# Police in N Ireland warn on street collections

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/07/10/police-n-ireland-warn-street-collections/
- Published: 2017-07-10T14:21:51+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has issued warnings in relation 
to street charity collections.**

The PSNI say that through engagement with the public and a number of charitable 
bodies they have become aware of a lack of understanding or confusion around some
of the regulations governing street and public place collections.  

In particular they have highlighted issues in relation to roundabout/roadway collections
and collecting money in buckets. Charities must apply to the PSNI for permission
to undertake street collections.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

The PSNI report that there has been a significant increase in the number of charities
that are collecting on main arterial routes and in particular at roundabouts. In
some cases this has created difficulties for emergency services such as ambulance
and Northern Ireland Fire Service responding to calls.

Collectors are not permitted to collect at roundabouts, the police say.

Related to roundabout and street collections is the use of buckets for collections
which is forbidden under the rules.

The regulations state: “Every collector or vendor shall carry and present to all
contributors or purchasers for the reception of money contributions, a box or other
receptacle numbered and securely closed and sealed in such a way as to prevent the
same being opened or the money extracted without such seal being broken.”

Street collections in Northern Ireland are governed by the Police, Factories etc(
Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 and gives the PSNI the right to make and enforce
regulations related to charity collections.

PSNI say that failure to comply with the regulations will be taken into account 
on any applications for collections submitted by these organisations in the future.

Guidance on street collections is provided by the [Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action](http://www.nicva.org)(
NICVA).

![Loading](https://fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/page-views-count/ajax-loader-
2x.gif)