Contactless donation points installed across London to help homeless
Melanie May | 4 December 2018 | News
The Mayor of London has installed contactless donation points across the city to encourage Londoners to help the homeless this winter.
The TAP London points let people donate £3 by tapping their contactless payment card or device. There were 35 at launch, with plans for around 90 in total, dotted around busy areas of the capital.
100% of each £3 donation will go to the London Homeless Charities Group: a coalition of 22 charities including Depaul UK, Crisis, and Homeless Link working in the city. So far there have been over 1,200 taps, raising more than £3,600.
4, 3, 2, 1.. #TAP! This morning we were joined by @SadiqKhan at City Hall for the launch of our new campaign. To find out more about what we're doing & how you can donate, visit: https://t.co/MgugdiIcSc #roughsleeping #helplondonshomeless @MayorofLondon @LDN_gov pic.twitter.com/UhjGcgvy3B
— TAP London (@LondonTap) November 28, 2018
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The funds will be split equally between the members of the London Homeless Charities Group and spent on services to tackle or prevent rough sleeping. There is also a GoFundMe page, and the money raised by this will also be split equally between these charities.
TAP London is a not-for-profit company working to improve the lives of homeless Londoners through contactless technology and innovation. It was set up in 2017 to raise funds for local homelessness charities from small, one-off contactless donations. The technology for the contactless donation points is provided by its partner GoodBox.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:
“It is shameful that rough sleeping has risen so much under this Government, and it is our moral duty to do all we can to help people facing homelessness in our city. This winter, City Hall are doubling our outreach teams and making sure severe weather shelters open more often, and we want to make it as easy as possible for Londoners to play their part too.
“Last year, Londoners’ generosity helped us raise nearly £200,000, and referrals to Streetlink went up by 45 per cent over the winter. These new contactless donation points will make a big difference in encouraging Londoners to do their part to help.”
Polly Gilbert, co-founder of TAP London said:
“Our pockets are getting lighter. Many of us just don’t carry change anymore. So we have to act quickly in creating new ways for people to give to those in need. If we each made just one “TAP” to tackle homelessness – we could bring about radical change expanding and sustaining vital services for Londoners in need.”
Former London Mayor, Boris Johnson also launched a contactless donation scheme, Pennies for London, in 2014. It encouraged people to donate a penny to support good causes each time they used their Oyster cards, but closed two years later having raised £3,000.
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.