Charity collection licence

If you want to collect for charity on the street or door-to-door, you must complete the application forms which are at the bottom of this page.

You will need to provide us with a current letter of authority from your charity giving you permission to hold a collection for them. This authorisation will need to be signed by a Charity Trustee or equivalent and cannot be signed by the person applying for a permit.

You should contact the licensing team at least one month before your proposed street collection/house-to-house collection date date to discuss available dates. Please note for street collections we can only issue one permit for one day per 30 days. Please be aware that as of the Monday 8 April 2024, street collection permits will be restricted to Saturday or Sunday only in the town centre (Broad Street or Friar Street). The only exception will be certain organised events – please contact us before booking. You will still be able to book street collections on week days as well as weekends for Caversham or Tilehurst. Any bookings already made for week days in the town centre will be honoured.

You must return your Form of Statement to us within 30 days of your collection.

Please ensure you have read our regulation documents:

Please be aware that a street collection permit only gives you permission for a bucket collection and this does not include tables or free-standing publicity material. If you are collecting in the town centre and you intend to have tables for your charity information, free-standing publicity materials or music performances then you will need to contact Reading CIC to book a promotional space.

Application forms

If you want to collect for charity on the street or door-to-door, you must complete our online house-to-house collections application form or street collection application form.

Please note:

  • it is an offence to collect money – or goods for resale – for charity without a valid permit
  • no permit will be issued if the Form of Statement has not been submitted for the previous collection.
Last updated on 26/11/2024