Decline of the chuggers

A few months ago they were everywhere. Londoners could barely walk down the street without being accosted by a cheerful young fundraiser asking for just a few minutes of their time.

But now the face-to-face fundraisers - called chuggers, short for charity muggers - seem to have almost vanished.

A string of UK charities have stopped using chuggers after a public backlash. And two of the biggest agencies have gone out of business.

Cancer Research UK, the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace have taken fundraisers off London's streets.

One charity source explained: "It's a very uncomfortable issue among charities at the moment. They recognise chuggers are annoying people and damaging their credibility.

"Charities rely on goodwill, so they can't alienate those who give them money. If people join your charity because you've inspired them, it means a hell of a lot more than if they join after being bullied on the street." Measures to regulate street fundraising were announced in last year's Queen's Speech, after a wave of public complaints sparked a government investigation.

An Evening Standard probe found that in key areas - including Oxford Street and Kensington High Street - passers-by were approached up to five times in 90 seconds. The collectors would deliberately stop in front of them to block their path.

By law the collectors should have explained they were not volunteers but paid workers, and that their wages come out of charity coffers. None of those approached by the Standard did so unless prompted.

Chugging was once big business. Agencies were set up to provide young, attractive fundraisers who were paid about ?10 an hour. The agencies charged charities between ?50 and ?60 for each donor its chuggers managed to persuade to agree to make a direct debit monthly donation. But as the technique went out of favour, two of the biggest agencies went into administration. Push Consultancy Ltd and Fruitful Fundraising (Face To Face) Ltd were both declared insolvent in April.

A spokesman for Oxfam said: "We scaled down our use of face-to-face fundraisers in London as we felt the market is saturated."