Face-to-face fundraising

Face-to-face fundraising is a very important and highly effective part of our fundraising programme. It enables fundraisers to engage with members of the public to raise awareness of the work we do, as well as find new supporters, whose regular donations are so important in supporting the hospital’s life-changing work. We are thrilled to be working across the country to raise vital funds for the hospital, to help give seriously ill children from across the UK the best chance and the best childhood possible.

All official GOSH Charity fundraisers will:

• Wear an ID badge which includes their name, photo, ID number and details of the agency they work for.
• Wear a tabard, t-shirt, jacket or polo top with the GOSH Charity logo.
• Carry a Letter of Authority that lets members of the public, the police or the council know that they are registered, professional fundraisers, licensed to represent the charity.

We pay our professional fundraising agencies (who appoint the fundraisers) a fixed rate for every person who signs up to become regular supporter of GOSH Charity. We do not pay the agency if an individual declines to sign up. Different agencies have different wage structures to pay their fundraisers.

At GOSH Charity we use external agencies to help us carry out our essential fundraising. The agencies we work with have the infrastructure necessary to run national campaigns on the scale we need. We have also found this to be the most effective use of money, something which is constantly reviewed, including by our Board of Trustees. By partnering with these specialised agencies, we can ensure that as many of our resources as possible are directed towards supporting the children and families who come to the hospital for life-changing treatment.

You can find further details in our annual report, which can be found on our Annual Report and Accounts page.

All our face-to-face fundraisers’ work hours are in accordance with the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Practice. Hours are subject to change around bank holidays and national events.

Private site timings:

• Monday–Sunday: Fundraisers will work hours in line with the opening times of the shopping centre/site.

Door-to-door timings:

• Monday–Saturday: 9am–9pm.
• Sunday: No door-to-door activity.

Following the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Practice, GOSH Charity fundraisers will not fundraise in an official No Cold Calling Zone or Controlled Cold Calling Zone (NCCZ/CCCZ.). These are zones where all door-to-door cold calling activities are restricted by the local council and trading standards.

In some areas, unofficial signs have been put up to deter fraudsters. In these areas our fundraisers are permitted to fundraise, however if a member of the public mentions an NCCZ/CCCZ, regardless of whether it is official, our fundraisers have been trained to leave.

If you have found this to not be the case, please do inform us immediately by emailing supporter.care@gosh.org. To check whether your local NCCZ/CCCZ sign is official, please contact your local council.

GOSH Charity holds a National Exemption Order, which means we can fundraise without approval from local authorities in England and Wales.

However, our agencies are required to notify all local authorities in advance of our arrival in an area.

For some forms of fundraising, such as private sites like shopping centres, permission is given by the relevant authority figure (usually the store’s manager or charity champion) and fundraisers will have documentation to this effect.

We take seriously any feedback from local councils – positive or negative – and require fundraising agencies to forward any complaints they receive directly to us.

The health and safety of our supporters and fundraisers is our top priority. We follow all government and sector guidance to make sure our door-to-door fundraising activity is as safe as possible.

We encourage our fundraisers to be considerate about hygiene and safety by adhering to the below:

• Our fundraisers are advised to carry a personal supply of hand sanitiser/anti-bacterial gel and use it regularly.
• When approaching any members of the public, fundraisers will always ensure they socially distance as much as is appropriate.
• Our fundraisers are taught to offer contactless sign-up options wherever possible.
• They will also ideally carry a face mask, and should a member of public request one is worn for the conversation to continue, they will put a face mask on. If they don't have a face mask and are asked to wear one, they will step away or leave at the member of the public’s discretion.

We take our responsibilities to vulnerable people very seriously and have strict measures in place to protect them. All our fundraisers are briefed and trained in how to identify someone who may be potentially vulnerable and what action to take if a person is suspected to be in a vulnerable situation. Our training reflects industry best practice.

Any personal information, bank details and contact preferences that you give to fundraisers will be kept completely confidential.

Our fundraisers will only ever ask for non-sensitive information, such as your sort code and account number. A legitimate GOSH Charity fundraiser will never ask you for sensitive banking information, such as your 16-digit card number or security number.

All our fundraisers receive guidance and training on data protection and are trained to adhere to the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Practice. GOSH Charity and all its fundraising agencies are members of both the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and the Fundraising Regulator and follow their guidelines on all fundraising practices.

If you want to find out more about how we use personal data, please view our privacy policy or email dataprotection@gosh.org.

The fundraiser that you spoke to should have made you aware that you would receive a welcome call after signing up to make a regular donation. This call is to thank you for choosing to support the charity, confirm some of your details and ask for your feedback on the fundraiser you spoke to. These calls will come from one of the following phone numbers:

• 020 3424 3648
• 020 3476 8472
• 020 4572 6059
• 020 3725 9272

The caller will ask you to confirm the month and year of your birth, and the first line of your address and your postcode, prior to continuing the call for data protection reasons. They will not ask for any sensitive bank details during this call.

At GOSH Charity we are committed to ensuring high quality of our fundraising activity. We ensure that our fundraising is carried out according to the standards outlined by the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice.

All fundraisers working on behalf of GOSH Charity are on a regular training programme made up of sessions throughout the year to cement their fundraising and Charity knowledge. We also observe our fundraisers out in public frequently to ensure that our charity values are upheld.

For our lottery and general regular giving face-to-face campaigns, the money raised supports children and their families by funding the hospital’s most urgent needs. This includes the rebuilding and redevelopment of hospital wards and buildings, advanced medical equipment, pioneering research and support services for children and their families.

For our Together We Can Build it. Beat it. face-to-face campaign, all regular gifts will be donated to the Build it. Beat it. appeal to help build a world-leading Children’s Cancer Centre, as well as the development of cancer care at GOSH more widely. If costs or the needs of the hospital or patients, change, we reserve the right to redirect funds for use against the hospital’s most urgent needs.

Out of every £1 raised, on average 31p is spent on raising the next pound and 69p goes towards supporting the hospital.*

*These figures are based on annual data for 2022/23 financial year.

The Fundraising Regulator is the independent regulator of charitable fundraising. All face-to-face fundraising is regulated by the Fundraising Regulator and its corresponding rulebooks.

The Fundraising Regulator is responsible for ensuring organisations are following the Fundraising code of Practice, and works with charities, professional fundraising organisations and local authorities to minimise complaints and ensure high standards of fundraising are adhered to.

Find out more about the Fundraising Regulator.

To ensure that no fundraiser visits your property, please place a No Cold Calling sticker near the entrance of your home so that it’s visible to anyone who approaches. It is required by the Fundraising Regulator’s code that fundraisers cannot knock on a door/contact the owners of a property which has a sign explicitly stating: “No Cold Calling”, “No Fundraisers” or “No Charities”.

If you have any feedback, then please get in touch. If this is a complaint it will help our investigation if you can include:

• Details of the incident
• The date and time of the incident
• Your name and location of the incident (your home’s postcode or the private site you were at)
• Your telephone number or email address
• Fundraiser’s name and ID number and/or description of the fundraiser(s)
• Any captured pictures or footage of the incident

Please email our Supporter Relations team at supporter.care@gosh.org

To find out more about how we process and respond to feedback and complaints, please read our complaints procedure or contact us.

If you have any questions or concerns not answered in these FAQs, or if you wish to amend or cancel your Direct Debit, please contact our Supporter Relations team on 020 3841 3131 (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm) or email supporter.care@gosh.org

If you wish to make any amendments or cancel your lottery subscription, please contact our dedicated Lottery Supporter Relations team on 0330 123 9868 (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm) or email gosh@thecharitylottery.co.uk.