Poppy Seller Suicide: Database Companies Sold Olive Cooke’s Details, Report Reveals

Olive Cooke, the poppy seller who took her own life after being overwhelmed by charity cold calls, had had her details sold by more than 20 database companies.

Britain’s longest-serving poppy seller took her own life in May, and her body was found near Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol.

While not blaming the various charity’s for the 92-year-old’s death, her family criticised them for harassing her with cold calls and unsolicited mail.

The Independent reports that Mrs Cooke’s details had been sold by at least 22 professional database companies known as list brokers, who buy and sell individuals’ details for profit.

Charitable lady: Olive Cooke was Britain’s longest-servicing poppy seller (SWNS)

The draft report into Mrs Cooke’s case by the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) found that “70 charities reported that Mrs Cook’s details were secured via a third party. Of those, 29 sourced her details from a list procured from a fellow charity, 26 from a list broker and 14 by exchanging contact data with fellow charities.”

The report adds that the requests Mrs Cooke received for donations tripled between 2000 and 2014 to more than 460 last year.

Mrs Cooke’s death sparked fury among people sick of being hounded for charity cash, prompting the Government to commission a special report into fundraising in the UK by Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

He recommended an independent watchdog be put in place to replace the self-regulatory FRSB.

In an interim report published in June, the FRSB suggested 17 possible areas for improvement, including tightening up data-sharing rules, and introducing clearer guidelines for dealing with vulnerable donors such as Mrs Cooke.