Autism and ABA - would you canvass door to door to ask for money?

[mamadadawahwah]

HI, i am starting an aba program for my son and tallied up how much its going to cost. Between therapists and consultants it comes to over £200.00 per week. This is a conservative estimate. Like most of you, i cant afford it, my trust/education board is not going to pay for it so i was thinking i would just go canvassing. I would put a cute picture of my son on a tin can and ask people to spare a few pence to help him have a future.

Any of you done this? What would your reaction be if i came to your door?? I worry people will ask why i am not collecting for other kids on the program, but no one i know is doing aba. Its strictly unheard of where i live anyway.
reactions please

Mama, why don't you try putting leaflets through local doors, rather than knocking. Explain in writing what you're doing, and ask if anyone can help - in any way, whether it's money, giving up a few hours a week to train & work as one of your tutors, or if they have something they could donate if you hold a fund-raising auction. Lots of people have access to things through their work that could be raffled off.

That way you'll only have to talk to the nice people who want to help.

mmhhh good ideas. Hubby just said if i go knocking door to door, he will disown me. So thats that out the window. I should add, however, i already made £10.00 on this street alone. I guess i will just have to be a "closet" door knocker. Tell him i am away to the next town to do some shopping. Today, i put collection tins in three shops. Will see how that goes and will let you all know. I KNOW you are all eager to hear how this turns out! Cause if it works, you might want to try it yourself!!!

I would rather be shot from a canon
Good luck to you mmddww. BTW, are you using that ABA svs provider in NI run by Mary Hopton-Smith?

MMDDWW

No I certainly would not try what you're doing but you seem determined to go ahead regardless.

I can well understand why you're doing this; if you're desperate you would try anything but if you get caught the council will take action against you. It is illegal to collect monies in such a manner and especially so putting collection tins in shops. You are not running a registered charity and the shop owners are probably ignorant of the law regarding this as well.

Would instead put your many energies into insisting the LEA in question fund the ABA programme.

I'm sure you will say it's none of my business but I think it's important to stay united with your husband on the way you go ahead with your child's treatments / fund raising etc. I would be livid if I found my dh was lying to me and doing something I didn't want him to do in secret whether it was for the children or not.

MMDDWW I for one will definately not want to try this myself as per your post, my child isn't starving, destitute or uncared for and never will be regardless of his disability. There are far more deserving out there and i wouldn't dream of taking from the charities that help them so my child could resemble 'normal'.

Davros, my provider is from Germany with 18 years experience (12 in the U.K.) He has just moved here and seems to be spot on. As i have a good understanding of german, we hit it off great.

Who is Mary and where does she work from? I would be interested in others who are doing this over here.

You have to get permission for a door to door collection (so it doesn't clash with other charities etc) and get a special ID card, you know that right?

I got funding for my ds1's BIBIC therapy by contacting the aid organisation linked to my husbands job (not his employer... no hope there I reckon!)

check here for details.

I have just collected for Marie Curie and I had to have an identification card, that was valid for a limited period of time.

When I had collected the meny, I had to open the envelpes in front of a withness (couldn't be a member of the family) who had to sign that I had collected the amount of money state. this was to keep in line with a specific act of paliament relating to door to door collections (1947)

You might want to check with the charities comission about leaving tins in shops too... FWIW i think you're on really dodgy ground without being registered, we (OK, a volunteer) (I was a charity fundraiser once upon a time) left a charity number off a poster ONCE- and it was Macmillan Cancer Relief, so we weren't exactly unknown- and got threatened with court proceedings.

charity comission

Also, your Local Government administers the licences etc so they need to be informed too.

found this on the website

Statutory provisions controlling fund-raising
Street collections
23. Raising money or selling goods for charity in streets or public places usually requires a permit or licence from either the appropriate local authority or if the collection takes place in London, the local police or the Common Council of the City of London.

24. Under the Police, Factories, etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916, the Charitable Collections (Transitional Provisions) Order 1974 and the Street Collections (Metropolitan Police District) Regulations 1979 local regulations may be made. These deal with such matters as the obstruction and hindrance caused to traffic by flag days, carnivals, rag weeks etc and the places where, and the conditions under which, persons may collect money or sell articles for charitable and other purposes. The relevant authority should be consulted before any attempt is made to raise funds in its area.

House-to-house collections
25. House-to-house collections must have a licence or an exemption. Licences are granted by either the appropriate local authority or if the collection is in London, the local police or the Common Council of the City of London.

26. Exemptions from the need to obtain a licence may be granted by:

the Home Secretary - for a collection over a wide area (the whole of England and Wales or a substantial part of it); or
the local Police - for a local collection to be completed within a short period.
27. The term collection includes visits from house to house, and also visits to public houses, offices and factories to appeal for money, other property (for example clothes) or to sell things on the basis that part of the proceeds will go to a charity. At present these collections are regulated by the House-to-House Collections Act 1939, and the House-to-House Collections Regulations 1947 and 1963.

(and even as a Mum of a child with ASD, if you came knocking on my door without ID I'd call the Police if I didn't know you)

there are other ways of doing this- we have posted some contacts for you.

And just as a guide, I used to door-to-door for St Johns in flag week in full uniform, and got £112 for five evenings work, which made me top cadet for collecting

and I bet you looked smashing tin the uniform

I netted 12.72 for two hours collecting for Marie Curie Cancer this weekend.

hey, I looked a sexy diva

Loved the heavy woolen jumper and stiff grey dress... yes indeed, I was fortunate to be of the era that got BOTH disgusting uniforms!!!!!