Collecting for charity

Street collections

To collect money for charity on any street or public place you need to apply for a permit.

Permits are restricted to allow only one collection in an area per day, to give all charities the chance to hold an uninterrupted collection. Applications for a permit need to be made at least one month before the proposed collection date. However, collection dates in popular areas such as Worthing town centre are often booked up several months in advance so we recommend bookings are made at least six months in advance to secure a preferred date.

For further information please see:

Apply for a street collection licence

Apply for a street collection licence - on the GOV.UK website

Or you can download and complete the form below and return it to us:

Street Collection - Application form - to hand write (357KB)

If you plan to provide some form of entertainment or stage an event to accompany your street collection within the town centre in Worthing you will need to book the space with the town centre initiative. Please use the application form below.

Worthing Town Centre Initiative - Entertainment Application - to hand write (110KB)

If you wish to provide entertainment to accompany your collection in any other part of Worthing (apart from the town centre) or in Adur you will need to book with the Events Team. Please see:

Organising an event on council land in Adur and Worthing

Statement of collection

Within three months of the collection date you must submit a statement of account to the Licensing Unit. This is kept on file for inspection by the Charity Commission. We no longer chase these returns, but future collection applications may be refused if previous collection statements are not submitted on time.

Street Collection - Statement (397KB)

For further information please contact the Licensing Unit.

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House to house collections

To collect money or goods (that you plan to sell at a later date) from people's houses for charity you need to apply to the Licensing Unit for a permit. Some larger charities have an exemption order issued by the Home Office, which means they do not have to apply for a collection permit.

A permit may be granted for a period of up to a year. An application may be refused if we are not satisfied that the proportion of the total proceeds likely to be applied to charitable purposes is adequate.

Apply for a house to house collection licence

Apply for a house to house collection licence - on the GOV.UK website

Or you can download and complete the form below and return it to us:

House to House - Application form - to hand write (335KB)

Statement of collection

Within three months of completing a house to house collection you must submit a statement of account to the Licensing Unit. This is kept on file for inspection by the Charity Commission. We no longer chase these returns, but future collection applications may be refused if previous collection statements are not submitted on time.