Average person sitting on £26.99 in loose change or forgotten cash at home
Melanie May | 13 May 2024 | News
The average person in Britain has up to £26.99 in loose change or forgotten cash lying around their house, equating to a national total of more than £760 million that could be donated, according to research by Greene King.
The online poll of 2,000 people found that in the average UK home, coat pockets are the most common place in which to find or keep loose change or spare cash. Nearly six in ten Brits (58%) do so, followed by in a handbag (48%) and in a pot or piggy bank (45%).
However, it also found that one in three people think that anything under £2 is too small an amount to donate. Greene King’s study has been released as it heads into one of its annual fundraising campaigns for Macmillan Cancer Support, with it aiming to challenge this belief and show that even small donations can have an impact.
Advertisement
Greene King is encouraging a little and often approach to its fundraising initiatives across each of its 1,600 pubs in 2024, supported by its partnership with Pennies, which invites its pub-goers to top up their bill by 25p. The partnership, introduced in 2019, has recently surpassed the £2 million mark in donations to Macmillan Cancer Support, and overall, Greene King team members and customers have raised £18mn for the charity since 2012.
In a recent PubGoers survey, two in five (40%) said they will choose to round up their bill to donate.
Assad Malic, Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer at Greene King, said:
“We’re extremely conscious of the impact the cost-of-living crisis is continuing to have on people which is an understandable obstacle for many when it comes to considering donating to charity.
“Despite this, the research shows that there is a significant amount of loose change lying around households in the UK. It’s important to recognise that the smallest donation, even if it’s from re-discovered cash down the backs of sofas, can make such a monumental difference.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.