A permit is required to undertake a 'house to house' collection for charitable purposes, under the House to House Collections Act 1939, House to House collections Regulations 1947 (as amended).

Door to door collections for cash and/or goods, including envelope collections and those from pub to pub need to be licensed.

The Home Office licenses national collections and the district council regulates smaller collections.

Ideally, applications should be submitted at least one month prior to the first collection date. It is particularly important to leave enough time to order and receive the necessary prescribed badges and certificates of authority from Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Within 30 days of the end of the collection a return form showing details of the monies collected must be completed and returned to the licensing authority.

When organising your collection you need to ensure that:

• Every collector wears a standard badge and carries a certificate of authority, both obtained from Her Majesty's Stationery Office 
• Collectors produce their badge on demand to the occupant of any house or any police officer
• If collection boxes are used, they are sealed and consecutively numbered
• If money or goods are collected by another means, a receipt is issued to the donator and the donation entered in a receipt book
• Collectors do not cause annoyance or nuisance to occupants
• Collectors are not under 16 years

After a collection:

• Collecting tins should be opened in the presence of a promoter and a witness, or, if unopened, delivered to a bank to be opened and counted by an official
• When opened, the contents of each tin should be entered on a list and certified by those present
• A return must be made to the council showing the total amount of monies collected, amounts from each tin and a list of collectors
• Ensure that all certificates of authorities and badges are destroyed at the end of the collection period
• At least 85 per cent of collected funds must be donated to the named charity - a maximum of 15 per cent can go towards expenses
• No promoter or anyone associated with the collection can receive payment from the collection unless approved by the council

Monitoring of Collections
The council will make any enquiries it sees fit to confirm the integrity of an organisation's collecting activities. Unfortunately, there has been an increasing need, in view of the incidences of bogus collections, or non-charitable collections to monitor collection activities.

Exemption
Some larger well-known charities such as the Red Cross, Help the Aged etc, have a Charity Commission exemption from having to apply for a permit, but by and large most of the smaller, and particularly local groups and organisations need a permit before they can collect money (or articles which they intend to sell later), from door to door.

New Organisations
If your organisation has never before applied to the council for a charity collection licence please supply the following information with your application: 

• Whether it is a registered charity (please state number), and the objectives of your charitable cause as supplied to the Charity Commission
• A statement of your organisation's aims as detailed in any literature
• Details of the history of your organisation, i.e. when formed; names of trustees, directors, organisers, etc
• Accounts and any relevant financial statements

Collecting on Behalf of a Society
If you or your organisation is collecting on behalf of another charity, please could you provide with your application written proof of agreement from the charity to benefit.

Reasons for Refusal
The Licensing Authority’s powers of refusal or revocation are very limited and relate mainly to the suitability of the promoter or conduct of the promoter during previous or existing collections. It may not refuse a collection simply because a particular date or dates appear to be oversubscribed.

• If too high a proportion of the proceeds is likely to be spent on expenses
• If incorrect information was provided on the licence application
• If the promoter or any other person involved is deemed not to be 'A Fit & Proper Person' (has been convicted of certain criminal offences - burglary, blackmail or fraud)

The Number of Collections within the Borough
The council cannot limit the number of such collections to be carried out in one particular area. It is therefore possible that any number of charities can be found collecting legitimately in one street on any particular day of the week.

We are aware that this can annoy some members of the public and that charitable people only have so much that they can give away. Our advice is to recycle the collection bags you do not want.

Please read guidance notes and licensing regulations before applying, there is no fee to pay. 

Application forms can be downloaded below.

Alternatively you can apply now by clicking online application.