Fundraisers and other school issues

School fundraisers often centre on food: cake stalls, hot dog days, dicsos etc. You can avoid some school functions but not all and eventually your child will desperately want to go to something with all their friends.

First – talk to the organisers, often an allergy-free alternative can be found easily at no added cost.

Second – assess the danger to your child and take in their own safe food, if appropriate.

Third – avoid the event but make sure you arrange an outing / tea for your child’s friends so that they can all do something else fun together on another day.

Fourth - get involved on the PTA yourself and take charge of foody events, that way you’ll be making the decisions. Not everyone has the time or inclination for this level of commitment though.

Here’s what we do:

Cake stalls – we don’t bother! You could bake your own egg-free cakes and then buy them back. You could give a cake but not attend. Or better still bake a cake at home with your child, invite some friends over and make a small donation to the cake stall instead.

Hot dog days – I put a hot dog bun with a cold sausage inside in my son's lunchbox. The teachers add ketchup at school. I can’t think of anything less appetising than a cold hotdog with ketchup but he likes it! It means being organised enough the day before to cook sausages and buy buns.

Discos – we rarely go but when we do, I add myself to the helpers list and keep a careful eye. The food at our school discos varies and we only go when the risk of accidental exposure is low – like when it’s crisps or pizza. We don’t go to the muffin, hot dog, cake, burger or ice-cream ones unless I’ve organised for the food to be egg-free. The school have now started having some discos with no food at all, which is just fabulous for the allergic pupils.  

Fetes and school fairs – we attend but just don’t buy any food or join in on the stalls that involve food. The children love these events and we keep a watachful eye on activities.

Ice-creams – can be a sticking point because good quality ones often contain egg. If none of the ice-creams are safe, we take our children for an ice-cream afterwards or choose a fruit ice-lolly instead.

Pancake day – we bake our own egg-free pancakes for supper at home. My son accepts he won’t have pancakes at school – I draw the line at cold pancakes in his lunchbox!

Camping nights – we arrange to be served first from the BBQ, making sure we or the school have provided egg-free sausages, meat or fish for the BBQ. We cook our food first to avoid cross contamination. Getting involved is a good way to ensure that nothing is overlooked.

Sports days – we take our own food and keep a careful eye out for other children running about with food. The egg and spoon race is done using potatoes or balls.

Sweets and cakes given out for birthdays - I provide my son’s teacher with a box of treats so that when other pupils give out sweets or cake at school to celebrate a birthday, a safe treat can be substituted for him instead.

What do you do at your school?  How do you get round fundraisers involving food? Post your ideas on the Message Board .