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Shops in chugger backlash
Fears that charity fundraisers on the streets drive customers away
CHARITY fundraisers are under fire after irate businesses and council chiefs claimed their guerilla street tactics are driving shoppers out of the West End.
Westminster Council wants so called “chuggers” – the nickname for in-your-face “charity muggers” – to agree to work no more than four days a week.
It follows a survey of Oxford Street, Regent Street, Argyle Street and South Morton Street that found 543 fundraisers at work between April and June. The fear is that wealthy shoppers feel too guilty to splash out on expensive goods when charities are chasing them up and down the street for money.
Councillor Daniel Astaire said: “Businesses are extremely irritated, with potential customers crossing the road because they don’t want to run the gauntlet of chuggers. I don’t want to stop giving, but we need to control it.”
Cllr Astaire has been unsuccessfully petitioning government ministers to activate a special clause in the 2006 Charities Act. He wants to force charities to apply for permits for their street staff and to curb the hours they can work.
But Mark Carter-Nesbitt, director of fundraising company Urban Leaf, said chuggers were not a nuisance.
He added: “Fundraisers are in the streets to improve the lives of others who are considerably worse off than passers-by on the High Street.
“If you don’t want to give through a street fundraiser, all you need do is politely say no and move on.”
Clive Hanks, of Fundraising UK, said: “It would be great if the job face-to-face fundraisers do was seen as what it is – positive, effective and worthwhile.
“And it would be great if the fundraisers themselves were seen as dedicated, well-trained and compassionate people, rather than a nuisance out for their own financial gain.” |
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