
Who |
4 Entertainment
- Book performers, guest speakers, facilitators, DJs, MCs, bands etc. Make sure they know what time they are on and how long for, and what their roles/responsibilities are.
- Check their equipment requirements and times for sound checks and performance.
- Clarify how much they cost and how and when to pay them.
|
Performer |
Performance time |
Cost |
Booked/ Contracted |
Who |
5 Entry policies
- Work out your entry policies. If you want to stop some people from coming into your event or bringing something in, signpost it at the entry, for example; no alcohol, no glass, no smoking, no pass-outs etc. Include these details in your promotion material (ie flyers, posters etc).
- These are the conditions of entry and they give you the 'right to refuse entry'.
- If you are searching people's clothes or bags, signpost that too.
- Let your security staff know the policies so they can enforce them.
|
Outline of entry policy |
Security informed? |
Who |
6 Sound System
- Book your sound system early so you get what you want.
- Choose
a sound system that is right for the size of the venue. Make sure that you have
hired all of the gear that the performers need.
- Really
loud noise can cause hearing damage so it's important that you limit it to
below ≥excessive levels≈. It's a good idea to sell earplugs at loud events.
- Remember that if you make 'excessive' noise you are likely to get shut down by Noise Control. Aim to find a venue that is not near housing or accommodation.
|
Sound System |
Booked |
Who |
|
|
7 Lighting
- Book lighting and make arrangements for lighting technicians to set it up.
- Make sure that your lighting is right for the venue - consider how and where lights can be set up so that they are safe and effective.
|
Lighting system |
Booked |
Who |
|
|
|
|
|
Lighting plan |
||
8 Decorations
- Plan what you will use and organise people to decorate. Make sure that you can get into the venue before and after to set up and pack down.
- Some venues restrict what you can do - e.g. no tape, pins, nails in their walls. Ask them before you make plans.<o:p></o:p>
|
Task |
Person responsible |
Date to be completed |
|
9 Promotion
- Include the name of the event, location, time, cost, entertainment, ticket sellers, any sponsors information, policies (e.g. no alcohol) etc in your promotion material.
- Work out the best way to advertise - flyers, posters, stickers, radio ads, news stories etc. Target the people you want to come with what your advertising looks/sounds like and where it is seen/heard.
- Organise the design and distribution of your promotional info.
|
Promotion |
Date to be completed |
Who |
√ |
10 Ticketing
- Indoor venues, and some outdoor venues, only allow a certain number of people inside. The amount of tickets printed and sold must not be more than this.
- A good way to control this is to number the tickets sold. Door sales must also be checked to ensure that overcrowding doesn't happen.
- To
make sure that you don't get ripped off or overcrowd your event, it's important
that your tickets cannot be copied.
If you are going to sell tickets before the event work out a reliable seller. - Make
sure that there is a system in place so that you can check that the number of
tickets sold tallies with the cash collected.
|
Outline of ticketing plan |
Cost |
Who |
11 Door/Gate
- Organise door staff who can handle a door system. Having your mates on the door can cause problems; like that they know heaps of people who want them to let them in cheap or free.
- Plan
a door system that will work. It should include a plan for how to:
take tickets, handle cash, give any 'pass outs', keep a count of the number of people inside the venue, and make sure people can get in and out without much queuing. - You
should work out where you will put the money from any door sales. It is wise to
regularly take the money away from the door/venue during the event and put it
somewhere safe.
- Advertise
any policies you have on a notice at the door e.g.: no alcohol, no pass outs,
searches, age limits for the event, whatever.
The policies allow you and the security staff to refuse entry.
(Refer Entry Policies above ).
|
Outline of Door plan |
Who |
12 Security
- Only hire registered security guards. This saves a lot of hassle and means that the guards should be trained to handle most situations.
- Think
about what the security will actually be doing: door searches, looking after
money or precious equipment, crowd management, etc.
- Hire enough security staff to handle the number of people coming (one security guard to every 100 people is a good estimate, but they will know what they prefer) and the jobs you expect them to do. Make sure they are aware of their expected roles: refer back to Entry Policies above.
- Book Security staff well ahead of time.
- Security staff should be present for the entire
running period of the event.
|
Security Company |
Schedule |
No. of staff |
Role |
Cost |
Booked |
Who? |
|
e.g. Spartan Security |
7-10pm |
2 |
door |
$ |
||
13 Safety Crew
- Most YES-supported events need to provide safety crew, like HYPE (Help for Young People at Events). Ideally this will be people who are trained to handle any people having emotional, mental, or alcohol or other-drug-related problems.
- For some events, e.g. outdoor, it is useful to provide first aid staff who deal with accidents and injuries.
- All safety crew or first aiders, and First Aid stations, should be clearly identified.
- It is important that you book these people well ahead of time.
- It is recommended that first aiders and support staff talk to all door staff, security personnel and other workers before the event about the kinds of problems to look out for.
- Large events
should have a risk management plan.
- It's also important that you make sure that the staff know:
- What should happen if the party needs to be evacuated in an emergency, including a fire.
- The
position of all fire exits and escape routes.
|
Safety plan outline |
Booked |
Who |
14 Police
- It's important that you contact the police well ahead of time. Let them know what event you are planning, where and when, and expected numbers attending. They can help you with:
- Working out if and when they are likely to turn up.
- Backing up security arrangements.
- Improving the safety of yourself and the people at the event if any unforeseen emergencies occur.
- During the event the organiser should have the
nearest local police contact number available in case any problems arise.
|
Date Police will be informed of event |
Who |
√ |
15 Transport
- Think about how you can help people get to and from your event safely. In Nelson you can provide a taxi phone (or Quick Response Unit) for people at the event. Contact a local taxi company to order one.
- Sometimes it is useful to organise transport for your
event, e.g. if it is out of town. Contact taxi and bus companies to see what
they can offer.
|
Outline of Transport plan |
Who |
16 Food and water
- If your event is not located near food sellers, or if you have a ŒNo Pass-out' policy, it is important that there is food for sale. You can either do this yourself, or ask a food business or catering company to do it.
- You
must make sure that there is always free cold drinking water available.
- It is also important that there is enough water available for fire fighting and washing (particularly for outdoor events).
|
Food/water access plan |
Date completed |
Who |
17 Clean Up Crew
- You will need to have people organised to clean up the venue and surrounding area after the event. This could be some reliable friends, or a professional cleaning company/street-sweeper, depending on the size of the event.
- Think about what you can recycle and how to do it.
- You may need to hire wheelie bins or a skip for the event.
|
Clean-up task allocation |
Person responsible |
Who |
18 Payment
- Organise with people and services before the event how and when they want to be paid.
- It's very important that you keep receipts of all your payments so you have an official record of who received money from you and how much, especially if you are making a YES-payment claim.
- Remember to keep all your receipts!!!.
See what other young people who have used Y.E.S. said.
For more info on safer partying, see our safer partying page!
Disclaimer: The Nelson Youth Council provides underwriting for alcohol-free events.
Health Action and the Nelson Youth Council are not in any way responsible for the management of the events supported by YES.
Nelson Youth Council would like to acknowledge the support of Nelson Safer Community Council for the funding the
YES scheme when it was set up a few years back.
For copyright permission, please contact The Health Action Trust, Nelson on 03 548 2798,
or email weenie AT healthaction DOT org DOT nz





