Charity muggers: 'Someone in authority has taken a stand'

Published on Wednesday 10 March 2010 08:45

AT LAST someone in authority has taken a stand against the blight on our streets that is the "chugger" – or charity mugger.

Step forward Tom Campbell, the previously rather unassuming chief executive of Essential Edinburgh.

That organisation was set up to promote the city as a tourist and shopping destination, and clearly Mr Campbell believes that visitors are being put off by being approached by persistent young men and women clutching direct debit forms.

Now, let's be clear – the Evening News supports charities and their fundraising activities on the whole. We've backed dozens of campaigns over the years and we will continue to raise cash for worthy Lothian causes.

But we agree with Mr Campbell – and Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce – when they say that "chuggers" are an unpleasant and often unacceptable way of seeking donations.

To call some of the collectors "persistent" would be an understatement – but they would be, wouldn't they, as most are not doing it out of dedication but because they get paid a commission for every punter they sign up.

The comparison with beggars is an interesting one, coming just weeks after the boss of the Balmoral Hotel bemoaned the number of people seeking handouts in the Capital.

As Mr Campbell points out, many of those people are passive, while the "chuggers" are often anything but. What's more, while some beggars are undoubtedly chancers, many have problems that mean they have few other, crime-free, options to get cash.

Charities do not fall into that category. They have countless ways to tap into the benevolent hearts of caring people in Edinburgh and beyond. Press-ganging them in the open in the streets should not be one of them.

Lame showmanship

THE way Britain treated some loyal citizens who happened to be of German or Italian extraction during the Second World War is a black mark on our history.

Richard Demarco is quite right to raise it as an issue, not least given the members of his extended family who were interned and worse.

But it is impossible today to imagine the fear that beset the nation as the Axis forces marched across Europe, and it is not difficult to see how easy it was for suspicions to arise.

It is therefore unreasonable for today's politicians to apologise – as it was for past apologies on US slavery and for the UK sending orphans to Australia. Such apologies are mere tokenism and lame showmanship.