Charities that pester donors for money face fines

Charities that pester donors for money face fines

Charities which bombard donors with phone calls, texts and email asking for cash face being fined £25,000 when new laws are introduced this week.

A new regulator will launch on Thursday and will invite members of the public to insist that charitable organisations stop sending them requests for money.

Should the charities ignore warnings they face being fined by the Fundraising Regulator, chaired by Lord Grade of Yarmouth.

A former chairman of the BBC and ITV, Lord Grade said the new rules would help charities 'restore their reputations'.

Charities which bombard donors with phone calls, texts and email asking for cash face being fined £25,000 when new laws are introduced this week

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, he wrote: 'The slow rebuilding of trust between charities and the public could yet all be undone by another wave of high-profile cases of bad behaviour.

'The extraordinary and long-term generosity of the British public needs to be sustained. It cannot be taken for granted.

'Too many charities are proving to be laggards. It is up to [them] to restore and preserve their reputations. We cannot do it for them.'

The new rules are the result of an inquiry into the fundraising tactics of charities ordered by the Home Office, following the death of poppy seller Olive Cooke, 92.

The regulator, chaired by Lord Grade of Yarmouth (right), has been launched after an inquiry sanctioned by the Home Office, following the death of poppy seller Olive Cooke (left)

Mrs Cooke was on the hit list of 99 charities, including 70 organisations who bought and shared her details, before she jumped to her death in 2015.

The great-grandmother killed herself after enduring repeated requests from charities asking her for money, failing health and sleepless nights.

Her death sparked hundreds of complaints about 'hounding' by charities, with particular concerns around those that shared donors' contact details. 

She died at Avon Gorge in Bristol after suffering with years of low mood, depression and insomnia, as well as fearing she would lose her independence.