Crewe Town Council is pleased that there is now an agreement to manage the activities of face to face fundraisers in Crewe. We have had complaints for a while about shoppers being pressured on the street by fundraisers (sometimes called “chuggers”) trying to persuade them to set up monthly payments. There is no legal control over chuggers because they are not collecting cash. All the major charities are members of the Professional Fundraisers Regulatory Association (PFRA) and we now have an agreement limiting their operation in Crewe to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. There will be no more than 4 fundraisers in total, and no more than 2 in the same area of the town centre.
The Council does not want to discourage people raising money for worthy causes, and would emphasise that we have never had any complaints about cash collections.
The Town Council made contact with the PFRA 6 months ago following complaints and concerns about these activities. We were happy to hold off from seeking a local agreement in Crewe to allow Cheshire East to coordinate a wider agreement including other towns that had similar concerns.
Going forward our role will be to act as the initial point of contact for complaints and we would invite anyone concerned to contact the Council after the agreement goes live on 22nd June.
