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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Zoe Williams

Pity the poor chuggers – they do an impossible job in terrible conditions

A 'charity mugger', or chugger
Chug life … ‘No one wants to sign up because no one has any money.’ Photograph: izusek/Getty Images

The modern practice of chugging – a contraction of “charity” and “mugging”, where cheerful young people come up to you in the street and ask you if you’ve ever really thought about what life would be like without clean water – is mostly discussed for its nuisance to the chuggee.

I never even considered the other side of the equation until my niece got fired, after a month, from chugging for a charity I won’t name – not because I don’t think they’re bad, just because I think it would be unfair, as this is probably common across the sector.

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