On World Homeless Day, Saturday 10 October, the Spare Change for Lasting Change scheme has launched new smart donation technology on their charity collection boxes to enable contactless, cashless and mobile donations.
With over 50 collection boxes located in shops, pubs, cafes and other locations around Winchester, the Spare Change for Lasting Change scheme helps to raise funds for two local charities, Trinity Winchester and Winchester Churches Nightshelter.
Winchester Business Improvement District (BID) facilitates the scheme which is also supported by Winchester City Council and is one of the longest-established diverted giving schemes in the UK. The scheme is aimed at reducing street begging and rough sleeping by helping those most in need by diverting funds from the streets to local charities – making a lasting difference to those experiencing homelessness in the city.
Winchester BID has been working with Donater, a project developed by local business Sprechen, which helps good causes use technology to receive contactless, cashless and mobile donations. Smart stickers with QR codes have been added to donation boxes and users can tap or scan the stickers to donate using their mobile phone. They can use Apple Pay, Google Pay or type their card details and 100% of funds donated to Spare Change for Lasting Change are passed to the two local charities and donations to the scheme allow them to provide the right support, in the right place and at the right time.
How do donations to the scheme help people experiencing homelessness? £200 can enable the charities to provide six councelling sessions to a person in need, which may involve providing help with mental health or addiction issues. As little as £5 will provide an individual experiencing homelessness with a hot drink, a home-cooked evening meal and a bed for the night.
Jane Bastock, Business Crime Reduction Manager at Winchester BID said:
“We are very pleased to be working with Donater to launch contactless, cashless and mobile donations for Spare Change for Lasting Change to support the work of Trinity Winchester and the Winchester Churches Nightshelter. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen cashless payments becoming the norm and with this new technology on our collection boxes, we can continue to encourage donations to this important scheme in a safe and easy way.”
Steve Cross, CEO, Donater, a project by Sprechen said:
“COVID-19 has accelerated the increasing cashless society, which is having a hugely negative impact on the finances of the charitable sector. Recent media reports have stated 1 in 10 charities could disappear during this period, at a time when they are in most demand. it is important we can find ways to help them adopt digital tools to simplify the process of giving. Donater is a truly Winchester project, born out of an open-day idea while working at the University of Winchester, created to support the city’s local charities, and developed as our side project at Sprechen during the lockdown period. Having been involved in fundraising projects in the city for over a decade, we really want this to make a difference to those most in need locally.”
For more information about Spare Change for Lasting Change and for a list of businesses where collection boxes are located, please visit: winchestersparechange.uk.
If you have a business in Winchester and would like to have a collection box, please contact: jane.bastock@winchesterbid.co.uk.
To make a donation online, please visit: app.donater.co.uk/?#/donate/winchestersparechange.
