Drinks Policy and Voucher System

This policy is for unsanctioned Special Olympics events that are held by SOWM. This guidance is written with our trip to Pila in mind as we have a special arrangement with the hotel.

Tabs

Athletes are not allowed to run a tab against their room - running a tab gets too complicated to deconflict at the end of the trip around which athlete in the room purchased what.

In Pila the bar in the hotel cannot accept a payment at the time of serving the drink. They would usually add the drink to the tab for the room, but we don’t permit tabs on rooms - instead we use ‘vouchers’.

This does not apply to parents, guardians, carers or volunteers. You are welcome to run a tab against your room and pay the balance at the end of the week - you can pay your tab using card.

Drinks Vouchers

Why?

To avoid running a tab per room the group sells ‘vouchers’. They work like so;

1. The group sells the vouchers to the athletes for euros in cash
2. The athletes purchase drinks using the vouchers, as described below
3. At the end of the week the group passes on the collected cash to the hotel

The group collecting the cash on behalf of the athlete and paying it at the end of the week circumvents the need for a tab on a room.

These vouchers can only be used in the hotel.

Non-alcoholic Drink Vouchers (White Vouchers)

By default the non-alcoholic vouchers cost €20 each and can only be used to purchase non-alcoholic drinks. This excludes water, which is always available for free.

If an athlete loses their voucher they will have to purchase another one if they wish to consume more soft drinks from the bar - it is effectively the same as losing cash.

The non-alcoholic drink vouchers look like:

€	€	€	€	€
€	€	€	€	€
€	€	€	€	€
€	€	€	€	€

The voucher is a 5 x 4 grid of euro symbols - 20 euro symbols in total.

The group can provide €10 non-alcoholic drinks vouchers if required.

Alcoholic Drink Vouchers (Red Vouchers)

For athletes that are 18 or older, the group will allow them to consume alcohol up to the equivalent of two pints per day or the maximum that is specified on their medical forms - whichever is lower. This limit applies even if an athlete is travelling with a parent, carer or guardian.

The alcoholic vouchers cost €10 each. A maximum of one voucher can be purchased per day. If an athlete loses their alcoholic voucher a replacement cannot be purchased until the following day.

Athletes being permitted to purchase alcoholic vouchers is conditional on their behaviour.

The alcoholic vouchers look like:

€	€	€	€	€
€	€	€	€	€

The voucher is a 5 x 2 grid of euro symbols - 10 euro symbols in total.

Using Vouchers

When the athlete goes to the bar and purchases a drink the bar staff will cross off the number of euros that corresponds to the price of the drink.

For example, purchasing a €3 soft drink using the white soft drink voucher would mean three (3) euro symbols would be struck through, like;

█	█	█	€	€
€	€	€	€	€
€	€	€	€	€
€	€	€	€	€

This leaves 17 euro symbols that are not crossed out, so €17 can be spent later.

Likewise purchasing a €4 alcoholic drink using the red alcoholic drink voucher would mean four (4) euro symbols would be struck through, like;

█	█	█	█	€
€	€	€	€	€

This leaves six euro symbols that are not crossed out, so €6 can be spent later.

If an athlete’s voucher is fully used they will need to purchase another one.

FAQs

What is a volunteer is managing my athlete’s money and they’re not back at the same time as my athlete?

The group can still provide your athlete with a voucher.

A note will be made that the athlete owes an amount and this will be taken from the money the group is managing when the volunteer returns.

Conduct

All volunteers and parents must conduct themselves properly and, if they choose to drink, must do so sensibly.

Many of our volunteers do not drink, but there will always be at least three volunteers on any given evening who will not consume any alcohol.