Abused by drunks, spat at and called obscene names, chuggers have a lot more to deal with than public prejudices. But do they deserve your charity?
It was my first day, I was standing on Liverpool high street and the weather was atrocious. I was armed with a clip board, and already people were giving me disapproving looks. The first person I tried to talk to just raised his arm and walked on by. Another person was drunk, he started hitting me over the head with a soggy newspaper, then he tried to hug me and then he started hitting me over the head with his newspaper again. It was scary, people walked past as though nothing out of the normal was happening. Nobody seemed to care what happened to the chugger.
I’d gone through a lengthy telephone interview, a gruelling four hour face to face screening process and two days of meticulous training but nothing properly prepared me for unexpected incidents that happen on the high streets of the UK. As a street fundraiser you need to demonstrate positivity, imagination and passion, but when the rain is pouring down in Liverpool and you’re being abused by a drunk, all these attributes evaporate.
The term chugger, a blend of the words charity and mugger, is an example of the negative labels that, along with an identity card, hang around the neck of every street fundraiser. Abuse at the hands of the public is relentless; I was spat at, verbally abused and frequently ignored. However every now and again I met someone who makes it all worthwhile. I remember when I was fundraising for Oxfam and I met a Somalian student at Manchester University who thanked me for what I was doing, he told me how Oxfam had built a well in his village and how many lives had been saved by the work Oxfam did with the community.
Most members of the public have a story to tell about how they were bullied by a chugger, just as they have a story about a rude waiter in a restaurant. However, unlike waiters, a negative experience with a fundraiser tends to linger. People love to hate chuggers, not because of the odd bad experience, but because a chugger is the bearer of bad news. No one wants to walk down a street in the morning, coffee in one hand, paper in the other, and be reminded of breast cancer or of the continuing crisis in Darfur, but keeping these issues in the forefront of the public mind is the only way to remind people that these are crises that continue to threaten the fabric of our community.
It is unlikely that the negative publicity and abuse will cease to surround street fundraisers but it should be remembered that these are dedicated, passionate people who risk abuse and discrimination to raise funds for worthwhile causes. It’s a thankless job but somebody needs to do it.
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Tuesday: 18th November 2008
A cracking lecture today, one that really makes me happy that I’m doing Creative Writing, unlike English Literature which teaches you research skills; Creative Writing teaches you the skills you need to crack the Industry. Today, various people came in and told us about a whole load of competitions, volunteer placements and work experience placements. I’ll be mulling them over and deciding which ones are suitable for me before pursuing suitable opportunities for my own ambitions.
One that really caught my attention was the Bath Life Competition, ‘article about life in Bath’ which I shall certainly be entering. I already know what my article will focus on. I’m lucky enough to work for The William Herschel Museum. The Herschels were an incredibly interesting family and also Bath residents, but nevertheless very few people have heard of them, or the museum. Hopefully the article should be interesting enough for people to read, and if I win I’ll bring some much needed publicity to the museum as well. I’ve already written to Alison at the museum to ask her what she thinks, and with any luck I should have the article completed by the end of this month, ready to hand in. Am very much looking forward to it.
With regards to my article about ‘chuggers’, I took the first draft into my seminar today and got some very useful feedback, I’ll now do some tinkering, get some more feedback and send it off to Community Care magazine. I’m a little undecided as to whether to make it an opinion piece or an article. I phoned NSPCC and Cancer Research to ask for some quotes, facts and figures about street fundraising just in case. I really enjoyed phoning these massive charities and asking for all this information, I felt like a proper journalist and they were very helpful. All very interesting. I’m going to take all the time I need before sending this article off as I’m not working to a deadline and I want to get it right.
One that really caught my attention was the Bath Life Competition, ‘article about life in Bath’ which I shall certainly be entering. I already know what my article will focus on. I’m lucky enough to work for The William Herschel Museum. The Herschels were an incredibly interesting family and also Bath residents, but nevertheless very few people have heard of them, or the museum. Hopefully the article should be interesting enough for people to read, and if I win I’ll bring some much needed publicity to the museum as well. I’ve already written to Alison at the museum to ask her what she thinks, and with any luck I should have the article completed by the end of this month, ready to hand in. Am very much looking forward to it.
With regards to my article about ‘chuggers’, I took the first draft into my seminar today and got some very useful feedback, I’ll now do some tinkering, get some more feedback and send it off to Community Care magazine. I’m a little undecided as to whether to make it an opinion piece or an article. I phoned NSPCC and Cancer Research to ask for some quotes, facts and figures about street fundraising just in case. I really enjoyed phoning these massive charities and asking for all this information, I felt like a proper journalist and they were very helpful. All very interesting. I’m going to take all the time I need before sending this article off as I’m not working to a deadline and I want to get it right.
Chuggers and Charity, a first draft
Abused by drunks, spat at and called obscene names, chuggers have a lot more to deal with than public prejudices. But do they deserve your charity?
The word chugger, a portmanteau of the words charity and mugger, is an example of the negative labels that, along with an identity card, hang around the neck of every street fundraiser. Dealing with these stereotypes is one of the first tasks that you need to overcome if you are to succeed as a charity fundraiser. Contrary to popular belief not all chuggers are the aggressive, pushy individuals who intimidate the pubic and guilt trip people into signing away their wages.
Not just anyone can become a charity fundraiser; if a candidate passes a lengthy telephone interview, then they are invited for a gruelling four hour screening process. Only those who demonstrate the right personal attributes, positivity, imagination and passion, are offered to attend the subsequent two days of training.
Becoming a street fundraiser is not a job, it is a strict lifestyle choice. It means spending nine hours a day, six days per week on the high streets of the UK, regardless of the often atrocious Bristish weather conditions. Sunday is not a day of rest, instead it means packing up all your belongings, travelling to a new location, unpacking all your belongings and preparing for the next day’s fundraising.
It is not just prejudice and harsh weather conditions that street fundraisers must overcome; abuse at the hands of the public is relentless; in Manchester I was spat at, in Liverpool a drunk man repeatedly hit me over the head with a newspaper, I was verbally abused on a daily basis and often people used me as a vent for their grievances about the world’s problems. I even spent a substantial amount of time once listening to man as he told me about his divorce. Despite this torrent of abuse, a street fundraiser must remain cheerful and positive at all times; they do this by remaining passionate about the charities they represent.
Most members of the public have a story to tell about how they were bullied by a chugger, just as they have a story about a rude waiter in a restaurant. However, unlike waiters, a negative experience with a fundraiser tends to linger. People love to hate chuggers, not because of the odd bad experience, but because a chugger is the bearer of bad news. No one wants to walk down a street in the morning, coffee in one hand, paper in the other, and be reminded of breast cancer or of the continuing crisis in Darfur, but keeping these issues in the forefront of the public eye is the only way to remind people that these are crisis’s that continue to threaten the fabric of our community.
It is unlikely that the negative publicity and abuse will cease to surround street fundraisers but it should be remembered that these are people who risk abuse and discrimination to raise funds for worthwhile causes, whilst keeping the public aware of the serious issues facing communities around the world. It’s a thankless job but somebody needs to do it.
The word chugger, a portmanteau of the words charity and mugger, is an example of the negative labels that, along with an identity card, hang around the neck of every street fundraiser. Dealing with these stereotypes is one of the first tasks that you need to overcome if you are to succeed as a charity fundraiser. Contrary to popular belief not all chuggers are the aggressive, pushy individuals who intimidate the pubic and guilt trip people into signing away their wages.
Not just anyone can become a charity fundraiser; if a candidate passes a lengthy telephone interview, then they are invited for a gruelling four hour screening process. Only those who demonstrate the right personal attributes, positivity, imagination and passion, are offered to attend the subsequent two days of training.
Becoming a street fundraiser is not a job, it is a strict lifestyle choice. It means spending nine hours a day, six days per week on the high streets of the UK, regardless of the often atrocious Bristish weather conditions. Sunday is not a day of rest, instead it means packing up all your belongings, travelling to a new location, unpacking all your belongings and preparing for the next day’s fundraising.
It is not just prejudice and harsh weather conditions that street fundraisers must overcome; abuse at the hands of the public is relentless; in Manchester I was spat at, in Liverpool a drunk man repeatedly hit me over the head with a newspaper, I was verbally abused on a daily basis and often people used me as a vent for their grievances about the world’s problems. I even spent a substantial amount of time once listening to man as he told me about his divorce. Despite this torrent of abuse, a street fundraiser must remain cheerful and positive at all times; they do this by remaining passionate about the charities they represent.
Most members of the public have a story to tell about how they were bullied by a chugger, just as they have a story about a rude waiter in a restaurant. However, unlike waiters, a negative experience with a fundraiser tends to linger. People love to hate chuggers, not because of the odd bad experience, but because a chugger is the bearer of bad news. No one wants to walk down a street in the morning, coffee in one hand, paper in the other, and be reminded of breast cancer or of the continuing crisis in Darfur, but keeping these issues in the forefront of the public eye is the only way to remind people that these are crisis’s that continue to threaten the fabric of our community.
It is unlikely that the negative publicity and abuse will cease to surround street fundraisers but it should be remembered that these are people who risk abuse and discrimination to raise funds for worthwhile causes, whilst keeping the public aware of the serious issues facing communities around the world. It’s a thankless job but somebody needs to do it.
Friday: 14th November 2008
A mixed few days in my continuing quest to get as published as possible; I received this email from Steve Wright at Venue:
Hi Jake,
Thanks v much for your email. I'm afraid I have a pretty strong reviewing team in place at the minute, and am not looking for any other writers in the immediate future: but I will keep you on file. Meanwhile, if you are interested in work experience at Venue, feel free to email Mike White, the Assistant Editor here, on m.white@venue.co.uk. Send a CV and some examples of your writing...
Thanks Jake, sorry not to be more help this time and very good luck with your writing,
Steve
So that was a bit disappointing. I wrote and thanked Steve and I’m mulling over writing to Mike White, although as I’ve previously mentioned, I’m not that interested in doing work experience for a magazine, but it’s nice to know that there’s still opportunities there, and if I fail to find work experience elsewhere then I’ll certainly be contacting Mike.
On the other hand I’ve had a little more luck with regards to my ‘chugger’ article. After some meticulous research, I eventually found a magazine that may well be suited for the piece. It’s called Community Care magazine and they’ve already published several articles examining the issue. I did a bit of digging around and found the online masthead of the magazine and decided to call the writer of an article defending chuggers. His name is Adam McCulloch. He was averagely helpful, and seemed genuinely interested in the idea and told me to send the finished article to Derren Hayes, who will then decide whether it’s good enough to be published. I have begun writing the article and I’ll workshop it next week to find out whether it’s suitable.
Hi Jake,
Thanks v much for your email. I'm afraid I have a pretty strong reviewing team in place at the minute, and am not looking for any other writers in the immediate future: but I will keep you on file. Meanwhile, if you are interested in work experience at Venue, feel free to email Mike White, the Assistant Editor here, on m.white@venue.co.uk. Send a CV and some examples of your writing...
Thanks Jake, sorry not to be more help this time and very good luck with your writing,
Steve
So that was a bit disappointing. I wrote and thanked Steve and I’m mulling over writing to Mike White, although as I’ve previously mentioned, I’m not that interested in doing work experience for a magazine, but it’s nice to know that there’s still opportunities there, and if I fail to find work experience elsewhere then I’ll certainly be contacting Mike.
On the other hand I’ve had a little more luck with regards to my ‘chugger’ article. After some meticulous research, I eventually found a magazine that may well be suited for the piece. It’s called Community Care magazine and they’ve already published several articles examining the issue. I did a bit of digging around and found the online masthead of the magazine and decided to call the writer of an article defending chuggers. His name is Adam McCulloch. He was averagely helpful, and seemed genuinely interested in the idea and told me to send the finished article to Derren Hayes, who will then decide whether it’s good enough to be published. I have begun writing the article and I’ll workshop it next week to find out whether it’s suitable.
Friday 7th November
Breaking News
I actually really enjoyed this assignment; I chose to cover a story relating to Ambidextrous, a society at University that has seen a fall in membership. We had a meeting in the pub one evening and I covered this, taking a specific angle on how the society could improve to attract more members.
The object of this exercise was clearly to discover what it was like to work to tight deadlines. As a news reporter a breaking story obviously needs to be reported as early as possible. It’s something I’m getting (I hate that word) used to in my reviews for the Chronicle. Often I will go and see a play on a Tuesday evening, in fact the other day I even had to watch a dress rehearsal, so that I could get the review in on Wednesday morning, ready for Thursday’s paper. It definitely puts an added pressure on you, and sometimes you need to wake up early in the morning to finish it off, but there is an increased sense of urgency about it, it feels professional, and it’s something I definitely thrive on.
I actually really enjoyed this assignment; I chose to cover a story relating to Ambidextrous, a society at University that has seen a fall in membership. We had a meeting in the pub one evening and I covered this, taking a specific angle on how the society could improve to attract more members.
The object of this exercise was clearly to discover what it was like to work to tight deadlines. As a news reporter a breaking story obviously needs to be reported as early as possible. It’s something I’m getting (I hate that word) used to in my reviews for the Chronicle. Often I will go and see a play on a Tuesday evening, in fact the other day I even had to watch a dress rehearsal, so that I could get the review in on Wednesday morning, ready for Thursday’s paper. It definitely puts an added pressure on you, and sometimes you need to wake up early in the morning to finish it off, but there is an increased sense of urgency about it, it feels professional, and it’s something I definitely thrive on.
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