Liz Hodgkinson longs for cash collection boxes
They used to be a familiar sight in the High Street: charity collectors rattling tins and those lovely old Labrador collection boxes for Guide Dogs for the Blind.
As you passed, you dug out some loose change for them. That way, they were likely to collect quite a lot of money.
But no longer. Not only do you rarely see such collectors these days, but most charities won’t even take cash any more.
Out shopping recently, I was waylaid by a paramedic standing by a stall for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance charity.
I was happy to support it. But while I was looking in my wallet for cash, I was told, ‘Sorry, we don’t accept cash.’
What? Next, I got out my card to make a one- off donation and was informed, ‘Sorry, we can’t take for one-offs; only for regular contributions.’
So they had to make do without my widow’s mite and that of many other passers-by.
Cash is useful, quick and – most importantly – anonymous. You can’t be traced when you pay or donate in cash. If you sign up to pay a monthly amount to a charity, you are always contactable.
No way did I want to be dragooned into making a permanent commitment.
If we aren’t very careful, cash will disappear altogether. Ever more businesses – and charities are pretty much businesses these days – say, somewhat proudly, that they are cashless. The frozen-food chain Cook no longer accepts cash; nor do plenty of shops.
To keep cash alive, people should do what I do. Get out wads of notes from an ATM – although these are fast vanishing as well – and insist on paying with the folding stuff. And avoid, wherever possible, the soulless, inhuman cashless concerns.
