Photo consent for community groups - get permission to take photos and videos - updated 11/05/15

Sep 19, 2026

Guide on obtaining permission to take photos and videos at community events. Explains how to ensure photographed people and parents/guardians understand how images will be used, including online publication. Provides written consent form instructions, opt-out communication methods, and practical examples of permitted uses. Covers additional rules for adults and young people, including assessing young people’s ability to consent, and outlines data protection and legal requirements for taking, storing, using, retaining, and securely disposing of identifiable media.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryForms

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

Getting permission to take photos and videos at community events

Photos and films of children

Photos and films of adults and young people

Photos, videos and the law

Photo consent for community groups | Getting permission to take photos and videos at community events | | | --- | --- | | It can be really useful to take photos or videos at your event. You can use them afterwards to publicise your activities, and people often like to see photos of their community having fun together. However, you should make sure the people you are photographing are happy to be photographed and understand how the images will be used. Remember that people might have their own reasons for not wanting themselves or their children to be photographed, and it is important to respect this.
Photos and films of children
Before photographing or filming children, let their parent / guardian know that you are doing so and why, and make sure they are happy with this. It is particularly important to make sure that they know if the images might be used on a website.
One way to do this is to get consent in writing, using a simple consent form. Parents / guardians can sign this to say that they give permission for their child to be photographed/filmed, and for the images to be used in certain ways. If it is completely impractical to get signed consent from every parent, you should still make sure parents and guardians are aware that their children are being photographed and why (e.g. by making an announcement, or by asking as you go along) .
If you do use a photo consent form, make clear on it why you are taking photos. For example:
♦ “The images and videos will be used to help further the work of Anytown Community Group.”
♦ “The images and videos will be used to help Anytown Community Group achieve its aims”.
♦ “The images and videos will be used by Anytown Community Group for fundraising and publicity purposes”.
If you think you might want to share the images with another organisation (for example, if you are a PTA, you might want to share them with a school), you should state this on the form too.
To help people understand how the images might be used specifically, it is also a good idea to give some examples of the particular ways you might publish them. This doesn’t need to be an exhaustive list of everything you might ever do with them, so long as you make it clear that you might use them in different ways than those listed. | | | Brighton & Hove Social Welfare and Educational Trust Ltd: Charity no. 287516, Limited Company registered in England no. 1730256, VAT no. 861 1001 75 | Updated: 11/05/15 | Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. You are welcome to copy and share this information, as long as you credit the Resource Centre. To view the full terms of the license, visit [http://creativecommons.org/l](http://creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by-sa/4.0 Photo consent for community groups ♦ Page 2 If you might use them online, you should state this clearly. For example, you could say: ♦ “These images / films may be used by Anytown Community Group in their printed and online publicity, on social media, in newspapers and magazines, or in any other ways that further the aims of Anytown Community Group.” Discuss with your group what you might want to use the photos for, and how. You can use the samples attached as a template to make your own form. (Alternatively, you can use these templates exactly as they are, providing your group agrees with the wording and that it covers everything you want to cover. To do this, just write your group name into the blank boxes on the form.) Photos and films of adults and young people Before taking photos or videos of adults or young people, make sure they understand that they are being photographed and why. Young people can give their own photo consent if they are able to understand what they are consenting to. It is sensible to assume that people aged under 12 can’t do this. You should use your judgement to decide whether people aged 12 and over can give their own consent. If you are not sure they are

FAQs

Why is consent important when taking photos or videos at community events?

Consent helps ensure people photographed are happy to be filmed or photographed and understand how images will be used. It also respects reasons some individuals or children may not want to be included.

What should parents or guardians be told before photographing children?

Inform the parent/guardian you are photographing or filming children and explain why. Make sure they know whether images might be used on a website and consider written consent using a simple consent form.

What legal and data protection principles apply to photos and videos?

Identifiable photographs and media are treated as personal data and must be taken, stored, and used according to data protection principles. They must be used for the purpose collected, kept only as long as necessary, destroyed on request, and secured to prevent access by third parties.

Sep 19, 2026

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