Petition · Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Make it a criminal offence to collect street donations if not a charity
Open for signatures
913 signatures
What the petition asks
We are concerned about bogus charity collections on our streets. Some operations that claim to be charitable are run as a "for profit" business with very little of their collections used to help anyone.
We want you to make it a criminal offence with a mandatory prison term to collect money on the street, except for collections by registered charities. We think current fines for unlicensed street collections and street trading are small and can be easily recovered by scammers. The punishment needs to act as a deterrent.
Timeline
| 9 Feb 2026 | Petition opened for signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
913
Status
Open for signatures
Department
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Opened
9 Feb 2026
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 26 Jul 2026.