Exposed: Rogue wristband sellers in Norwich

Street sellers on Gentlemans Walk selling Bully Aware wristbands Archant Norfolk Photographic © 2015

Shoppers were today warned about a gang who have been selling ‘anti-bullying’ wristbands in Norwich city centre without the proper licence.

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Street sellers on Gentlemans Walk selling Bully Aware wristbands Street sellers on Gentlemans Walk selling Bully Aware wristbands

An investigation from the EDP and Evening News can reveal the group of four men spent much of last week selling the blue wristbands at £2 a time to people in Gentleman’s Walk and St Stephen’s Street.

We launched the investigation after being contacted by several members of the public and Norwich South MP Clive Lewis, who were concerned people were buying the bands under the assumption the cash would go to charity.

Our probe found that while the sellers were not claiming to be charity collectors, details about where the cash was spent was vague and conflicting.

When the group realised they were being looked into, they stopped trading and have not been seen in the city centre since.

Bully Aware website. Photo : Steve Adams Bully Aware website. Photo : Steve Adams

Today, Norwich City Council confirmed the sellers, claiming to be from a website called www.bullyaware.co.uk, did not have the appropriate licence, an offence which can lead to fines of up to £1,000.

A spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that we have not received a street collection permit application from Bully Aware. In cases where organisations are suspected of collecting money illegitimately, this would be investigated by Trading Standards.”

Norfolk County Council’s trading standards confirmed it was not investigating the group, but a spokesman said: “Wristbands can be used by many legitimate good causes and charities as a way of showing support and also as a fundraising method. This does give the potential for the approach to be exploited by both individual traders and companies selling these items as a commercial enterprise, claiming to be ‘supporting’ a message to tackle a problem or ‘highlighting’ an issue.

“It may well be that in some cases it is possible that only a small proportion, or none, of the money paid to the seller for the wristband will pass to a genuine charity.

“If you are uncertain about the responses given, you may wish to think again before you complete the purchase.

“If you are thinking about donating to a charity that you wish to support, you may want to consider contacting your chosen charity directly to find the best way to donate.

“If a website is offered, members of the public are free to inspect it and draw their own conclusions about whether or not they would wish to support the ‘good cause’.”

The men, dressed in black jackets and wearing ‘Bully Aware’ lanyards, were selling blue wristbands carrying the message ‘Against Domestic Violence’ and a plug for the website.

Bully Aware wristband which are being sold in Norwich City Centre. Bully Aware wristband which are being sold in Norwich City Centre.

However, when approached by a reporter to ask what the money was spent on, one initially said “work in schools”, then changed his story later to claim it funds the website and the cost of making the bands. The website makes no mention of work in schools and simply carries a few pages of bullying advice.

Engraved wristbands can be purchased online in bulk at about 20p a time, giving sellers a £1.80 mark-up for each one sold at £2.

Mr Lewis, MP for Norwich South, said he had been contacted by several constituents about the group and even confronted wristband sellers claiming to be supporting the armed forces two months ago amid concerns about their legitimacy. He said: “I am very concerned about people selling wristbands in Norwich purporting to be for some charity or good cause.

“I’m particularly concerned about the effect they have on the elderly who often feel compelled to donate.

“I would urge people to be very cautious before they donate to sellers like these and to check they have the proper licence and identification. My advice would be to always donate to legitimate charities.

“I was approached by two men selling wristbands and claiming to be supporting the army. When I approached them to ask for more information, one of them said they recognised me before they both ran off.”

A member of the public, who alerted us to the group and did not wish to be named, said: “It is only because I am a charity trustee myself that I knew the right questions to ask. We need the police and councils to take action, so that the generous people of Norwich know that when they think they are giving to charity, they really are.”

Repeated attempts have been made to make contact with bullyaware.co.uk through their website, but they have not responded to our requests for a comment.

To listen to our conversation with one of the sellers, visit our website.

Do you have a story for the Investigations Unit? Contact David Powles on 01603 772478 or email david.powles@archant.co.uk

OUR INVESTIGATION

“I was bullied as a child, so I wanted to help a bullying charity.”

This is what Sarah, from Norwich, told us shortly after buying one of the wristbands for £2 on Gentleman’s Walk.

There’s nothing to say that any of the money collected will end up being used for such work, but it clearly helps the sales pitch if that is what people believe.

The website, bullyaware.co.uk, makes no mention of how any of the money is spent, simply containing a few basic pages of text on bullying and a contact form.

When we approached the men to ask for more information about the work they do, their story differed.

To be fair to the sellers, they did say to us on both occasions they were “not a charity”. They were, however, less clear about what exactly they were.

On our first visit, one of the sellers, a man who appeared to be in his late 20s, told us the money went into running programmes in schools. The website makes no mention of this.

He said: “I’m not going to try to sign you up for anything, I’m just going to give you one of these. We just ask for a donation of a couple of quid.

“We’re not a charity. The only difference between us and a registered charity is we don’t have a chairman sitting in an office. Everyone who works for us is out raising awareness.

“It [the money] all goes towards raising awareness of bullyaware.co.uk. We run programmes in schools across the country against bullying.”

When asked if they work locally, he responded: “I’m not sure if we work in Norfolk. I don’t see why we wouldn’t.”

But on the second visit no mention was made of work in schools and the same seller told us: “It’s about bullying and domestic violence. Basically what we are doing is promoting the website.

“We’re not a charity, we just promote the website. We just ask for a couple of pounds.”

On being directly asked where the money goes, he said: “It just goes back in to buying more bands.”

In 15 minutes the pair sold two more bands, both to women, before one of them made a phone call and they left.

We spoke to a market stall holder nearby who told us: “He was on the phone to someone and said, ‘We think someone is on to us, we’d better leave’.” There was no sign of them on the streets yesterday.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

The issue of so-called ‘chuggers’ selling items or asking for people’s money in the city centre has been a hot topic in Norwich for several years amid concerns around too many being in operation and using allegedly aggressive tactics.

This led Norwich City Council to announce a crackdown in 2012 on what people could ask for and how and where they operate.

Anyone who wants to sell items in Norwich, whether it be commercially or for charity, has to obtain a licence from their local council.

Failure to operate with a licence is a criminal offence and can lead to a fine of up to £1,000.

Norfolk County Council trading standards offered the following advice on the sale of wristbands on the streets, following “a number of contacts” about the issue:

Ask who the wristband is being sold by.

Ask if they are a registered charity. If a charity number is given, you can visit the Charity Commission website to check if this number is genuine.

Ask what the money raised will be used for and how much of the donation/purchase price will support this activity.

If you are concerned about the activity of people who are claiming to be charity collectors, you can report this to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06