Charity disappointed after mystery woman in elephant onesie ‘seen asking for donations in its name’ at Peterborough pubs

The woman was spotted at the Brewery Tap in Westgate on Saturday evening before being seen asking for donations elsewhere.

The charity she was allegedly seeking donations for was Defibrillators For All, which has funded new defibrillators throughout Whittlesey and carried out heart screenings of young people in the town.

The charity’s founder Deborah Slator said: “This episode has caused us to spend time we do not have checking with other charities and the pub and police, but we feel we have a duty to inform others.

“It is hard to believe that there might be a rogue collector taking money off unsuspecting members of the public.

“We do not ask for donations in this way. We work very hard to raise funds and hope this does not have a negative effect on Defibrillators For All. If the lady was genuinely collecting money for a charity I wish her well.”

A police spokeswoman said: “We were called at around 8.30pm on Saturday, February 2 to reports of suspicious circumstances in Peterborough city centre.

“A charity worker had been made aware that someone was collecting money at a pub for their charity. The charity worker did not recognise the description of the woman collecting the money.

“The charity worker was advised to check with the pub whether the woman collecting the money had presented the correct documentation.

“Anyone who believes that someone is fraudulently collecting money should contact us on 101.”