When the Rules Change Overnight: How Licensing Shifts Hit Our Veteran Support Work

On a Tuesday in March 2024, we were running our usual fundraising operation. By Wednesday morning, the exact same work, same place, and same setup, was suddenly classed as “non-compliant.”

Nothing about us had changed. The rules had. And they’d changed without warning.

For a small team helping veterans, that kind of shift doesn’t just create paperwork. It can stall vital fundraising at the very moment it’s needed most.

How it worked before March 2024

Before that month, we operated under an exemption in the City of London’s licensing rules. If you were collecting on behalf of a business, and not as a registered charity, you didn’t need a street collection licence. It was a recognised route, and we used it legitimately.

It allowed us to sell merchandise and other goods in public spaces to raise money for veteran support without having to navigate a licensing process that wasn’t designed for our setup.

The sudden change

In March 2024, the City of London removed that route from their public guidance. Instead, the only relevant exemption they offered came from the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.

This exemption covered selling or distributing periodicals. On the surface, it sounded workable until the new twist appeared.

The “weekly-changing” clause

For the first time, the City of London Corporation added a requirement that the periodical being sold had to change every week.

This was new. We know because we checked the archived version of their licensing page on the Wayback Machine. Before March 2024, that condition wasn’t there.

The problem is obvious: many legitimate publications don’t change weekly, and our fundraising products certainly didn’t. Overnight, an exemption we could use no longer applied, not because of wrongdoing, but because the definition shifted.

Why it matters

The day before, our operation was compliant. The day after, it wasn’t, purely because of a change in wording.

For a large organisation with a legal team, adapting quickly might be inconvenient but manageable. For a small CIC like ours, it’s disruptive. We had to re-plan and make sure we weren’t accidentally falling foul of a rule we’d never seen before.

Our response

The first thing we did was educate ourselves about the changes and reach out to relevant teams; from here, we started the ball rolling to make these changes happen to ensure compliance.

We adapted our operations to fit within the revised rules and moved on quickly. We’ve always worked to comply with local regulations, even when those regulations seem to shift without much explanation.

The bigger picture

One of the most frustrating parts is how differently the same 1982 Act is applied in different boroughs. In one place, our model is fine. In another, we’d be told it’s not allowed.

Our call for clarity

We believe in rules. They protect the public and keep fundraising fair. But those rules need to be clear, consistent, and communicated properly. Sudden changes, made quietly and without consultation, make compliance harder for the very groups trying to do things right.

We’d welcome a conversation with local authorities about how to make these regulations work in a way that supports both community groups and the public interest.

We’re still here for veterans

Licensing rules may shift, but our mission hasn’t. We’ll keep adapting, keep raising funds within the law, and keep putting veterans first.

For supporters, the best way to help is to follow our official updates and keep sharing our work. That way, even if the rules change overnight, the people who rely on us don’t get left behind.