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Adjudications

Painted Children Adjudication - Upheld

Complaint Summary

Since August 2009, the Fundraising Standards Board has received several serious complaints about the fundraising practices of Painted Children.

All of the complaints relate to Painted Children carrying out cash collections at various locations across London without the required licences and permission letters.

The unlicensed activity is alleged to have taken place primarily in Kings Road, Chelsea, London Bridge station and Tesco’s, Eastcheap.Painted Children has only ever provided partial answers to the concerns that have been put to it and it is suspected that the charity continues to fundraise without the required permissions.

The Fundraising Standards Board felt it would be useful to summarise the complaints it has received about Painted Children in order to provide a context for its decision to refer the case to the board:

Complainants’ Summary

 Complainant A

Complainant A, an established fundraising regulatory body, alerted the FRSB to the fact that Painted Children were collecting without the necessary licences or permissions at Baker Street, Tottenham Court Road, Liverpool Street and Clapham Common tube stations.

When challenged, the charity was unable to provide the required permissions or letters of authority.

As a consequence of the FRSB’s ongoing investigation and its own independent findings, Complainant A turned down the charity’s membership application to them in November 2009.

Complainant B

Complainant B was the national director of an established charity who first complained to the FRSB about Painted Children in August 2009. They confirmed that Painted Children had been collecting without the necessary licences outside Marks and Spencer in Kings Road, Chelsea, as well as many other locations across London.

Complainant B feels this has had a detrimental impact on their organisation’s own collections because Painted Children’s allegedly illegal presence meant they could not fundraise as effectively on their annual London city-wide collecting day in 2009 as planned.

Although the FRSB believed it had mediated a resolution between both charities at the time, this problem resurfaced during the run up to the 2010 collection day and resulted in the charity requesting that this become a Stage 3 complaint.

Complainant C

Complainant C, a member of the general public, initially complained to Painted Children directly in November 2009 about its fundraisers collecting without licences outside the Eastcheap branch of Tesco and London Bridge station.

When Complainant C contacted the charity, they were told that it had a long-standing agreement with Tesco to carry out cash collections at their premises, which Tesco deny. Complainant C also claims that Painted Children refused to accept any feedback when he called to speak to its Operation’s Manager.

Complainant D

An ex fundraiser of Painted Children complained directly to the FRSB in November 2009 and confirmed that he used to work for Painted Children as one of its collectors but resigned because of the illegal way in which it fundraised. Complainant D told the FRSB that they were never given a letter of authority, had not received any training and that Painted Children did not have licences for the majority of its collections.

Complainant E

Complainant E, acting on behalf of the Friends of a charitable group who raise funds specifically for a large London-based hospital, contacted the FRSB in May 2010 to express “dismay” at the continued presence of Painted Children fundraisers in Kings Road, Chelsea. They claimed that their collectors were met with aggression by Painted Children’s fundraisers during one of their collections in 2009 and was concerned that this would be repeated in 2010. Complainant E does not believe that Painted Children have a collecting licence for King’s Road and the documentation the FRSB had been sent appears to support that view.

Complainant F

Complainant F contacted the FRSB in May 2010 because they were concerned about the legitimacy of Painted Children after she had been approached by one of its fundraisers outside Marks and Spencer in King’s Road, Chelsea. They were suspicious of the flyer they were given which included many grammatical and typing errors and they were concerned by the fact that Painted Children’s website was contradictory with regards to its objects.

Painted Children’s responses

Overview

Painted Children has consistently failed to fully address the allegations made against it and has only provided partial answers to the Fundraising Standards Board’s questions despite repeated requests. 

 Complainant B

 Following Complainant B’s complaint of the 24th August 2009, representatives of the FRSB met with Painted Children. Following that meeting, the charity was asked to put a temporary system in place so that the FRSB could monitor future cash collections. It failed to do so.

 At no point have Painted Children confirmed or denied that it had fundraisers working illegally in Kings Road, Chelsea. Complaints suggesting that Painted Children had fundraisers working in this location were made by three independent parties over a 12 month period. The charity has never provided documentation which confirms that it could collect in this location.

Complainant C

 Painted Children failed to fully answer Complainant C’s initial complaint in November 2009 which is why he referred the matter to the Fundraising Standards Board.

 When the Fundraising Standards Board asked Painted Children to clarify whether or not its fundraisers collecting in London Bridge and Eastcheap had the necessary licences, it maintained it was not collecting in these areas and, as such, these must be fraudulent collectors. In support of this claim, they gave the FRSB a crime reference number which was subsequently confirmed as genuine by Bow Police Station.

 The FRSB wrote to Painted Children on the 10th November 2009 and asked it to address 3 key points which would improve its approach to fundraising. This letter included a request for Painted Children to review its process for carrying out cash collection activity, a request for Painted Children to produce a process paper which outlined how it intended to undertake future cash collection activity (including a requirement to seek licences where street fundraising activity was concerned) and a request that Painted Children provide the FRSB with a schedule of planned cash collection activity over a 6 month period.

 Whilst the charity did take steps to ensure that its collection buckets were up to standard (embossed seal etc), Painted Children did not at any stage adhere to the other suggestions outlined in the letter.

Following repeated requests from the Fundraising Standards Board’s Chief Executive for updates on progress against these suggestions, Painted Children did provide permission letters from London Underground for collections taking place during a four month period, February - May 2010. However, the charity did not, as requested, have a process paper in place for planning collections nor did it confirm what steps it had taken to improve its collection activity.

Provision of requested documentation

After receiving complaints from Complainants A and B in 2009, The Fundraising Standards Board asked to see permission letters for collections where Painted Children fundraisers had been seen. The charity was unable to provide them. However, because it provided other permission letters, this suggested that it was following the correct procedures, so the matter was not pursued by the FRSB at the time.

With regards to the complaints the FRSB received later in 2009 and in early 2010, continued requests for Painted Children to provide relevant permission letters were made in order to try to resolve them. On one follow up, Painted Children provided a permission letter signed by the manager of Westbourne Grove’s branch of Sainsbury’s which was not on headed paper and stated the charity could collect there “every Thursday.” The Fundraising Standards Board followed this matter up with Sainsbury’s Community Affairs department who informed the FRSB that it was standard practice to provide permission letters on headed paper and that was unusual for one charity to have a long-term collecting agreement with any of its branches

Painted Children’s last correspondence

In its last letter to the FRSB dated 13th July 2010, Painted Children claimed that it had been bullied by both Complainant B and the FRSB and that this had stopped it from fundraising effectively. During the adjudication, the FRSB board considered this matter and found that there was no evidence to substantiate this allegation.

Stage II Resolution (s) Attempted

Only two of the six separate complaints the FRSB received about Painted Children were treated as Stage 2 complaints:

Complainant C

1. Complainant C got in touch with the Fundraising Standards Board after receiving unsatisfactory answers from Painted Children to his complaint. As per its complaints procedure, the FRSB contacted the charity on the complainant’s behalf and asked it to confirm whether or not it had permission to collect in Tesco’s, Eastcheap and at London Bridge station.

2. The FRSB also asked the charity to:

 a) review their process for carrying out cash collection activity

b) produce a process paper which outlined how it would undertake future cash collection activity.

c) provide the FRSB with a schedule of planned activity over a 6 month period.

Despite numerous requests from the Fundraising Standards Board, the charity still does not have these procedures in place. Therefore, this particular complaint has not been resolved.

Complainant B

Complainant B requested that her complaint be escalated to Stage 2 of the FRSB complaints process in August 2009. Representatives of the FRSB met with the charity and sought to resolve this complaint. The charity accepted the resolution at the time.

On the 28th May 2010, after Painted Children collectors had returned to the streets of Chelsea. Complainant B considered that their complaint had not been fully resolved and requested that it be elevated to Stage 3.

Assessment

The Board adjudicated on the basis of the Fundraising Promise: We are committed to High Standards (we comply with the law), We are Honest and Open, We are Fair and Reasonable.

In addition, it assessed the evidence it had regarding Painted Children’s street collection activity against the Police, Factories and c. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 and The Street Collections (Metropolitan Police District) Regulations of 1979.

OUTCOME

UPHELD

High Standards (Compliance with the law)

1. It was noted by the board that the FRSB had received 4 complaints from independent parties and/or organisations all alleging that Painted Children had been carrying out street collections, primarily in the King’s Road, Chelsea. According to the Metropolitan Police, the charity did not have a street collecting licence and therefore any street collecting they were participating in was illegal.

2. Painted Children advertise on the website www.gumtree.com for collectors and promised a “handsome income,” based on “commission or £7 per hour after evaluation, (approximately) +bonus”. The recruitment video includes a number of scenes of Painted Children collectors in public places across London. Although this evidence is circumstantial, the board believed the video implied that Painted Children carry out cash collections in public places and pay their fundraisers for the work they do.

3. Whilst it is legal for fundraisers to be paid if they are collecting on private property, paying street collectors is not only illegal according to The Street Collections (Metropolitan Police District) Regulations 1979, but also at variance to the assurances they have given to the FRSB that it did not collect in the street.

4. The board concluded that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that Painted Children are in breach of the Police, Factories and c. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 and, in addition, The Street Collections (Metropolitan Police District) Regulations of 1979.

We are Honest and Open

5. If, as Painted Children have implied, it does not carry out cash collections in public places, the charity is still in breach of the Fundraising Promise “We are Honest and Open” because the advertisement is misleading in that it suggests they do collect on the street.

6. There have also been suggestions from Painted Children that on at least some occasions where there have been complaints, the charity was in fact collecting on private property. However, despite numerous requests, they could not provide permission letters from Marks and Spencer, Tesco’s or from those underground stations at which Painted Children fundraisers had been identified by the Complainant A and Complainant C. The board therefore decided that the charity had failed to be honest and open as stated in the Fundraising Promise, despite being given ample opportunity by the FRSB.

7. Whilst there was consensus that the complaint should be upheld, the board requested that the FRSB gather further evidence to support the case that Painted Children were collecting on the street. This additional evidence has since been gathered.

Adjudication Recommendations

1. It was noted that Painted Children has not yet paid their membership renewal fee, yet they are still members as per section 9a of the Fundraising Standards Board Scheme Membership Conditions document. Section 9a stipulates that the charity needs to give the FRSB at least six months notice in writing before it can leave the scheme and all complaints relate to a time when they were members. However, it has been decided that in line with section 9b3 of our Terms and Conditions, the FRSB will terminate the charity’s membership until they provide sufficient evidence confirming that they have amended their practices.

2. Although it was recognised that there is some existing guidance relating to public cash collection activity available from the Institute of Fundraising, the FRSB board recommended that the Institute of Fundraising should consider drafting a Cash Collections Code which would provide more formal guidance and consolidate it under one code.

3. The FRSB board recommended that the evidence collected by the FRSB during the course of the investigation should be shared with the Charity Commission.

4. The board recommended that the Chief Executive of the Fundraising Standards Board should inform the Trading Standards Institute of the decision, as well as the local Trading Standards Office.

5. The board asked the Chief Executive of the Fundraising Standards Board to inform the Metropolitan Police about the adjudication decision and also recommend that they consider investigating Painted Children further.

6. The board recommended that the FRSB write to Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society requesting that the Government implement Sections 45-66 of the Charities Act 2006 covering public charitable collections. It was felt that a less complicated licensing regime (which these sections offer) would not only be easier for charities to follow but would also be easier for the public to understand and consult if they had concerns about a particular charitable collection.

7. Painted Children will be offered the opportunity to be monitored over a 12 month period. The monitoring will take the form of a monthly report which will be sent to the Compliance Manager of the Fundraising Standards Board. This will include a list of collections the charity will be carrying out as well as the corresponding licences and/or permission letters needed for these collections. The Fundraising Standards Board will also seek confirmation from the charity that it has provided its collectors with training materials and scripts. If Painted Children remain compliant for one full year, the FRSB will publicise its progress and consider the charity for membership reinstatement.

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