Why I hate chuggers

The Observer reports that a survey to be published on Monday has found that 60% of people are put off by charity muggers or chuggers, and that 40% of people have stopped supporting a charity because of aggressive fundraising.

Now, I'm a keen supporter of charities.

I've worked for eighteen months in the charity and nonprofit sector.

I buy books on a regular basis at charity shops and have had a clearout of my room and my shed, resulting in over thirty bags of books, CD's and DVD's being given to charity shops in Oxfordshire and Walthamstow.

I also donate money online to charities from time to time, especially Mind and Anxiety UK.

I do hate chuggers though. I don't object to people fundraising in the street. I don't object to people being paid to fundraise.

I do object to their rudeness.

Here are some of the times I've heard said to me or witness happening to others:

*Chugger in Oxford shouting "Running away?" as I walked past.

*Chugger in Brighton sneering "Don't walk away, I'm not contagious" as I walked past.

*Amnesty International chugger following someone halfway up the street, stomping loudly to intimidate them.

*A fundraiser in Kidlington telling my family "everyone else in the street has signed up" (untrue).

*Two people from a charity for disabled people cornering me in Swindon a decade or so ago (I was around 14), implying I was a liar when I said I had no money to give them and shouting at me when I walked off. The man in the group was also leering at some teenage girls on a bench.

*While I was very ill recently, a chugger in Walthamstow waving at me while trying to prevent me walking past her, only stopping when I walked into a shop to avoid her. She though this was hilarious.

I used to work with someone who carried out street fundraising and she told me about the pressures they were under. A lot of people who they hurl abuse at are having a hard time as well.

They have no idea who can afford to give or who gives elsewhere. Say you give to many charites and you'll be called a liar.

Also, they don't just target areas where people can afford to give.

I've seen chuggers in Walthamstow and Straford and been told that they often go to Woolwich as well. People in those areas are poor.

Bidisha has written a good article on them, although I feel her sympathy for female chuggers is rather misplaced, in her Guardian Thought for the Day.

If someone is rude to me in the street, it doesn't make me want to give them money. It makes me less likely to.

You can wipe out chugging by donating online, using collection tins and in charity shops on a regular basis and by never signing up to a donation via a chugger.

If a chugger has been rude to you, complain to the Fundraising Standards Board.

Pro-chugging people say you can get their name via their badge, but it's difficult to feel comfortable getting that close.