Make-a-Wish hopes to benefit from Irish government’s rounding up of small change
Howard Lake | 28 October 2015 | News
Make-a-Wish Ireland is trying to make the most from small coins as the Irish government today begins a ‘rounding initiative’ which aims to reduce the use of 1 cent and 2 cent coins.
Consumers in the Republic of Ireland will begin receiving cash change rounded to the nearest 5 cents from today. The rounding will only apply to cash payments with the total amount of any bill being rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cent mark. This will be done on a voluntary basis and 1 cent and 2 cent coins will remain legal tender.
The move is part of Ireland’s rounding initiative, which aims to reduce the use of 1 cent and 2 cent coins. Ireland is running short of one-cent coins and the cost of producing these small coins exceeds their face value – a 1 cent coin costs 1.65 cent to produce while a 2 cent coin costs 1.94 cent.
Some 2.5 billion cent and 2 cent coins have been issued in Ireland since the introduction of the euro, with a total value of €37 million. When Ireland moved from its own currency, the punt, to the Euro in 1998 a fundraising campaign to collect spare punt change raised over €7 million.
Central Bank of Ireland encourages people to make their coppers count (December 2014)
Change for Charity and Make-A-Wish are using the rounding initiative to call on people to donate their hoarded 1 cent and 2 cent coins to charity. Susan O’Dwyer, Chief Executive of Make-A-Wish is asking people to take the opportunity for people to declutter and donate their small change which is gathering dust in jars and down the back of sofas.
Donations of coins can be made to Make-A-Wish at any Maxol or Dealz store in Ireland.
A successful trial conducted by the National Payments Plan in Wexford in 2013 showed 85% of consumers and 100% of retailers in Wexford welcomed the national rounding of cent coins in Ireland.
In the run-up to Christmas last year, a spokesperson for the Central Bank said:
“Lots of people keep copper coins in jars and piggy banks around the house. There is €35.3 million worth of 1c and 2c coins. This is better being spent or given to charity. We urge people to use this time of the year to de-clutter, by either giving these coins to charity or spending them. With Christmas approaching now might be a good time to use those stray coins by giving them to a charity of your choice.”
Main image: euro cent coins by Marco Lavagnini on Shutterstock.com
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.