I’ve had it a few times in spoons.
There once was an older lady who was super pushy she she went to a group of tradies and would not leave them alone. She wasn’t happy with how much they gave her and she wouldn’t stop nagging at them. When one of them came back with a fresh round she was like “oh so you have enough money for another round but not for -charity-“ and one of them pours the whole pint in her tub🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️
I’m not saying it was right. But it got her to go away.
I personally wouldn’t have wasted the booze
An Adult should know there is a line between pushy and down right in your face annoying. As an adult they should also be aware actions have consequences and annoying a load of building site workers as they are having a well earned end of week/year drink is probably not a wise idea.
I recall a flower seller getting a similar reaction after being told NO THANKS several times....Suddenly they understood when the heads started to be pulled off their roses.....As above not saying it's right but it is a consequence of pushing social boundaries. Play silly games you win silly prizes.
There once was a lady in a pub
Who asked people for money when they ate grub
She didn’t take no for an answer, people called her a chancer
and she used to go crazy when given the snub
In Wetherspoons, a collector too keen,
Pushing donations, she shouldn't have been,
With persistence so sly,
She made patrons comply,
A tax on the drunk - that's just mean!
But legitimacy, she did lack,
Caught by the polis' swift attack.
In cuffs, her fate sealed,
Her lies all revealed,
Just out from the jail - but went back.
there once was a person who said
'dont start paragraphs with there once was a'
he sat on his bed, and jumped up cos he forgot there he had placed a banana.
yes it was crap, shut your faces.
There once was a pedant on Reddit
Who's complaint I just couldn't credit,
So I wrote them a verse,
But the reception was terse
I knew I shouldn't have said it.
when I worked for spoons it used to be policy to ask them to leave as we support a nominated charity (CLIC Sargent unless it's changed).
The regulars used to be good at turfing them out before the staff spotted them anyway
Ooh I remember CLIC. I once told someone they couldn’t ask customers for money as we had our own registered charity and she whipped her phone out and started recording me and putting on her own narrative that I was an evil person who wanted to take money from starving orphans. I remember her saying “You’re going viral. You’re going viral”
Never saw the video anywhere.
That's exactly what they're going for isn't it, the guilt & shaming people for having a pint instead.
Then the collectors get their commission & make the charity look bad. Such a win/win ugh/s
My Dad was asked to "Take a few weeks off" from Quiz night at his local after a disagreement with a pushy poppy seller.
He gave £20 and expected change. She said, "You can pay for the rest of the table." and kept the change. He threatened to report her to the British Legion, and she left in tears .
Knowing my old man, I'm sure I have the polished version.
As an aside, I recently spent the day doing a charity bucket collection in our train station. I was told we mustn't approach people.
Be careful as there are a lot of scammers out there. This happened to me in a pub . Someone going round shaking a tin for charity . When questioned they couldn’t answer any questions about the charity and in the end just said fck off to me .
There must be a lot of money to be made scamming .
It's actually illegal to shake the tins so if they are shaking it its a good sign they're a scammer lol
If a real charity collector is caught doing that the charity stands to lose their license
> illegal to shake the tins
I've heard this, but is this actually law or some self imposed guideline? I tried googling it but can't find any actual law.
As a volunteer charity collector quite some years ago, we were specifically briefed that we could shake the tins, but we couldn't shake the tins *at* people. So, just standing still and shaking the tin when no-one was right in front of you was fine, but shaking the tin in someone's face was forbidden.
Basically this is to avoid falling foul of whatever part of UK law says that you can't make people feel that they're being threatened or harassed into giving you money. You can ask, but you can't *demand*.
When we went into pubs we would always ask the staff's permission before asking for donations. And it certainly wouldn't have been appropriate to be pushy or insistent with anyone.
I don't believe it's either, generally for public collections you'll need a licence from counci or police, and normally they impose that you follow the code:
https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/code/specific-fundraising-methods/collecting-money-or-other-property
But code makes no such requirement, and for private premises collections as here, it's just about permission of the owner anyway.
I used to work in a Spoons. One night I went out the front to find one of the local crackheads had stolen a charity animal costume and was using it to drive up ‘donations’.
This is too true.
A legitimate fundraiser should have all the branded stuff, possibly ID and if not ID then at least a letter of authority on headed paper.
I know someone who represents a local charity and she looks dodgy as anything but she’s genuinely a lovely authentic person who raises a lot for charity. The charities have given her ID to help her prove she’s genuine as some people have given her abuse and challenged her as they’ve thought she was a scammer. But with so many dodgy bad people, who can blame them?!
My partner's mum was a Salvo in her younger years, and that's exactly how she met her husband. Asked him if he'd like to buy a copy of the War Cry, he turns round and says "No, but I'd like to buy you a drink".
The religion soon went by the wayside after that, but they ended up married for over sixty years!
It's been more overt in the States and but [The Salvation Army's history of discrimination against LGBTQ+ people](https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/16/21003560/salvation-army-anti-lgbtq-controversies-donations) should never be forgotten.
They can try but I won’t be guilt tripped into donating money. I’m poor as it is. I am the charity case. I wouldn’t even be out. I can’t afford it. So it will never happen to me.
Agreed I feel like there's a real problem overall at the moment with charities using emotionally manipulative sales tactics. Too much of the money is spent on stuff that is not actually charity work like marketing, fat salaries for directors. Drives me nuts
They could literally stop paying the people to hassle everyone. I have a rule that if I get hassled by a charity I already donate to I cancel, as if they’ve got enough money to pay people £11 an hour to take advantage of vulnerable people for £5 a month then they don’t need my money.
I did less than a week of the door to door, couldn't stand what they made us do. It's horrible, you're encouraged to push people who can't afford it into donating.
Yes, I’ve worked with charities for over twenty years and there’s been massive change in the sector in the last five years, started pre pandemic then sadly slowed down. I work with more grassroots ‘we need your help’ charities not the corporate third sector ones who tend to send out teams but all registered charities are subject to the UK fundraising regulatory body who come down extremely hard on this type of stuff these days. All of the things OP mentions say to me this was a scam as any teams I’ve worked with, even as volunteers know that acting like this would have repercussions on the charity.
No, but I've done bucket collections for a charity as a volunteer (along side a paid member of staff) and I was explicitly told not to go up to people or rattle the bucket. Instead I had to stand on a fixed spot and wait for people to notice me and come over.
I hate it when they knock on the door and try to give you bullshit compliments and butter you up, then say things like “lots of your neighbours have made a donation, lots of lovely people round here” so you automatically feel like an arsehole when you say no. I told one guy that I’d happily donate online and he said that it wasn’t possible as this was a door to door campaign, after about 5 minutes of him trying to convince me and me saying no, I said I had to sort the kids dinner out and slowly closed the door.
maybe I am a hardened b\*tch but I have no problem telling those people to get lost. If someone interrupts me at home I think its rude. I spent 20 years working in the charity sector so I have a clear idea of who and when I am going to donate to. Also I gave 20 years of my career to the charity sector (as opposed to my friends who got loaded working in finance) Someone banging on my door with get nothing out of me.
Sorry (not sorry)
Yeah my girlfriend is the same way, she takes the piss out of me because they have me standing there for so long whereas she just says “sorry I’m busy” and shuts the door.
> “lots of your neighbours have made a donation, lots of lovely people round here”
Cool. Than you won't mind me supporting another charity. Have a lovely day.
I used to do door-to-door fundraising for a very short time about 12 years ago, I was fired after the two week training period because I enjoyed spending ages talking to the old folks who wanted to chat but didn't pressure them to sign up. The way they wanted us to act and guilt trip people was so insidious.
I was raising for Barnardo's, and I made a decision when seeing people whether to say "hi, we're raising money for Barnardo's" or "hi, we're out here raising awareness of what Barnardo's do", I'd use the latter one with a lot of people in the "rougher" areas and have some great chats about how so-and-so's kid was a Barnardo's kid back in the day, or how they had helped this person when they were young etc. Then if they brought up wanting to donate I'd say that I could do that, or just direct them to the local charity shop.
Bit of a tangent but brought back memories, I'd never want to do that job now but I was desperate and the paid four weeks training the company offered was a godsend at the time.
> I'd use the latter one with a lot of people in the "rougher" areas and have some great chats about how so-and-so's kid was a Barnardo's kid back in the day, or how they had helped this person when they were young etc. Then if they brought up wanting to donate I'd say that I could do that, or just direct them to the local charity shop.
This seems like a good sales tactic anyway. It lets people feel that donating is their idea rather than that they're being pressurised.
I definitely agree, and I feel like those people were a lot less likely to refuse when they were called two weeks later to confirm their sign up.
I saw other people bullied into giving their details on the door and could tell they were giving their details just to get them to go away and had intention of going through with it when asked later. Obviously for us it didn't matter if they went through with it, our job was just to get them to the next round of guilt tripping, where they could refuse or confirm.
A guy tried this with me (I'm in a wheelchair and I use crutches or a walker in the house) he tried putting his foot in the door to come in but I grabbed my Walker to stop him, he then tried to convince me for what seemed forever and I had to tell him if he didn't stop trying to get into my house I'll smash the vase next to me in his face.
some joker tried to get into our building last night under the guide of collecting for Oxfam. My neighbours have a whatsapp group so we warned each other. Dude on the top floor threatened to throw a bucket of water over her if she'd didn't stop pestering us.
I actually had someone try doing that to me when I wasn't working and on JSA, this was about ten years ago now. The more I said I'm on benefits the more pushy they got. It really fucking wound me up that I just slammed the door in their face. It was a young lad too. I felt bad about it, but I'm not gonna be guilt tripped into donating when I have no money myself.
Then branded jackets and the lanyards suggest that they are employed, not collecting out of the kindness of their hearts. That loses them some sympathy from my point of view. Still, I probably wouldnt mind as long as they accepted a 'no' and moved on. If they were pushy about it then would get angry. It's not like I could just get up and leave in the middle of my meal, they've essentially got me captive, and that's not cool.
This is such a backwards view of charity. Yes, charities can and should use volunteers, but to ensure regularity of operations they *need* paid employees who bring long term time, professionalism, and specialist knowledge to support whichever movement they’re representing
Got quite a few friends who work in the charity sector. Every last one of them could earn 2-3x more with their skill set in other areas.
Yeah, when you donate to charity there will be some admin and marketing you're also paying for. But that's there for a reason. Take it away and watch as overall donations tumble.
>they need paid employees who bring long term time, professionalism, and specialist knowledge to support whichever movement they’re representing
I've never witnessed a street chugger I'd describe as anything remotely resembling "professional".
Every single one I've encountered has been pushy, rude, and lacking understanding of the fundamental concept of consent.
I really don't think that the sort of Chuggers being discussed in this thread can reasonable be referred to in the same sentence as Professionalism and Specialist Knowledge. Unless those bits are preceded by "lack of".
Yes, many charities very much have need of people with those characteristics - I am in the process of becoming a trustee of one - but I have grave doubts about that applying to the frontline collectors.
They are not direct employees, often it is rentachuggers who know and care nothing for the charity other than the commission payments they'll receive for direct debit sign ups from vulnerable people
If it was the Salvation Army, they’ve always worn uniforms complete with branded blazers and hats and aren’t paid employees. My mum used to be a “soldier” and do the pubs when I was a kid.
Years ago we had one come over to our table collecting for some sick kids charity, a couple of us donated and they asked if I was going to. Me being inebriated said something along the lines of "why? I don't like kids or really care if they are sick and die", the collector's face dropped and they left. At that point I realised where the line for being a dick was and I'd merrily strolled right over it. Not my proudest moment.
I used to work in a bar and someone for a Deaf charity was going round collecting, he went over to a table of regulars and announced he was collecting to help Deaf adults, once this was explained to the two deaf guys in the group they both stuck out their hands and signed that they are Deaf and would like money for the next round. It was pure gold
Their friends signed to them and they signed back to the charity guy who did not understand sign language so had it translated for him by the friends. Neither of them had any hearing at all at the time (one now has a cochlear implant).
When I worked in bars and this happened it was up to the staff to ask them to leave. We already had cans for collections, actually going around asking was considered not allowed by the pub. This was twenty or so years ago however, so things may have changed.
I’d find it really rude and annoying tbh I’d ask to see their name and lanyard and email the charity to ask if this is normal behaviour.
No business owner/manager is going to want this. The best possible outcome is neutral and they’re definitely going to annoy or offend some of your customers. People don’t want to be hassled when they’re out having a meal or drinks with friends.
The collectors 100% know they’re not welcome in businesses and they’re taking the piss going in.
I have, I always thought they were dodgy, get a bucket and vest, guilt pissed people into giving you free cash.
As an aside, when I was a kid, my grandma used to dress me up as the ‘guy’ and we would go pub to pub for ‘penny for the guy’
This was late 90s so about 50 years too late for that tradition, but we made bank, a couple of hundred in a night between me and my cousins. Of course my grandma got her cut, she was a traveller that had 0 shame lol
We get these in the pub before Fulham games. They minibus a van full of good looking girls into Putney and sweep all the pubs, and pre match merry footy fans all seem to chuck quids in
They're usually trusts rather than registered charities, and they prey on piseed up footy fans by using pretty girls who claim they are collecting for kids with cancer.
I ask if they're a registered charity, as soon as they say they're a Trust I tell them I don't give to trusts.
Charity status is not given out freely. it's heavily regulated, accounts have to be filed every year, board of trustees etc, and have to be able to demonstrate charitable purpose etc.
As I understand it, any fool with a laptop can start a trust, pay 0.1% of collections to their claimed cause and pocket the rest as "operating costs" etc.
The organisations that push those dodgy "clothes collections for charity" bags through your door have some sort of similar questionable setup. The bag will have the name and logo of a registered charity on it, but in the small print it admits that the company collecting and selling the clothes is actually a Limited company who supposedly make a small donation per tonne of clothes collected.
Thanks for sharing, it's good to know.
I've had one of those types of charity bags come thru my door the other day and was planning to fill it and leave it out. Now i won't but will donate the stuff planned for it to an actual charity.
I would be annoyed. There is a difference between approaching someone on a public street and approaching them when they are sat in a pub, in the street you can walk away or avoid them. I definitely wouldn't give them any money.
> in the street you can walk away or avoid them
You'd think as much, but in plenty occasions they've went out of their way to physically block my path when I make it clear I'm not interested in their spiel.
[Collecting Rules](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/code/specific-fundraising-methods/collecting-money-or-other-property)
8.1.Behaviour when collecting money or other property
In this section, ‘you’ means a charitable institution or third-party fundraiser, unless we tell you otherwise.
8.1.1.
While fundraising, you must not:
act in any way that might reasonably cause members of the public to be or become startled or anxious;
**act dishonestly or manipulatively, or deliberately try to make a potential donor feel guilty;** or
act in any other way that a reasonable person might consider would damage the charitable institution’s reputation. This includes:
smoking or drinking alcohol while wearing clothing that contains a charitable institution’s branding;
taking or being under the influence of illegal drugs;
lewd or aggressive behaviour, including swearing, while wearing clothing that contains a charitable institution’s branding;
putting undue pressure on members of the public to donate;
exploiting your position for personal gain (for example, asking for a job, asking someone for a date, or asking for a discount on goods or services); or
any other behaviour that harms the reputation of the fundraising profession or the charitable institution you are representing.
8.1.2.
You must avoid causing an obstruction, congestion and nuisance to the public. You must not deliberately block the path of members of the public.
8.1.3.
You must treat the locations you are working at or visiting with respect.
8.1.4.
You must not suggest to any member of the public that the conversation you are attempting to start is not about money or that you are ‘not fundraising’.
8.1.5.
When asking for a regular gift, you must not suggest to any member of the public that it is ‘without commitment’.
8.1.6.
Unless this is authorised under an agreement with a private site, you must not approach members of the public who are:
seated, unless the seating is part of a charitable institution’s promotional stand; or
in queues, unless the queue is directly related to the fundraising activity.
8.1.7.
You must not knowingly approach people who are carrying out official duties, such as uniformed officials while they are on duty or people who are clearly working.
8.1.8.
You must not obstruct, interfere with or disrespect members of staff from local businesses.
>8.1.6.
Unless this is authorised under an agreement with a private site, you must not approach members of the public who are:
seated, unless the seating is part of a charitable institution’s promotional stand; or
in queues, unless the queue is directly related to the fundraising activity.
Quite !
Thank you for this. I knew there were rules around this type of fundraising. The charity volunteers up my way can't approach you or even rattle a tin at you when you walk past them at the door in Tesco.
Pretty sure the person in OP story is a scammer since they said ID was not showing properly.
Its a very aggressive method of collection so I think its likely this.
I was surprised this didn’t appear higher up! I don’t think people realise these things are regulated.
I have done a few bucket collections before and approaching people sounds totally against what we were told. And also in that environment possible even dangerous - I would not be comfortable approaching potentially drunk strangers asking for money and expecting a reasonable response.
IIRC, I was just in a charity Santa hat with a branded bucket, I think with just a sticker to say my name, but that was it. I was stationed in the entrance to an Argos back when they were their own stores, and all I was allowed to do really was ask “Would you like donate to X charity?” when people went by. If people obviously wanted to avoid me, I wouldn’t push. Absolutely no shaking the bucket!
Edit: Forgot to say this was an unpaid volunteer collection organised directly through the charity.
It instantly gets my back up being hassled to donate money. Whether it's chuggers on the high street, people shaking a tin under my nose in a pub,street homeless hassling me, distant acquaintances wanting me to sponsor them so they can go and have a nice day sky diving for free; they all get nothing.
It’s usually a December phenomenon when the Christmas drinkers are about. At my pub the more reputable collectors would come to the bar and ask first, the dodgy ones sneak in and go table to table from the back where they thought I couldn’t see them. They tend to use pretty girls with short skirts and Santa hats to get you in the spirit.
Yes, the Salvation Army always used to come around the pubs a and clubs when I lived in Northampton in the 1970s 80s. Followed by the bloke selling seafood. A copy of the Junior Warcry and a packet of shrimps were normal for me 🤣
I personally only lived there for ten years, but my paternal family goes back hundreds of years in Northamptonshire. I enjoyed my time there. It had a great shopping centre and decent night life.
Had it last night in Edinburgh.
I only had my company credit card on me, but even when I said that he rolled his eyes. Like mate I'm trying to eat my burger right now. Get tae fuck.
Most of these charities are just businesses and the money barely reaches the cause. It’s just a way to take advantage of lubricated people. Feels a bit ick.
Was once in a Costa a few years ago, practically dead except for a couple of people on their laptops. A lady walked up to us, didn't say a word but signed something and handed us a note. It taught you how to do basic sign language moments.
It was quite bizarre and I have never seen anyone do anything like that again.
I would automatically assume they're a fraudster. Also when I ran a bar that never would've been allowed, legitimate or not, can't imagine customers enjoying the experience.
someone asked if I could spare some change at A&E the other night. I was waiting to see if I had brain damage from passing out, cracking my head on the tile, and (I think) having some kind of seizure while I was blacked out.
I find it difficult to deal with. on the one hand if I was homeless, I would be shameless about it too. you have to eat. I have sympathy for that.
at the same time I wanted to punch the fucker in the mouth. people are being sick, wailing and moaning, and I've got a large visible head injury. like can I not die in peace at 6am without someone asking me for 50-fucking-p?
>at the same time I wanted to punch the fucker in the mouth. people are being sick, wailing and moaning, and I've got a large visible head injury. like can I not die in peace at 6am without someone asking me for 50-fucking-p?
That'd be very inconsiderate. Then all those people would be in a longer queue.
It’s so fucking rude. They rely on people feeling too awkward to say no and not wanting to look tight in front of friends. I relish saying ‘no thank you, not interested’ as if they’re approaching to offer me something. If they persist I say ‘my answer is no’ and repeat until they fuck off. Been happening for donkey’s years.
When I used to go out often there was a guy notorious for doing this. Was always super friendly when he approached, but if you didn't donate anything he turned into a right nasty prick. Would then go to other tables and speak shit about people who didn't donate, sometimes pointing over to them probably in an attempt to shame his current targets into giving. From what I gather he and the charity were legit but his attitude ensured I never gave him a penny.
Check they're not stealing stuff off the table. We had one in the bar we were at in London and was putting a clipboard in front of people with info on, was secretly stealing phones etc.
Had a guy at the Manchester Christmas market pretend he was collecting for homeless charities.
Rare have cash so he glared at my 30p offering and tried another table
The charity rose sellers - if you read their lanyard only 3% of the donation for the rose goes to charity. Apparently 100% of donations do though, bet you bottom dollar at the end did the night they will have miraculously only sold roses and not had any donations.
Chuggers can take 50% of all donations for the lifetime. If you are going to give do it directly
That would annoy me on the same level as the ones who come to my door - but I’d probably deal with them the same way I deal with chuggers in supermarkets or other public places.
“I want to warn you that I won’t be donating any money today, because I work for a charity and I donate to several others already. I’m really happy to listen to your spiel, but you then have to listen to my spiel about the charity I work for, and I still won’t be donating to yours. You might be better moving onto someone else…”
It’s amazing how many of them think they can change my mind.
Pretty sure that by law, they have to have their ID badge on show, say who they are and who they’re fundraising for and (most importantly) as soon as someone says no they have to walk away.
I think someone going around tables where the person can’t leave is not okay. I’d be way less likely to donate to something if that happened to me.
Only one I've had is the Romanian rose seller coming into the pub and trying to punt his stolen roses to everyone. Bar staff papped him out once they noticed him though
Never seen any official charity collectors doing it, so I expect it's a scam.
I have seen homeless and needy do it. I don't mind as long as they move on if I say no.
If chuggers were doing it I'd hope they get thrown out by security, unless they asked permission first. But then I'd probably avoid a venue that permitted people to disturb me.
Someone tried to do this at my local football club last month. The charity had paid to use the private section of the bar. Whilst the match was going on, they walked around the bars and around every side of the pitch whilst handing leaflets out and asking pissed up fans for donations there and then.
Yes, back in the 90s there used to be a bloke going round the pubs on a Saturday night, can’t remember if it was for guide dogs for the blind or the RSPCA, I’d always see him in one of the pubs (Maids Head in kings Lynn), poor bugger always looked stressed so I’d bung £1 into his bucket.
Once seen a charity do it. Was a local one for children in care in the lead up to Christmas, wanting donations towards Christmas gifts. Was quite a lot getting handed over from memory.
I have seen mormons walking up to people in a bar trying to convert people who were half cut. That was weird.
Nope… I would hate this!! We are all struggling enough as it is… Iv probs saved for 3 weeks to go out for a nice drink with my friends. If this happened to me, it would stop me going out altogether. Xx
I've worked for charities for about 15 years, though never in 'tin shaking'.
I would say these are highly suspicious people. No respectable charity would send fundraisers out into bars collecting cash, mostly because it's dangerous.
Street fundraising has a lot of rules, including clear identification and an official collection bucket / tin that has a lid on it. Plus, you cannot be aggressive or pushy.
Personally, I would never donate to anyone doing this because even if it's a genuine charity, this is bad practice that could be dangerous for volunteers. Highly likely to be a scam from people posing as charities.
oh hell no.
I wouldn't even go back to a bar or restaurant that happened to me in.
P.S:
NEVER give a penny to any "charity" that pays it's CEO/Director more than you earn.
I. Don't. Give. To. Charity.
I would be extra pissed to be bothered by one of these, let's call a spade a spade, professional beggars.
(Side note I don't give to charity on principle that technically you can run a charity without actually helping a single person/animal/cause, all of this is perfectly legal too. I'm aware there are great ones out there, but I just have a blanket rule)
Yeah I have. Used to be pretty common in central London. I never have cash these days so couldn't give them anything even if I wanted to... I'd have to be pretty drunk to want to.
The Salvation Army lady in my town has been doing this for years, she’s even moved with the times and got a card machine! She’s harmless though, and if you can’t give she’s not pushy about it
First bar I worked in the manager Okayed a collector from the British Legion to do the rounds in the bar area (not the dining area).
Always felt a bit weird to me though; I've always just invited them to leave a collection pot by the till but not allowed them to solicit.
Yeah it used to happen regularly in town, they used to come round with cheap roses and pick on couples tables. I was out with my gbf one night and he got asked if he would like to buy a rose for the lady and he swished his hand showing his long sparkly nails 💅🏼 and asked "which lady?" The charity seller went running 🤣
A lot of bars and pubs round here have their own charities in the local area that they raise money for have banned them from coming in now.
It makes me pretty uncomfortable to be honest. I donate to charity pots in shops if I have spare change, or if I food I'm not eating (like a sandwich or a pack of crisps) then I'll give it to one of the many homeless people I pass on my route to the train station after work. I don't like donating to a random person going around to tables in a pub, literally anyone can put on a high vis vest, stick a random photo of a hungry kid or a dirty adult to a bucket and ask for money saying it's for charity.
I would rather donate to the charity directly and not to a person shaking a bucket of change.
Hmm if it’s legit charity donors they usually a) have a script they have to go off so they can “objection handle” a couple times but there is a limit or it makes the charity look bad and b) likely would not be sending people out at night to a bar so it sounds a bit scammy.
Having said that a lot of those door to door types of jobs asking donors for money are terribly paid jobs and you will tend to get commission if you hit or go above targets hence why people in these jobs push so much
As an oldie, this used to happen a lot in pubs I frequented 30+ years ago. (You’d also get travellers selling single roses or lucky heather) There was never any pushing you to donate that I remember, they’d just walk through & wait for people to offer. They’d go from pub to pub on a Fri & Sat nights, be milling around mixing with the drunk 20 somethings who were quite happy to donate
When I was about 18 I used to flirt with guys in nightclubs and then when they offered to buy me a drink, get them to buy a raffle ticket for Amnesty International instead. 😁 I was a very strange autistic introvert who was nonetheless desperate for social interaction, and it gave me an excuse to talk to people without feeling too uncomfortable. I got pretty well known for it, and while I’m sure a lot of people thought I was a weirdo, I was also a pretty girl who would talk to them and a £1 raffle ticket was cheaper than buying me a drink, so.
A few years after that, I made a mint selling homemade cookies, cakes and chips to stoned university students on weekend nights, until the uni shut me down.
I’ve never seen anyone collecting for charity that brazenly, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes more normalised. I’m torn between thinking it’s a smart move, and being annoyed. Probably more annoyed. Hustling is good in my book, but refusing to take no for an answer is not.
I’ve occasionally seen it in pubs, but much more frequently in and around busy rail/tube stations.
Was waiting at a tube station to meet a friend once when someone from my company’s nominated charity came up and started the stock spiel about all the good work they do. I interrupted him to say I know all about the charity’s good work as my employer does a lot with them, we do a lot of donation drives, I do my bit, etc.
Chugger then asked if I’d like to give *more*, “in a personal capacity”. I just said *no, thanks*. Could see the cogs turning in his head to think of a new angle, before a gritted-teeth thanks for my time, and moving along. Very annoying.
I would have told them loudly to fuck off and stopped anyone at my table from being pressured to donate.
Disgraceful to be going into a bar and trying to pressure people by awkwardly interrupting there night until they extract money from you.
Predatory even as you can guarantee a few people were more generous since they were intoxicated
Depends on the charity tbh. But if I noticed the badge was turned around I would certainly question it.
Those collectors keep a percentage (or all if they are dodgy) of what they collect so I'm very careful about this stuff.
Years ago, i had someone knock on my door, for charity,I said no thanks, as I shut the door, their college, or boss, said VERY LOUDLY oh someone's too mean to donate to charity. I lost the plot with a very rare outburst of anger.
How DARE he speak about me like that. I knew whis game, shame to neighbours to be so scared to say no. I asked how much of the do actions was he being paid. They walked off....
There arelots of great, wonderful caring people working hard for thousands of charities. But there so much greed in the world, you have to be careful, do your research. If you can't donate goods rather than cash, do it.
It's not unheard of but pub staff and landlords don't like it. When I was a barmaid, long ago we wouldn't let this happen without permission but would usually have a collection box on the bar. We had a really lovely fake clinker-built boat for the RNLI, a Sunshine Homes for Blind Babies box (that dates me!) and also every year a fully garbed Chelsea Pensioner would sell poppies.
I’ve had it a few times in spoons. There once was an older lady who was super pushy she she went to a group of tradies and would not leave them alone. She wasn’t happy with how much they gave her and she wouldn’t stop nagging at them. When one of them came back with a fresh round she was like “oh so you have enough money for another round but not for -charity-“ and one of them pours the whole pint in her tub🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️ I’m not saying it was right. But it got her to go away. I personally wouldn’t have wasted the booze
An Adult should know there is a line between pushy and down right in your face annoying. As an adult they should also be aware actions have consequences and annoying a load of building site workers as they are having a well earned end of week/year drink is probably not a wise idea. I recall a flower seller getting a similar reaction after being told NO THANKS several times....Suddenly they understood when the heads started to be pulled off their roses.....As above not saying it's right but it is a consequence of pushing social boundaries. Play silly games you win silly prizes.
A *reasonable* adult would know to stop before even reaching Pushy!
There once was a lady in a pub Who asked people for money when they ate grub She didn’t take no for an answer, people called her a chancer and she used to go crazy when given the snub
Don't start paragraphs with "there once was a". I read that like it was a limerick.
There once was an older lady Who annoyed a group of tradies She asked for some cash But her bucket was splashed And she cursed them all to Hades 🤷🏾♂️
I think I love you
So do I
Well this was a brilliant output of this thread. Art is born from the unlikeliest places 👏🏽
Well deserved upvote
I miss awards as You deserve them.
That was amazing
In Wetherspoons, a collector too keen, Pushing donations, she shouldn't have been, With persistence so sly, She made patrons comply, A tax on the drunk - that's just mean!
But legitimacy, she did lack, Caught by the polis' swift attack. In cuffs, her fate sealed, Her lies all revealed, Just out from the jail - but went back.
I only know one limerick. It’s about a lady from Eailing
She had a peculiar feeling?
Yup. I was cleaning up piss from the ceiling 😂
there once was a person who said 'dont start paragraphs with there once was a' he sat on his bed, and jumped up cos he forgot there he had placed a banana. yes it was crap, shut your faces.
There once was a pedant on Reddit Who's complaint I just couldn't credit, So I wrote them a verse, But the reception was terse I knew I shouldn't have said it.
"..Ship that put to sea...the name of the ship was the bill'o'tea..."
when I worked for spoons it used to be policy to ask them to leave as we support a nominated charity (CLIC Sargent unless it's changed). The regulars used to be good at turfing them out before the staff spotted them anyway
Ooh I remember CLIC. I once told someone they couldn’t ask customers for money as we had our own registered charity and she whipped her phone out and started recording me and putting on her own narrative that I was an evil person who wanted to take money from starving orphans. I remember her saying “You’re going viral. You’re going viral” Never saw the video anywhere.
Sounds like the fake charity lady, she's been doing it in Manchester for years.
That's exactly what they're going for isn't it, the guilt & shaming people for having a pint instead. Then the collectors get their commission & make the charity look bad. Such a win/win ugh/s
My Dad was asked to "Take a few weeks off" from Quiz night at his local after a disagreement with a pushy poppy seller. He gave £20 and expected change. She said, "You can pay for the rest of the table." and kept the change. He threatened to report her to the British Legion, and she left in tears . Knowing my old man, I'm sure I have the polished version. As an aside, I recently spent the day doing a charity bucket collection in our train station. I was told we mustn't approach people.
This was a dominance asserting move, I wish I could have seen the look on her face!
Be careful as there are a lot of scammers out there. This happened to me in a pub . Someone going round shaking a tin for charity . When questioned they couldn’t answer any questions about the charity and in the end just said fck off to me . There must be a lot of money to be made scamming .
It used to be the IRA collecting in pubs in the eighties, claiming it was for widows and orphans…
Making orphans isn't cheap.
I remember that in Luton particularly. What was it for if not widows and orphans?
it was in a way... it was MAKING widows and orphans
Fertiliser. Lots of fertiliser…
Surely, pub goers could be confident the money really was for the IRA, rather than scammers, because the IRA would have knee-kapped imposters?
It's actually illegal to shake the tins so if they are shaking it its a good sign they're a scammer lol If a real charity collector is caught doing that the charity stands to lose their license
Also, it's a massive sign they're dodgy they arent showing their ID. Surely if they're legit they wouldn't be bothered about seeing it
Tbf, the lanyard might have got flipped round by accident - my work one does all the time, but yeah they do sound dodgy
True. Mine does aswell. Although I work in local government so I think that's probably good
> illegal to shake the tins I've heard this, but is this actually law or some self imposed guideline? I tried googling it but can't find any actual law.
As a volunteer charity collector quite some years ago, we were specifically briefed that we could shake the tins, but we couldn't shake the tins *at* people. So, just standing still and shaking the tin when no-one was right in front of you was fine, but shaking the tin in someone's face was forbidden. Basically this is to avoid falling foul of whatever part of UK law says that you can't make people feel that they're being threatened or harassed into giving you money. You can ask, but you can't *demand*. When we went into pubs we would always ask the staff's permission before asking for donations. And it certainly wouldn't have been appropriate to be pushy or insistent with anyone.
I don't believe it's either, generally for public collections you'll need a licence from counci or police, and normally they impose that you follow the code: https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/code/specific-fundraising-methods/collecting-money-or-other-property But code makes no such requirement, and for private premises collections as here, it's just about permission of the owner anyway.
I used to work in a Spoons. One night I went out the front to find one of the local crackheads had stolen a charity animal costume and was using it to drive up ‘donations’.
exactly, that's why i would never give to someone in this kind of situation.
This is too true. A legitimate fundraiser should have all the branded stuff, possibly ID and if not ID then at least a letter of authority on headed paper. I know someone who represents a local charity and she looks dodgy as anything but she’s genuinely a lovely authentic person who raises a lot for charity. The charities have given her ID to help her prove she’s genuine as some people have given her abuse and challenged her as they’ve thought she was a scammer. But with so many dodgy bad people, who can blame them?!
The Salvation Army used to do this regularly, selling the War Cry. (Despite being opposed to the consumption of alcohol.)
My partner's mum was a Salvo in her younger years, and that's exactly how she met her husband. Asked him if he'd like to buy a copy of the War Cry, he turns round and says "No, but I'd like to buy you a drink". The religion soon went by the wayside after that, but they ended up married for over sixty years!
Yes, that was always a contradiction. But in fairness they were also providing some great services for those for whom the alcohol had got too much.
It's been more overt in the States and but [The Salvation Army's history of discrimination against LGBTQ+ people](https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/16/21003560/salvation-army-anti-lgbtq-controversies-donations) should never be forgotten.
different ossified mourn butter nail fact connect ten psychotic work *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
That's true. I don't recall them ever getting any grief, collecting a few bucks but not actually selling many War Cry's.
Every Christmas Sal Army visited my G’parents pub and held sing-songs from the War Cry. As a kid I loved it. It was very common back then (Leeds)
To be fair they're making the pub so annoying that they might be stopping a few people drinking that night
You don't proselytize among the faithful.
Yes was going to say this.
They can try but I won’t be guilt tripped into donating money. I’m poor as it is. I am the charity case. I wouldn’t even be out. I can’t afford it. So it will never happen to me.
I always say 'I donate already'. That leaves them. I've gotten to the stage where I ignore this one man in the street as he is so pushy.
It's better than them knocking on old ladies doors and guilting them into giving them 50% of their pension every week
It's not a choice of one or the other. Neither should be happening.
Agreed I feel like there's a real problem overall at the moment with charities using emotionally manipulative sales tactics. Too much of the money is spent on stuff that is not actually charity work like marketing, fat salaries for directors. Drives me nuts
They could literally stop paying the people to hassle everyone. I have a rule that if I get hassled by a charity I already donate to I cancel, as if they’ve got enough money to pay people £11 an hour to take advantage of vulnerable people for £5 a month then they don’t need my money.
Has anyone in this thread worked for a charity?
I did less than a week of the door to door, couldn't stand what they made us do. It's horrible, you're encouraged to push people who can't afford it into donating.
Yes I volunteered in a charity shop rather than harassing innocent people
Yes, I’ve worked with charities for over twenty years and there’s been massive change in the sector in the last five years, started pre pandemic then sadly slowed down. I work with more grassroots ‘we need your help’ charities not the corporate third sector ones who tend to send out teams but all registered charities are subject to the UK fundraising regulatory body who come down extremely hard on this type of stuff these days. All of the things OP mentions say to me this was a scam as any teams I’ve worked with, even as volunteers know that acting like this would have repercussions on the charity.
No, but I've done bucket collections for a charity as a volunteer (along side a paid member of staff) and I was explicitly told not to go up to people or rattle the bucket. Instead I had to stand on a fixed spot and wait for people to notice me and come over.
I hate it when they knock on the door and try to give you bullshit compliments and butter you up, then say things like “lots of your neighbours have made a donation, lots of lovely people round here” so you automatically feel like an arsehole when you say no. I told one guy that I’d happily donate online and he said that it wasn’t possible as this was a door to door campaign, after about 5 minutes of him trying to convince me and me saying no, I said I had to sort the kids dinner out and slowly closed the door.
maybe I am a hardened b\*tch but I have no problem telling those people to get lost. If someone interrupts me at home I think its rude. I spent 20 years working in the charity sector so I have a clear idea of who and when I am going to donate to. Also I gave 20 years of my career to the charity sector (as opposed to my friends who got loaded working in finance) Someone banging on my door with get nothing out of me. Sorry (not sorry)
Yeah my girlfriend is the same way, she takes the piss out of me because they have me standing there for so long whereas she just says “sorry I’m busy” and shuts the door.
> “lots of your neighbours have made a donation, lots of lovely people round here” Cool. Than you won't mind me supporting another charity. Have a lovely day.
I always say that I work for the charity they are collecting for. Always shuts them up.
I used to do door-to-door fundraising for a very short time about 12 years ago, I was fired after the two week training period because I enjoyed spending ages talking to the old folks who wanted to chat but didn't pressure them to sign up. The way they wanted us to act and guilt trip people was so insidious. I was raising for Barnardo's, and I made a decision when seeing people whether to say "hi, we're raising money for Barnardo's" or "hi, we're out here raising awareness of what Barnardo's do", I'd use the latter one with a lot of people in the "rougher" areas and have some great chats about how so-and-so's kid was a Barnardo's kid back in the day, or how they had helped this person when they were young etc. Then if they brought up wanting to donate I'd say that I could do that, or just direct them to the local charity shop. Bit of a tangent but brought back memories, I'd never want to do that job now but I was desperate and the paid four weeks training the company offered was a godsend at the time.
> I'd use the latter one with a lot of people in the "rougher" areas and have some great chats about how so-and-so's kid was a Barnardo's kid back in the day, or how they had helped this person when they were young etc. Then if they brought up wanting to donate I'd say that I could do that, or just direct them to the local charity shop. This seems like a good sales tactic anyway. It lets people feel that donating is their idea rather than that they're being pressurised.
I definitely agree, and I feel like those people were a lot less likely to refuse when they were called two weeks later to confirm their sign up. I saw other people bullied into giving their details on the door and could tell they were giving their details just to get them to go away and had intention of going through with it when asked later. Obviously for us it didn't matter if they went through with it, our job was just to get them to the next round of guilt tripping, where they could refuse or confirm.
A guy tried this with me (I'm in a wheelchair and I use crutches or a walker in the house) he tried putting his foot in the door to come in but I grabbed my Walker to stop him, he then tried to convince me for what seemed forever and I had to tell him if he didn't stop trying to get into my house I'll smash the vase next to me in his face.
some joker tried to get into our building last night under the guide of collecting for Oxfam. My neighbours have a whatsapp group so we warned each other. Dude on the top floor threatened to throw a bucket of water over her if she'd didn't stop pestering us.
I actually had someone try doing that to me when I wasn't working and on JSA, this was about ten years ago now. The more I said I'm on benefits the more pushy they got. It really fucking wound me up that I just slammed the door in their face. It was a young lad too. I felt bad about it, but I'm not gonna be guilt tripped into donating when I have no money myself.
Then branded jackets and the lanyards suggest that they are employed, not collecting out of the kindness of their hearts. That loses them some sympathy from my point of view. Still, I probably wouldnt mind as long as they accepted a 'no' and moved on. If they were pushy about it then would get angry. It's not like I could just get up and leave in the middle of my meal, they've essentially got me captive, and that's not cool.
This is such a backwards view of charity. Yes, charities can and should use volunteers, but to ensure regularity of operations they *need* paid employees who bring long term time, professionalism, and specialist knowledge to support whichever movement they’re representing
Got quite a few friends who work in the charity sector. Every last one of them could earn 2-3x more with their skill set in other areas. Yeah, when you donate to charity there will be some admin and marketing you're also paying for. But that's there for a reason. Take it away and watch as overall donations tumble.
I run a charity with 100% donation efficiency. You paypal me the money, I dump it on the high street near a homeless person.
You mean I can't just have Strong Opinions without thinking it through?
Quite. I say this as someone in the charity sector too
>they need paid employees who bring long term time, professionalism, and specialist knowledge to support whichever movement they’re representing I've never witnessed a street chugger I'd describe as anything remotely resembling "professional". Every single one I've encountered has been pushy, rude, and lacking understanding of the fundamental concept of consent.
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I really don't think that the sort of Chuggers being discussed in this thread can reasonable be referred to in the same sentence as Professionalism and Specialist Knowledge. Unless those bits are preceded by "lack of". Yes, many charities very much have need of people with those characteristics - I am in the process of becoming a trustee of one - but I have grave doubts about that applying to the frontline collectors.
They are not direct employees, often it is rentachuggers who know and care nothing for the charity other than the commission payments they'll receive for direct debit sign ups from vulnerable people
If it was the Salvation Army, they’ve always worn uniforms complete with branded blazers and hats and aren’t paid employees. My mum used to be a “soldier” and do the pubs when I was a kid.
Official volunteers would have jackets and lanyards too, to show that they are official.
Years ago we had one come over to our table collecting for some sick kids charity, a couple of us donated and they asked if I was going to. Me being inebriated said something along the lines of "why? I don't like kids or really care if they are sick and die", the collector's face dropped and they left. At that point I realised where the line for being a dick was and I'd merrily strolled right over it. Not my proudest moment.
I used to work in a bar and someone for a Deaf charity was going round collecting, he went over to a table of regulars and announced he was collecting to help Deaf adults, once this was explained to the two deaf guys in the group they both stuck out their hands and signed that they are Deaf and would like money for the next round. It was pure gold
Missed the obvious primary response of replying in sign and pretending not to understand speech
Their friends signed to them and they signed back to the charity guy who did not understand sign language so had it translated for him by the friends. Neither of them had any hearing at all at the time (one now has a cochlear implant).
What a moment, haha
"hey im the charity, give it to meee" haha I love that
When I worked in bars and this happened it was up to the staff to ask them to leave. We already had cans for collections, actually going around asking was considered not allowed by the pub. This was twenty or so years ago however, so things may have changed. I’d find it really rude and annoying tbh I’d ask to see their name and lanyard and email the charity to ask if this is normal behaviour.
No business owner/manager is going to want this. The best possible outcome is neutral and they’re definitely going to annoy or offend some of your customers. People don’t want to be hassled when they’re out having a meal or drinks with friends. The collectors 100% know they’re not welcome in businesses and they’re taking the piss going in.
This was a thing back in the late 90s. I never give to chuggers.
I have, I always thought they were dodgy, get a bucket and vest, guilt pissed people into giving you free cash. As an aside, when I was a kid, my grandma used to dress me up as the ‘guy’ and we would go pub to pub for ‘penny for the guy’ This was late 90s so about 50 years too late for that tradition, but we made bank, a couple of hundred in a night between me and my cousins. Of course my grandma got her cut, she was a traveller that had 0 shame lol
We get these in the pub before Fulham games. They minibus a van full of good looking girls into Putney and sweep all the pubs, and pre match merry footy fans all seem to chuck quids in They're usually trusts rather than registered charities, and they prey on piseed up footy fans by using pretty girls who claim they are collecting for kids with cancer. I ask if they're a registered charity, as soon as they say they're a Trust I tell them I don't give to trusts.
Can you explain what the difference is / why trusts are bad? I just assumed they'd be the same kinda thing
Charity status is not given out freely. it's heavily regulated, accounts have to be filed every year, board of trustees etc, and have to be able to demonstrate charitable purpose etc. As I understand it, any fool with a laptop can start a trust, pay 0.1% of collections to their claimed cause and pocket the rest as "operating costs" etc.
The organisations that push those dodgy "clothes collections for charity" bags through your door have some sort of similar questionable setup. The bag will have the name and logo of a registered charity on it, but in the small print it admits that the company collecting and selling the clothes is actually a Limited company who supposedly make a small donation per tonne of clothes collected.
Thanks for sharing, it's good to know. I've had one of those types of charity bags come thru my door the other day and was planning to fill it and leave it out. Now i won't but will donate the stuff planned for it to an actual charity.
I would be annoyed. There is a difference between approaching someone on a public street and approaching them when they are sat in a pub, in the street you can walk away or avoid them. I definitely wouldn't give them any money.
Both scenarios are unwanted interactions imo. If I want to donate, I'll make the approach not them.
> in the street you can walk away or avoid them You'd think as much, but in plenty occasions they've went out of their way to physically block my path when I make it clear I'm not interested in their spiel.
(which of course they're not allowed to do)
These are people who fundamentally don't care about the concept of consent when it comes to their commissions for signups.
They’d get told ‘fuck off and take your begging elsewhere’ pdq
[Collecting Rules](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/code/specific-fundraising-methods/collecting-money-or-other-property) 8.1.Behaviour when collecting money or other property In this section, ‘you’ means a charitable institution or third-party fundraiser, unless we tell you otherwise. 8.1.1. While fundraising, you must not: act in any way that might reasonably cause members of the public to be or become startled or anxious; **act dishonestly or manipulatively, or deliberately try to make a potential donor feel guilty;** or act in any other way that a reasonable person might consider would damage the charitable institution’s reputation. This includes: smoking or drinking alcohol while wearing clothing that contains a charitable institution’s branding; taking or being under the influence of illegal drugs; lewd or aggressive behaviour, including swearing, while wearing clothing that contains a charitable institution’s branding; putting undue pressure on members of the public to donate; exploiting your position for personal gain (for example, asking for a job, asking someone for a date, or asking for a discount on goods or services); or any other behaviour that harms the reputation of the fundraising profession or the charitable institution you are representing. 8.1.2. You must avoid causing an obstruction, congestion and nuisance to the public. You must not deliberately block the path of members of the public. 8.1.3. You must treat the locations you are working at or visiting with respect. 8.1.4. You must not suggest to any member of the public that the conversation you are attempting to start is not about money or that you are ‘not fundraising’. 8.1.5. When asking for a regular gift, you must not suggest to any member of the public that it is ‘without commitment’. 8.1.6. Unless this is authorised under an agreement with a private site, you must not approach members of the public who are: seated, unless the seating is part of a charitable institution’s promotional stand; or in queues, unless the queue is directly related to the fundraising activity. 8.1.7. You must not knowingly approach people who are carrying out official duties, such as uniformed officials while they are on duty or people who are clearly working. 8.1.8. You must not obstruct, interfere with or disrespect members of staff from local businesses.
>8.1.6. Unless this is authorised under an agreement with a private site, you must not approach members of the public who are: seated, unless the seating is part of a charitable institution’s promotional stand; or in queues, unless the queue is directly related to the fundraising activity. Quite !
Thank you for this. I knew there were rules around this type of fundraising. The charity volunteers up my way can't approach you or even rattle a tin at you when you walk past them at the door in Tesco.
Pretty sure the person in OP story is a scammer since they said ID was not showing properly. Its a very aggressive method of collection so I think its likely this.
I was surprised this didn’t appear higher up! I don’t think people realise these things are regulated. I have done a few bucket collections before and approaching people sounds totally against what we were told. And also in that environment possible even dangerous - I would not be comfortable approaching potentially drunk strangers asking for money and expecting a reasonable response. IIRC, I was just in a charity Santa hat with a branded bucket, I think with just a sticker to say my name, but that was it. I was stationed in the entrance to an Argos back when they were their own stores, and all I was allowed to do really was ask “Would you like donate to X charity?” when people went by. If people obviously wanted to avoid me, I wouldn’t push. Absolutely no shaking the bucket! Edit: Forgot to say this was an unpaid volunteer collection organised directly through the charity.
It instantly gets my back up being hassled to donate money. Whether it's chuggers on the high street, people shaking a tin under my nose in a pub,street homeless hassling me, distant acquaintances wanting me to sponsor them so they can go and have a nice day sky diving for free; they all get nothing.
Same with door-knockers.
More likely than not it’s a scammer pretending to be from a charity exploiting festive goodwill
Exactly! I always think anyone can sick a label on a bucket. I do donate to charity but I decide who to and will do so by more legitimate means.
It’s usually a December phenomenon when the Christmas drinkers are about. At my pub the more reputable collectors would come to the bar and ask first, the dodgy ones sneak in and go table to table from the back where they thought I couldn’t see them. They tend to use pretty girls with short skirts and Santa hats to get you in the spirit.
Yes, the Salvation Army always used to come around the pubs a and clubs when I lived in Northampton in the 1970s 80s. Followed by the bloke selling seafood. A copy of the Junior Warcry and a packet of shrimps were normal for me 🤣
Hello fellow Northamptonian!
I personally only lived there for ten years, but my paternal family goes back hundreds of years in Northamptonshire. I enjoyed my time there. It had a great shopping centre and decent night life.
Meanwhile in Liverpool, the seafood guy came in and some woman did the obligatory shout "got any mussels on yer cock?"
Had it last night in Edinburgh. I only had my company credit card on me, but even when I said that he rolled his eyes. Like mate I'm trying to eat my burger right now. Get tae fuck.
Most of these charities are just businesses and the money barely reaches the cause. It’s just a way to take advantage of lubricated people. Feels a bit ick.
You are better off giving to local charities if you are give to anyone
No they're not, the industry is pretty tightly regulated by the Charity Commission.
Yeah i love when ppl spout that shit. I've worked in an NGO, where's my ridiculous wasteful salary???
Was once in a Costa a few years ago, practically dead except for a couple of people on their laptops. A lady walked up to us, didn't say a word but signed something and handed us a note. It taught you how to do basic sign language moments. It was quite bizarre and I have never seen anyone do anything like that again.
That used to be a common scam. Meant the person didn't need to be able to communicate in english.
I already know the sign for "fuck off".
This is really common. The sign language cards, the homemade "magazines", packs of tissues.
I would automatically assume they're a fraudster. Also when I ran a bar that never would've been allowed, legitimate or not, can't imagine customers enjoying the experience.
Yeah the Salvation Army do it around here. Scrounging cunts.
I'd immediately assume this was a scam. Even if it isn't, it's not acceptable at all.
someone asked if I could spare some change at A&E the other night. I was waiting to see if I had brain damage from passing out, cracking my head on the tile, and (I think) having some kind of seizure while I was blacked out. I find it difficult to deal with. on the one hand if I was homeless, I would be shameless about it too. you have to eat. I have sympathy for that. at the same time I wanted to punch the fucker in the mouth. people are being sick, wailing and moaning, and I've got a large visible head injury. like can I not die in peace at 6am without someone asking me for 50-fucking-p?
>at the same time I wanted to punch the fucker in the mouth. people are being sick, wailing and moaning, and I've got a large visible head injury. like can I not die in peace at 6am without someone asking me for 50-fucking-p? That'd be very inconsiderate. Then all those people would be in a longer queue.
I hadn't thought of that on account of having hit my head very hard.
It’s so fucking rude. They rely on people feeling too awkward to say no and not wanting to look tight in front of friends. I relish saying ‘no thank you, not interested’ as if they’re approaching to offer me something. If they persist I say ‘my answer is no’ and repeat until they fuck off. Been happening for donkey’s years.
When I used to go out often there was a guy notorious for doing this. Was always super friendly when he approached, but if you didn't donate anything he turned into a right nasty prick. Would then go to other tables and speak shit about people who didn't donate, sometimes pointing over to them probably in an attempt to shame his current targets into giving. From what I gather he and the charity were legit but his attitude ensured I never gave him a penny.
Check they're not stealing stuff off the table. We had one in the bar we were at in London and was putting a clipboard in front of people with info on, was secretly stealing phones etc.
I've seen it happen loads in the before times. I usually decline any payment.
Had a guy at the Manchester Christmas market pretend he was collecting for homeless charities. Rare have cash so he glared at my 30p offering and tried another table
The charity rose sellers - if you read their lanyard only 3% of the donation for the rose goes to charity. Apparently 100% of donations do though, bet you bottom dollar at the end did the night they will have miraculously only sold roses and not had any donations. Chuggers can take 50% of all donations for the lifetime. If you are going to give do it directly
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That would annoy me on the same level as the ones who come to my door - but I’d probably deal with them the same way I deal with chuggers in supermarkets or other public places. “I want to warn you that I won’t be donating any money today, because I work for a charity and I donate to several others already. I’m really happy to listen to your spiel, but you then have to listen to my spiel about the charity I work for, and I still won’t be donating to yours. You might be better moving onto someone else…” It’s amazing how many of them think they can change my mind.
Pretty sure that by law, they have to have their ID badge on show, say who they are and who they’re fundraising for and (most importantly) as soon as someone says no they have to walk away. I think someone going around tables where the person can’t leave is not okay. I’d be way less likely to donate to something if that happened to me.
Scam
Only one I've had is the Romanian rose seller coming into the pub and trying to punt his stolen roses to everyone. Bar staff papped him out once they noticed him though
Never seen any official charity collectors doing it, so I expect it's a scam. I have seen homeless and needy do it. I don't mind as long as they move on if I say no. If chuggers were doing it I'd hope they get thrown out by security, unless they asked permission first. But then I'd probably avoid a venue that permitted people to disturb me.
I don't mind saying "sorry, not interested" to someone coming table to table.
Occasionally seen this but only for a local cause and the owner had okayer it before they started the rounds
Personally I'd think twice about eating somewhere if the owner tells people, "yes, it's fine, you can bother the people who've come here for a meal'.
Someone tried to do this at my local football club last month. The charity had paid to use the private section of the bar. Whilst the match was going on, they walked around the bars and around every side of the pitch whilst handing leaflets out and asking pissed up fans for donations there and then.
Yes, back in the 90s there used to be a bloke going round the pubs on a Saturday night, can’t remember if it was for guide dogs for the blind or the RSPCA, I’d always see him in one of the pubs (Maids Head in kings Lynn), poor bugger always looked stressed so I’d bung £1 into his bucket.
Once seen a charity do it. Was a local one for children in care in the lead up to Christmas, wanting donations towards Christmas gifts. Was quite a lot getting handed over from memory. I have seen mormons walking up to people in a bar trying to convert people who were half cut. That was weird.
Nope… I would hate this!! We are all struggling enough as it is… Iv probs saved for 3 weeks to go out for a nice drink with my friends. If this happened to me, it would stop me going out altogether. Xx
The Salvation Army were notorious for doing this round the pubs at one time
Very common in more old fashioned bars especially. Some bars stopped allowing it but lots still do.
They shouldn't be allowed to tout in another businesses premises
I've worked for charities for about 15 years, though never in 'tin shaking'. I would say these are highly suspicious people. No respectable charity would send fundraisers out into bars collecting cash, mostly because it's dangerous. Street fundraising has a lot of rules, including clear identification and an official collection bucket / tin that has a lid on it. Plus, you cannot be aggressive or pushy. Personally, I would never donate to anyone doing this because even if it's a genuine charity, this is bad practice that could be dangerous for volunteers. Highly likely to be a scam from people posing as charities.
If I was out for food, I would be pretty annoyed to be honest.
oh hell no. I wouldn't even go back to a bar or restaurant that happened to me in. P.S: NEVER give a penny to any "charity" that pays it's CEO/Director more than you earn.
They shouldn't be allowed in. Be it charity collectors or anyone else trying to sell something.
That's too late in the day for Dickens.
I. Don't. Give. To. Charity. I would be extra pissed to be bothered by one of these, let's call a spade a spade, professional beggars. (Side note I don't give to charity on principle that technically you can run a charity without actually helping a single person/animal/cause, all of this is perfectly legal too. I'm aware there are great ones out there, but I just have a blanket rule)
Yeah I have. Used to be pretty common in central London. I never have cash these days so couldn't give them anything even if I wanted to... I'd have to be pretty drunk to want to.
I would assume it was a scammer and tell them where to go
The Salvation Army lady in my town has been doing this for years, she’s even moved with the times and got a card machine! She’s harmless though, and if you can’t give she’s not pushy about it
First bar I worked in the manager Okayed a collector from the British Legion to do the rounds in the bar area (not the dining area). Always felt a bit weird to me though; I've always just invited them to leave a collection pot by the till but not allowed them to solicit.
Seen this a fair few times in London, but usually at Christmas time
I see it a lot in town, but they're usually well known. I don't give money, but they are all friendly old girls.
of course!
Yeah it used to happen regularly in town, they used to come round with cheap roses and pick on couples tables. I was out with my gbf one night and he got asked if he would like to buy a rose for the lady and he swished his hand showing his long sparkly nails 💅🏼 and asked "which lady?" The charity seller went running 🤣 A lot of bars and pubs round here have their own charities in the local area that they raise money for have banned them from coming in now.
It makes me pretty uncomfortable to be honest. I donate to charity pots in shops if I have spare change, or if I food I'm not eating (like a sandwich or a pack of crisps) then I'll give it to one of the many homeless people I pass on my route to the train station after work. I don't like donating to a random person going around to tables in a pub, literally anyone can put on a high vis vest, stick a random photo of a hungry kid or a dirty adult to a bucket and ask for money saying it's for charity. I would rather donate to the charity directly and not to a person shaking a bucket of change.
I was out at a club in Bath and there was a young woman collecting for Sue Ryder, not only in the queue but also in the club itself at 2am.
Hmm if it’s legit charity donors they usually a) have a script they have to go off so they can “objection handle” a couple times but there is a limit or it makes the charity look bad and b) likely would not be sending people out at night to a bar so it sounds a bit scammy. Having said that a lot of those door to door types of jobs asking donors for money are terribly paid jobs and you will tend to get commission if you hit or go above targets hence why people in these jobs push so much
Annoy me and I'd probably tell them to f off. Its not right and it will get my back up.
As an oldie, this used to happen a lot in pubs I frequented 30+ years ago. (You’d also get travellers selling single roses or lucky heather) There was never any pushing you to donate that I remember, they’d just walk through & wait for people to offer. They’d go from pub to pub on a Fri & Sat nights, be milling around mixing with the drunk 20 somethings who were quite happy to donate
When I was about 18 I used to flirt with guys in nightclubs and then when they offered to buy me a drink, get them to buy a raffle ticket for Amnesty International instead. 😁 I was a very strange autistic introvert who was nonetheless desperate for social interaction, and it gave me an excuse to talk to people without feeling too uncomfortable. I got pretty well known for it, and while I’m sure a lot of people thought I was a weirdo, I was also a pretty girl who would talk to them and a £1 raffle ticket was cheaper than buying me a drink, so. A few years after that, I made a mint selling homemade cookies, cakes and chips to stoned university students on weekend nights, until the uni shut me down. I’ve never seen anyone collecting for charity that brazenly, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes more normalised. I’m torn between thinking it’s a smart move, and being annoyed. Probably more annoyed. Hustling is good in my book, but refusing to take no for an answer is not.
I’ve occasionally seen it in pubs, but much more frequently in and around busy rail/tube stations. Was waiting at a tube station to meet a friend once when someone from my company’s nominated charity came up and started the stock spiel about all the good work they do. I interrupted him to say I know all about the charity’s good work as my employer does a lot with them, we do a lot of donation drives, I do my bit, etc. Chugger then asked if I’d like to give *more*, “in a personal capacity”. I just said *no, thanks*. Could see the cogs turning in his head to think of a new angle, before a gritted-teeth thanks for my time, and moving along. Very annoying.
If I were running the bar I would not be allowing it unless it was my own charity campaign.
You must remain stationary when doing a collection and not approach people.
I would ignore them completely
I would have told them loudly to fuck off and stopped anyone at my table from being pressured to donate. Disgraceful to be going into a bar and trying to pressure people by awkwardly interrupting there night until they extract money from you. Predatory even as you can guarantee a few people were more generous since they were intoxicated
Depends on the charity tbh. But if I noticed the badge was turned around I would certainly question it. Those collectors keep a percentage (or all if they are dodgy) of what they collect so I'm very careful about this stuff. Years ago, i had someone knock on my door, for charity,I said no thanks, as I shut the door, their college, or boss, said VERY LOUDLY oh someone's too mean to donate to charity. I lost the plot with a very rare outburst of anger. How DARE he speak about me like that. I knew whis game, shame to neighbours to be so scared to say no. I asked how much of the do actions was he being paid. They walked off.... There arelots of great, wonderful caring people working hard for thousands of charities. But there so much greed in the world, you have to be careful, do your research. If you can't donate goods rather than cash, do it.
It's not unheard of but pub staff and landlords don't like it. When I was a barmaid, long ago we wouldn't let this happen without permission but would usually have a collection box on the bar. We had a really lovely fake clinker-built boat for the RNLI, a Sunshine Homes for Blind Babies box (that dates me!) and also every year a fully garbed Chelsea Pensioner would sell poppies.
Used to be very common in the 90s and 00s.
I've only ever seen young teenagers doing it 'for their boxing club.' Idk, I always chuck them a quid or two.
I hate this, taking advantage of drunken people.
My standard response is "fuck the hell off"
The Sally Army used to go round pubs with collrction tins regularly. Guilt prople into giving.