Dear public: I'm a street fundraiser and I want respect

I’m a face-to-face street fundraiser for a UK charity and I would like to address the stigma we face. My colleagues and I genuinely believe in helping people, and that’s why we work for a charity.

I try to be as pleasant as possible – I smile and wave and ask if you’ve time for a chat. If you say no, I move on and try again with someone else. I love my job and the great things we do but it takes a lot of energy to be happy and enthusiastic when some people are just plain mean to me. Once, I smiled and said hello to a lady walking past, she swore and flipped me the bird.I was trained by the organisation I work for and was taught to approach as many people as possible – as long as they do not appear vulnerable – because you just can’t tell who is going to stop and decide to help our cause.

We only ever ask for a small donation – the cost of a coffee a week – which, over time, with the charity’s know-how and dedication, can change the lives of thousands of people.

When out on the street I’m not just trying to raise money, I’m trying to inspire people to care about the cause. We want to tell the public and raise awareness of our charity’s campaigns and the excellent work the organisation does.

I don’t have any hypnotic skills or any tactics to manipulate people to support us, and I don’t want to do that anyway. I want to inspire people to get angry about the current state of the world and motivate them to join us in the fight to create a long-term solution.

If you were to encounter a fundraiser who made you feel anything other than the lovely, generous, kind human beings that you are – get their badge number and report them to the charity they’re fundraising for. A small minority ruin it for the vast majority and most fundraisers just want to do right by their cause – and anyone who doesn’t is simply in the wrong job.

I understand that getting stopped on the street can be irritating when you are in a rush. You don’t have to give a donation, even just popping by to tell us we are doing a good thing and to keep up the good work helps keep us in high spirits – a little bit of kindness goes a long way.

Whether you stop and listen to me next time, or smile and say no thanks, it’s up to you, but please respect what I do, everyday, rain or shine, to try to make the world a better place for those in need.