VIVA Las Vegas! A slice of the Nevada strip arrived in Greenmount for one night only to raise money for primary school youngsters.

Parents and friends packed into the Bolholt Hotel in Walshaw Road, Bury, Lancashire, for a flutter on the full-size casino tables at the Greenmount Primary School PTA's Las Vegas Night. This was achieved with a Frank Sinatra tribute look- and sound-a-like providing the musical entertainment with several businesses donating a variety of prizes for an auction. The night proved to be a great success, raising more than £1,500, which will be used to boost the much needed Holhouse Lane school funds.

PTA Organiser Heather Peet said: "The Las Vegas themed event ran very smoothly because we had a fantastic events organiser, Knights Templar Events, who took the stress away for me! The fun casino ran with full size tables so the atmosphere really felt like we were in a real casino environment. We made £1,548 which was a superb achievement and the PTA at Greenmount Primary have worked very hard this past year and deserve a big thank you. Measuring this success we will definitely do it bigger next year!

Although fundraising is not a charitable activity as defined by law, it has become a crucial activity for many organisations to ensure that they can meet their charitable aims. As the reliance on the voluntary sector to provide services that were traditionally carried out by the state becomes more pronounced, fundraising becomes increasingly important.

Fundraised income is important to allow organisations to maintain sustainable levels of funding, particularly those organisations depending principally on project and statutory funding.

As fundraising is so reliant on public support and generosity, it is crucial that fundraisers perform their function with integrity, respect and consideration of their donors and adhere to best practice agreed by the sector as a whole.

Fundraising events can be exempt from VAT on income and for more information, contact HMRC. It is also important to note that any organisation providing or selling food at an event, for distribution, on charitable premises or elsewhere must comply with the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995, which can be viewed at www.opsi.gov.uk.

Casino nights are lawful if held as part of an 'exempt entertainment', as laid down in section 15 of the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976. Under section 15, the promoters of an 'exempt entertainment' (i.e. a fete, dinner, dance, sporting event or bazaar) may lawfully provide as part of the entertainment any 'amusement with prizes', whether it is a lottery or gaming or both, provided the following conditions are met:

* that the whole proceeds of the entertainment, after deducting the expenses of the entertainment, shall be devoted to purposes other than private gain.

* that the facilities for winning prizes at such amusements are not the only or substantial inducement to persons to attend the entertainment.

You can cover the cost of the Fun Casino by securing local business or corporate sponsorship to pay for the fun casino tables hire. Alternatively you might consider selling tickets for the evening, to include an initial amount of gaming chips. This ticket price can include a margin for profit so that you are guaranteed a good return for your efforts.

Guests can then purchase more fun casino vouchers from your volunteers as they need to and our professional croupiers will run the games and find the top players for you for the end of the event. Make sure you offer a good selection of prizes and that this factor is well publicised, as it will always improve the take! Often businesses may be interested in donating items, as stated in the above fundraising Las Vegas themed event.