How can I be sure charities I support behave ethically?

After pestering vulnerable charity supporters with cold calls and requests for donations, charities are being told to clean up their act

How did it come to this? Over the past two months some of the best-known UK charities, on the front line of environmental and social justice, have become connected to unethical fundraising practices. It's not surprising we're in a spin.

The story broke after the death of an elderly charity giver. Before her death, Olive Cooke had revealed to local media that she had received 260 pieces of charity mail and would no longer answer her landline due to repeated requests for donations. Since Olive's death the near-daily bombardment and insufferable levels of "asks" suffered by many elderly and vulnerable people from and on behalf of charities has been laid bare.