Street collection permit
The Met issues street collection permits. These give you permission to collect money or sell goods for charity. The money raised must go to a charity, or be for charitable purposes.
You need a permit for:
- all charitable street collections
- carol singing or busking for a charitable purpose
- collections that take place on private property, but where the public have right of way access. For example, a shopping centre. You will also need to get permission from the private property owner before applying to the Met for a permit.
The permit allows you to collect at one location for a consecutive period of no longer than seven days. If you want to collect over multiple periods, even at the same location, you will need to email the charity collection team first before applying.
If you aren't collecting money, contactless payments or selling items, you will also need to email the charity collection team first before applying.
If you are collecting during a procession, you first need to register the procession with the police. You can find out more information on our events and procession service. You can then apply for your street collection permit.
When you don't need a permit
You don't need a permit if your collection is on private property, where the public have no right of way access. For example, a charity fundraising event that is invitation only.
For Direct Debit street collections, you don't need to apply for a permit. However, you will need to follow the Fundraising Regulator codes of practice. This includes their guidance on handling cashless donations. You will also need to keep to any London Borough Site Management Agreement in place.
If you are busking for non-charitable reasons, you don't need to apply for a street collection permit. You will need to contact the local authority where you are busking. If you are busking on transport premises, like a train or a train station, contact Transport for London.
Before you apply
For a street collection permit you will need the following:
- a letter on letterheaded paper from the charity giving you permission to collect on their behalf
- to be collecting for a charity that's registered with the Charity Commission or the Office of the Regulator for Community Interest Companies (CIC)
- an overview of the charity's background and objectives
- the contact details of the lead applicant. This includes their name, date of birth and address. You will also need the same details for a further two applicants. They must be employees or members of the charity
- photo ID of the three applicants. You must use an accepted form of photo ID from this list
We also recommend that you register with the Fundraising Regulator and follow their code of practice.
Letters and details to support your application can take some time to gather. We recommend preparing as soon as possible.
Making an application
Please only apply using our online charity collection permit service.
We won't accept any written applications or documents sent by post. However you can email the charity collection team if you have any questions.
You must submit your application by the first day of the month before your collection month. For example, if you want to collect on 20 September, we need your application by 1 August. This gives us enough time to review your application before we refer it to the Charities Advisory Committee. They will tell us if they think we should grant you a permit. We will take their recommendations into account when we make a decision.
Each person named on the application will be subject to a check on the Police National Database. If any applicant has a conviction, we may refuse your application.
We aim to process permits within four to six weeks of receiving them.
Reasons we may refuse an application
We need to consider the following before approving your application:
- the date, times and location of your street collection. We manage these for all street collections. This is so each charity has an opportunity to collect in London boroughs. It means you aren't competing with other charities for donations
- the impact on the local community
- the impact on local policing
During collection
You need to follow these rules when collecting:
- all collectors must be 16 years old and over. Children under 16 can take part in fundraising but they need to be supervised by a responsible adult
- collectors must be stationary. You cannot move to another location
- collectors must not be a danger, obstruction, inconvenience or annoyance to anyone
- all collection boxes or buckets should display the name of the charity or fund you are collecting for. You should make sure it is sealed
- collectors should carry a written authority to collect on behalf of the Chief Promoter
- all collectors should be volunteers who are not paid out of the proceeds of the collection
After collection
You need to submit the following information within three months of the collection ending:
- the total amount collected
- the names of all collectors and amounts collected by each
- any expenses of payments incurred
- certification by two of the people responsible for the collection
- certification by a qualified accountant
You can submit your accounts using our Schedule 2 form. You can then scan your completed Schedule 2 and email the charity collection team.
A printed or online newspaper must publish an article about your collection. It needs to describe where the collection took place, how much money was collected and any expenses.
If you collect £400 or less you may not need to both publish the required article or have a qualified accountant certify your collection. Instead, you may only need an independent responsible person to sign it off. You can email the team to request to waive these requirements.