To feel a bit harassed by charity worker

[Hardknocks]

Was on my way back from a meeting in London this evening, had to stop at the ticket machine to get my ticket a charity person came over to ask for a donation - I said I couldn’t afford it (I couldn’t), but I usually do give something. However this guy was so pushy, putting leaflets in my face, telling me he lost his brother to knife crime etc etc. He put £25 into his card reader and just kept saying ‘just tap your phone, tap your phone’. I politely asked him to move so that I could get past and through the train barrier but he said not until I tap.. so feeling completely intimidated I did.

I feel stupid, I couldn’t afford £25. I don’t begrudge giving to charity at all and I do where I can. AIBU to feel a bit upset about the whole thing.

Radio silence from TfL, as expected really. I've complained to BTP and Islington Council too, but expect the same (non) response.

Isn't it strange that the only people who respond within minutes are saying "not my problem"?
Still, I'll spam everyone I can think of and maybe someone will do something about it. <hollow laugh>

TFL are actually usually pretty good at giving a response, but I’ll bet it’ll be along the lines of not our circus, not our monkeys.

@FanofLeaves further back in the thread it was said that when these people were inside the station they were told by staff to leave.
This is the problem - if they aren't inside either station (it's two opposite each other) then it's genuine that TfL has no authority to tell them to leave 🙁

I took this from Reddit where there’s actually a thread going about how intimidating these ‘charity fundraisers’ are.

www.reddit.com/r/london/s/EySlOt4Yqs

@FanofLeaves you'd think they would have got the hint by now that they are pissing everyone off 🤔

I was approached by one of these guys from Uplifterz Union on Saturday.

He wasn't too bad, remained polite as I told him I definitely couldn't afford any of the 3 prices shown on the page, the lowest being £25.

I did pay £10 but I automatically thought it was a charity that would be helping out youth in more ways than just to help with their careers, had I listened better perhaps I would've refused to pay anything and given to a well known real charity instead.

Call your bank asap and cancel the transaction

I was in Farringdon today at noon (3 'chuggers') and again this evening at about half eight (5 of them). They completely left me alone and I wonder if they've noticed / shared info about me as someone asking difficult questions ;)

Jo

I've been to Farringdon three times in the last few weeks and not seen a single Community Interest Company 'chugger' on any of those visits. I asked a member of TfL staff if he knew where they'd gone and he hadn't heard anything.

I wonder if some action has been taken, or if I just happened to be there at times when they were elsewhere. Maybe they've concluded that they've overexploited Farringdon (perhaps were getting diminishing returns) and so, like jacket-wearing locusts, have moved en masse to a different area to try and harvest there ;)

Jo

Pitched up outside Euston near the M&S

the likelihood of the money going to charity is very small.
report to police or transport police, and the charity concerned.

After getting pressured by a doorstep seller 30 years ago I vowed I would never give any of my time or money to anyone on the doorstep, on the phone or in the street. It really helps to take away having to make a decision in the moment. Then it's easy to just say no.

The best way I've found to shut them up is to say "Are you a volunteer?" because they never are, and the question blindsides them long enough for you to gather your wits and politely tell them to fuck off suggest they stop bothering you now.

I think that works for 'chuggers' (charity muggers) but these ones are employed by a Community Interest Company (CIC), so not a charity, to sell magazines and extract donations (despite the fact that it's not exactly legal for them to fundraise). Similarly I think Big Issue sellers receive a fee for selling the magazine but they can't / shouldn't take donations.

It is legitimate / legal for the CICs to sell the magazine but not at inflated prices and they're not allowed to ask for donations or harangue people. All of which they seem to be doing (though they've not done it personally to me, other than the magazine).

Jo

Oh well in that case, I'd just tell them to piss off or I'll call a constable.

"Why can’t anyone stop the “fundraising” groups standing outside the capital’s stations?" (17 July 2025) London Centric (reporting by Rachel Rees and Liv Facey) https://www.londoncentric.media/p/inside-success-fundraisers-chuggers-london-railway-stations (scroll to about halfway down the page) - basically CIC 'chuggers' are exploiting a loophole (designed to make it easier to sell printed material), combined with the fact that no-one seems to know which authority / jurisdiction they fall under (or rather, between!).

Also I just noticed that Uplifterz Union C.I.C. (the company whose staff originally harangued OP) has changed its name to Youth Elevation CIC https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15944885, also on the 17th (though I doubt there's any link as it would have to have already been set in train and they're not mentioned in the article).

Jo

ZOMBIE THREAD but minor update & summary :)
Untick the tick box next to 'Watch this thread' towards the bottom of the page to avoid any future updates.

Note: these are not charities but Community Interest Companies (CIC) so are regulated differently. The term 'chugger' (neologism of 'charity mugger', in the sense that they are raising funds and tend to be unpleasantly persistent) is still used for them however.

As of 16 December 2025 one of the Uplifterz/s companies is dissolved after being compulsorily struck off.

However there are a few companies with similar names, all have the same business address.

1 - Uplifterz CIC - dissolved 16 Dec 2025
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15835071

2 - Uplifters Agency Ltd - not a CIC, still running, though its confirmation statement is late. Same director as #1.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/16102520

3 - Youth Elevation CIC - still running, used to be known as Uplifterz Union C.I.C. and has different director from #1 and #2.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15944885

--

A completely separate (different directors, different operting address) is the more famous Inside Success which goes and has gone by several names.

One of them, Inside Success Ltd, is late with its confirmation statement
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15932606 - see the article in the first paragraph in my preceding post for more on them and the CIC fundraising sector as a whole.

Jo