Street Collections
If you want to collect money for charity in a public place, whether it's by collecting donations or selling goods, you must have a permit first.
Street Collections for Charitable Purposes or Good Causes
You will require a street collection permit to carry out a street collection for charity or a good cause, within the Derbyshire Dales District Council’s area.
We do have a street and house-to-house collections policy you can access Street and House to House Collections Policy for more information.
Collecting money in the street is a good way of raising funds for charity or benevolent purposes. Any organisation wishing to hold a street collection, on the public highway, for charitable purposes must obtain a permit and keep it with them when the collection takes place.
This Council only allows one collection to take place on any one day in any one location. Although most organisations prefer to carry out a collection on a Saturday, collections may take place on other days of the week.
Sponsored events/walks do not need to be licensed but 'moving collections' such as carnival processions and events which involve collecting from the public along a route will require a street collection permit.
After the charitable collection has taken place, you will need to complete a return form showing how much money was collected and how it was distributed. A blank return form will be sent to you when your permit is issued, and you can download additional forms Financial Statement Return Form. All financial statement returns must be submitted as soon as possible after the collection has taken place. Failure to submit returns could result in future applications being refused.
It is important to remember that the Council's Street Collection Regulations do not permit remuneration to be paid to charitable street collectors.
The application form can be downloaded Application form for Street Collection Permit and once it is completed can be submitted with a letter from the charity authorising the person to carry out the collection on their behalf,
The form and letter can be emailed to
We do not charge a fee for applications for Street Collection Permits.
Charitable House to House Collections
A collection, which is conducted door to door, requires a house-to-house collection permit..
However, if the Charity holds a Home Office National Certificate of Exemption Order, (NEO), then you only need to notify us of your intention to collect.
We will still record your collection dates on our calendar/register as this ensures we know who is collecting in the area and whether a bonafide organisation is carrying out the collection.
Collecting money (or donated goods) door to door is a good way of raising funds for charity or benevolent purposes. Any organisation wishing to hold a house-to-house collection, for charitable or benevolent purposes, must obtain a permit and have it with them when the collection takes place.
We do not charge a fee for applications for House-to-House Collection Permits.
Whilst street collection permits are normally issued to cover a period of one day, a house-to-house collection permit can be granted for any period up to one year.As with charitable street collection permits there is a requirement for the promoter of the collection to make a detailed financial statement return following the completion of the house to house collection.
Some of the larger well-known charities such as Christian Aid, Help the Aged etc., have an exemption from having to apply for a permit, but by and large most of the smaller, and particularly local groups and organisations, will need a permit before they can collect money (or articles which they intend to sell later), from door to door.
The application form can be downloaded House to House Application Form and once completed can be emailed to
If you are collecting clothing door-to-door for charity, then in order to determine your permit application we will require the following additional documentation/information:
- A Letter of Authorisation from the Charity Partner permitting goods to be collected on their behalf.
- A copy of the Corporate Agreement between the two organisations (the charity partner and the collector) and
- An example of your projected Income and Expenditure in collecting 1 tonne of clothes.
The Trading Standards Team at Derbyshire County Council are also interested in when collections are being carried out door to door in the district so we will notify them of the dates you are planning to collect.
They have provided the following advice regarding No Cold Calling Zones in the District -
I can confirm there are not any Derbyshire County Council No Cold Calling Zones (NCCZ) in the Derbyshire Dales area.
Some Derbyshire residents, who do not live within a No Cold Calling Zone, display stickers which say they do not want doorstep sellers or cold callers to call at their property. I would be grateful if you would advise your representatives to respect this and not call at properties displaying the sticker. Uninvited calls to properties displaying such stickers often result in unnecessary calls to the Police and Trading Standards from residents unhappy that they have received an uninvited cold caller/ canvasser.
If you wish to check whether a street or house-to-house collection is authorised please email
Review of House to House and Street Collection Policy.
Derbyshire Dales District Council is carrying out a review of its House to House and Street Collection (Charity Collections) Policy 2024 and the consultation can be found at Consultation on House to House and Street Collection Policy 2024
