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Licence - street collections

Under Section 5 of the Police, Factories Etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916, the City Council requires that anyone holding a street collection at any location in the District to collect money for charitable or other purposes must obtain a permit to do so.

Applications for Street Collection Permits must be made on an official application form and be received by the Council not less than one month before the date of the proposed collection. Organisers should give full details of the date and time required and indicate the area where they wish to hold the collection. The Permit, if granted, will specify the date and time on which the collection may be held, the area allocated and may also limit collecting hours.

All Collectors require written authority from the Promoter (i.e. the person organising the collection) to take part, and must carry a collecting box clearly marked with the name of the charity/organisation on whose behalf the collection is being made. Collectors must remain twenty-five metres apart at all times and are not permitted to walk around when collecting they must remain in one place. Neither are they permitted to step into anyone's path in order to attempt to collect money etc.

Following any collection, the Promoter must return to the Council a Form of Statement to the City Council and also publish, in a local newspaper, details of the amount collected.

Please Note: Organisations applying for Street Collection Permits are restricted to a maximum of two collections in any given year, and are limited to no more than two collections in any one week of that year. The collections must not fall on consecutive days and the Council has a policy that permits will be granted only to organisations where a local cause will benefit from the proceeds.