Council claims first with new code of conduct for on-street charity fundraisers

Manchester City Council has drawn up plans to require charity fundraisers to sign a code of conduct before being allowed to operate in its city centre, following complaints from residents that on-street fundraisers left them feeling harassed and intimidated.

The proposed code, which has yet to be approved by councillors, will address how charity collectors should conduct themselves with the public and place limits on the number and location of charity collectors operating in the city centre.

The code will be developed in conjunction with the charities involved and is believed by the council to be the first attempt to introduce a code of conduct for on-street fundraising in the country.

The proposal to introduce a code of conduct for charity fundraisers came from the Manchester's city centre management company Cityco. Its operations director, Gary Ellis, told the Manchester Evening News : “We're really keen to work with charities on this to find an organised way of working that benefits everyone. Visitors to the city centre have to be our first concern. What we don't want is to have two or three groups on one day, causing an obstruction and having people feel intimidated as they're going about their day to day business.

“We don't want to deny organisations the opportunity. They do very worthwhile work and we hope this will benefit them too, by making people feel more able to approach them or stop and talk. We will look to agree locations where they can operate and limit the numbers each day, perhaps on a timetable type basis. We could even look at advertising on our website who will be collecting that day. We will also have to consider what happens if they break the code of conduct.”

The professional body of charity fundraisers, The Institute of Fundraising, already has a code of conduct for its members and a system for making complaints, which is available by clicking here.