To think charity street fundraisers should be banned?

[Tittletatt]

Not the ones who just have a pot and are asking for small change. The commission earning, high pressure ones employed to pressure you into a direct debit.
My friend in desperation applied to be one and said they were trained in all sorts of manipulative sales techniques and even told to pretend people had dropped money to get their attention.
Apologies if this has been done before but some new ones have just set up in my town. You physically have to move out of their way as they block your path trying to engage you and I just can’t believe they’re still legal.

I'm another who tells them I'm too young to sign for myself

I'm actually 63, so while the race between their brain and their expression's going on, I nip off quickly

“chuggers almost always approach women (91 women for every 6 men in the observation period), “

.....as well as the weak and the vulnerable they nearly always approach women!!

.....as well as the weak and the vulnerable they nearly always approach women!!

I used to collect for a couple of charities as a teenager (volunteer, not paid) and women and people who could least afford it gave the most. Except for the middle-aged men who wanted to hit on me.

There are loads on my local high street, I’ve even had to divert just to avoid them, they are always very rude I literally just ignore them now. They always seem to target me though and I’m a single mum with 4 children always with me I don’t know why they think I have money to spare!

I don't believe in charity companies. I think most of the money goes to the top of the food chain (leaving barely anything to their cause, if anything) and I feel like it's exploitation. It's exploitation of the cause and exploitation of the people donating.

I would rather give my money directly to a homeless person. I know they may not do the "right" thing with it, but neither is a CEO of a corporate style charity. The guy on the side of the road has a much more shitty life than that CEO though. If he wants to take a moment to get a drink and forget his horrible life for a moment, then who am I to judge? He may not just the same.

There was a chugger for the air ambulance in my local hospital the other day. I was going to give some change but they only wanted a direct debit. I was shocked this was allowed, they were quite pushy.

I remember the kids kidney charity used to set up in the hospital where DD was in the renal unit. They mostly gave info but had a couple of tins sat on the table, that is acceptable but not chugging.

I would rather give my money directly to a homeless person. I know they may not do the "right" thing with it, but neither is a CEO of a corporate style charity.

Well unless you can directly give to a woman leaving an abusive relationship, or a donkey, you can only stretch this idea so far. There are smaller, better charities.

They do raise an awful lot of money for charity, as do the door to door knockers. However I completely agree that it's intrusive and I would be happy to see it banned. It would be a shame for the charities but they would just have to find another way.

The door to door ones piss me off so much. They always come during the "witching hour" that time after dinner when you're trying to sort kids out for bed etc.

Come in little groups and descend on the street and blag that other neighbours have been sooooo generous. I always ask which ones because I don't believe them.

The worst for me was when I had a caller who started talking at me about autism. On and on and on. Did I have any clue how hard families with an autistic child have it etc etc. I shut him up when I said yes actually I do know as I've been living and breathing it my whole life, same as my ds who is now 16. Go away!

The street ones tried to target my late dgm who had dementia. They got told too. How disgusting is it to target those who are not capable of making an informed decision?

They actually make me sick.

@Zoflorabore oh yes I get that "your neighboir has just been so generous" My neighbours door is right in front of mine and I can see it from my kitchen window. I often hear her telling them to fuck off as shes not as polite as me.

Another group of people we have coming round are not chuggers but trying to sell gourmet recipe kit deliveries who are equally as pushy and dont believe me when I say that I feed my children and me for a
week on what they charge for a couple of meals.

As someone said above the seem to target me on the street when I'm with my 3 children I think they may think that you will give in to get them out of the way. I did lose it with one when they started trying to talk to me while my son was having a meltdown (asd). That added to the nasty looks from passers by.

At train stations when everyone I'd just trying to get where they're going or get home how can it be worth it?

YY. On Villiers St near Charing X they are an absolute pain in the arse. It is a busy pedestrian street but a few vehicles drive up there. It's a bloody obstacle course running for a train. Chuggers, tourists, cars, posts. No I do not want to spend ten minutes of my lunch break talking to you, nor do I wish to miss my train.

The charity industry has had to change to a a more aggressive way of raising funds, government grant removals, tax changes & the sheer number of charities competing for donors, as mentioned by a pp. The chuggers are just an on street version of the emotive and manipulative tv adverts & mailshots. In our local town centre there is a gaggle of chuggers who accost little old ladies, teenage girls & women with young children (every day sexism right there) I was with my 14 year old DD and we were approached by a male, early 20’s with a clipboard & shit-eating grin. He started to flirt with us both “awww c’mon you babes have got time to chat with me, I’ll make it worth your while” and so on. I gave him my best RBF and said my daughter is 14 and you’re being a pest. He then countered this by looking her up and down and saying...awww no she looks at least 18.
I’d like to say I came back with an articulate response but I just said fuck off and shoved past him. I wish I’d let him dig himself a bigger hole.

Its funny, because everyone hates this way of fundraising yet its still everywhere.

The fake friendliness is horrendous

Yes! They are the bane of my life, if I venture into town I want to relax, get what I need maybe have a nice coffee and go home. I don’t want to avoid eye contact and do a weird dance in the street to avoid people. While we are on the subject, cold callers including charities coming to my door, no. Yesterday the same person come to my door three times. They can all stop phoning me as well. It really hacks me off.

YANBU. I fucking hate them and have to remind myself to be polite when they approach. I do have a degree of sympathy as it's a shit job and they may well be desperate for the employment but the majority of them are so presumptuous and rude.

A guy representing BHF knocked on my door once when I was rushing in from my job to get ready for a Scout meeting where I volunteered and he was full of shit, asking me to 'be a hero' and that for the price of a takeaway coffee I could donate. Only its not just the price of a coffee as once they have your contact details they plague you will calls trying to badger you into donating more. Plus, if I have any left over money in the month for a take away coffee it's a fucking miracle and a treat so they can piss off with that.

I agree with Fatberg too, a charity stand was in my local shopping centre at the weekend, in an area where people are struggling to make ends meet and feed their kids. Unfortunately wider world problems are low on the radar when you are trying to make it through the week on a pittance.

I really dislike them too and the ones that knock in my door. I've told the two biggest agencies who do door to door they are not to come to me which generally has helped. I used to support GOSH on a DD (that I set up myself because I wanted to). After they came to my door 3 times in one day I cancelled my DD and emailed GOSH to let them know why.

@IceIceCoffee I complained about an Oxfam man once. He came to my door and when I wouldn't sign up to a donation he got quite nasty and demanded to know the value of my house and my monthly rent! I wonder if it's part of their 'training'.
To the OP yanbu!

First response 'No thank you'
Second response 'Fuck Off'
Third response very loud 'Leave me alone you creep and stop harassing me'
By which time I am gone, sometimes to applause.

I honestly saw one of these beggars harass someone at a bus stop knowing they couldn’t leave!! It’s absurd

I am happy to shake a tin once a year in our shopping centre for a local hospice, but i do resent having to run the gauntlet Every. Bloody. Day past 3 chuggers who have set themselves up on the tiny road leading to our local tube station.
No eye contact with chuggers is key 👀

I live on the (admittedly small town) high street and am often stopped before I've taken 5 steps from my door.

I usually politely explain that as I live here, I get stopped several times a day, most days, and I'm not interested.
Most of them leave me be after that, but occasionally they just don't get it.
I asked one very pushy bloke if he'd be pleased if myself and my mates pitched up outside his house and pestered him everytime he crossed the threshold.

And it's so unfair when I once read somewhere that only 18% of the actual money donated goes to those in need. The rest goes in the CEO's pocket (well that's dramatic but you know what I mean)

We had several chuggers come round for the RSPCA. One told me that my ndns were giving £3 a week. My ndn came back and asked for proof. I asked how much commission they received, which was met with silence. It was on a dark winter night also.

You should put this to the vote!

There's loads where I live. They're generally loud and male. They shout out things like 'You look nice, you'll stop and talk to me" before blocking your path. They seem to target women and older people and people who can't get away quickly.

Some years ago now I told one I had a hair appointment I had to get to (I did) and he stayed in front of me, waIking backwards while interrogating me about the time of the appointment, saying I did have time to talk to him really and I was making excuses, he then started saying that my hair didn't look like it needed cutting, implying that I was lying. I struggle to deal with situations like this - I was upset about it for ages and ended up avoiding the street (the main one in the city centre) for months.

I'm sure they cause a lot of people a lot of stress and I can't believe that the charities that use them aren't aware of this, they just don't give a fuck.

I wrote the below complaint email to Action for Children last March:

Last night I was just getting out of my car when I was approached by two men claiming to be representatives of your organisation, they did not offer ID although they did appear to be wearing lanyards.

It was ten to eight at night, in March, so it was full dark and the carpark was not well lit, I was a woman on my own and so felt quite intimidated.
Before he told me who they were one of them asked where I live, I was really not comfortable telling him this but he kept asking and I was trying to be polite and get away quickly so agreed that I did live in one of the blocks.
He then said he was a representative of your organisation, I told him I was not interested but he carried on talking, so I told him that I don’t give to chuggers. He seamed quite upset by this, as if I was being unreasonable and finally walked away.

I would like to ask you what you would call two men who approach a lone woman in a dark carpark to ask for money if it is not muggers? The fact that they were collecting for a charity does not make the situation less frightening! If this had been on a busy street or in daylight it would have been expected, but what happened last night was not acceptable.

I would suggest that you review your training and guidelines to ensure that your representatives are a little bit more thoughtful and self-aware

This is the reply I got several months later after chasing:

We have spoken to the regional Manager who has investigated the complaint with the Fundraiser in question. The Fundraiser did recall the conversation, and is very apologetic that you were made to feel intimidated, as that was not their intention. Our Fundraisers are trained not to approach members of the public away from their doors, and the Fundraiser states this is why they enquired as to whether you lived in the blocks they were approaching.
The Fundraiser remembers the conversation that he had with you confirming that you lived there, which is why he attempted to start a conversation with you. The Fundraiser then stated that they recalled you mentioning that you were not interested, which prompted the Fundraiser to end the conversation and leave.

The Regional Manager has decided to take no action on this occasion as the Fundraiser has followed HOME’s 3Rs policy: recognize, respect and retreat, and has been compliant with regards to our training concerning objection handling (up to three times). However, please be assured that the Fundraiser has been reminded of what is expected of them as an ambassador for Action for Children, and to be more thoughtful and to use their judgement more carefully moving forward.

I replied that I had felt genuinely frightened and intimidated by the experience and there was certainly very little respect shown but they were apparently fine with it.