Is Poppy collecting covered by RAFAC insurance

[Baldrick]

And no police officer is going to enforce that law, if it is a law.

[alexw]

Quite often RBL etc will arrange the street collection license and have those supporting it covered, this has happened for us before.

Appreciate there are legal experts on here, but if one did collect without a license, would this not be for local authority enforcement and not the Police?

[talon]

Yes, but amounts to the same thing. Someone has money to pay people who hire an ambulance chaser.

[Aries]

Speaking as an RBL Branch Treasurer I can advise that we are not doing door to door as we did before the lockdown due to risk to the Collectors, and that suggests that as volunteers the collectors have no insurance cover. Branch people involved in the Poppy Appeal have also had to undertake training. Air Cadets helping with Poppy Appeal is traditional but clearly they are not covered by an RBL insurance (they are not members or beneficiaries – you even have to be an associate member to become a standard bearer for fear of wacking someone on the head), but the Poppy Appeal is not an RAFAC activity, so would any RAFAC insurance apply, especially as it is funded by the GPF and not the MOD. As there has been a Legal Adviser at HQ RAFAC since the end of 2020, might that be the place to ask the question?

[ACR]

@juliet_mike

Section 5 of the Police, Factories, etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1916, as amended by the Local Government Act 1972 and Schedule 29 of that Act.

This is something I have looked at before with my RAFA hat on. I’ve seen articles saying it’s illegal for people under 16 to collect in public, but never seen any statutory authority for the assertion. The PF(MP)A says it’s up to each local authority (save for London) to set its own regulations.

Many (most?) local authorities follow the model regulations set out in The Charitable Collections (Transitional Provisions) Order 1974, which, to be fair, does say:

No promoter, collector or person who is otherwise connected with a collection shall permit a person under the age of sixteen years to act as a collector.

A cursory search on Google will bring up many examples of local authorities following the model regulations and setting the minimum age for collectors at 16. However, local authorities are free to vary the model regulations, provided the regulations set are approved by the Secretary of State. For example, my local authority has varied the clause to:

No promoter, collector or person who is otherwise connected with a collection shall permit a person under the age of sixteen years to act as a collector unless the collectors are part of an organisation such as cadets, girl guides or boy scouts.

Also this:

@Baldrick

And no police officer is going to enforce that law, if it is a law.

Especially given I’ve seen the police’s own cadets out collecting for charity in the past…

[Teflon]

We put an over 16 with the tin and U16s with the ‘goodies’, so to all intents the U16 isn’t taking the money, just in case someone gets a bit snotty. Never known anyone say anything except how smart, polite and well behaved the cadets are. But you just know that the one time you don’t is when someone pipes up.

[steve679]

@Aries

I can advise that we are not doing door to door as we did before the lockdown due to risk to the Collectors, and that suggests that as volunteers the collectors have no insurance cover.

That must be a local issue as the RBL indicates their will be collectors out in the community based on this myth vs truth post

https://www.facebook.com/190910350986500/posts/4437603559650470/

[Teflon]

There are places in all towns where you wouldn’t go door to door collecting.

[Farmerdan]

Where the army cadets come from? Dodgy dodgy places.

[romeo_bravo]

Well if it’s not, there’s a lot of squadrons showing on SM their involvement.

Well done guys and gals everywhere