It is illegal to collect money for any purpose in a public place without a licence issued by the police or local authority.
The process of application varies widely from one area to another but Alexandra Rose Charities (ARC) has been involved in arranging licences for a very long time and has a lot of expertise in this area.
Please remember that as your charity is taking part in an Alexandra Rose Charities collection the licence is in our name. We obtain the licence and give a printed copy of the licence to each charity’s local organiser before the day of the collection.
BUT such a licence does not give you automatic authority to collect in railway stations, supermarkets and their car parks, shopping centres, motorway service areas, racecourses and football grounds, or anywhere that is owned by a company or private individual.
To give your group maximum flexibility, and to avoid any unnecessary problems, we recommend local Alexandra Rose Charities organisers seek out these premium collection sites and approach the shop management or owners as early as possible for permission to collect there.
Most of the supermarket chains leave arrangements for collections entirely to the individual store manager, so it is always best if this approach is made by you locally rather than by us. After all, your charity is a local one and you might be a customer! However, Alexandra Rose Charities can always write a letter in support of your request if it is required.
A few local store managers have agreed with their local council not to allow a charity to collect without a covering permit from the local authority. This is not usually a problem. We can obtain a local authority permit for you.
Stores often require you to have public liability insurance. We have a blanket policy which includes Alexandra Rose Charities collectors, with cover up to £5,000,000.
It is very important that when making a booking with a store you must specify it will be hosting an Alexandra Rose Charities collection on behalf of… YOUR CHARITY’S NAME