Penny for London

Penny for London
Formation 29 October 2014 (2014-10-29)
Founder Mayor's Fund for London
Purpose New way to donate as little as a penny using contactless payment cards.
Headquarters City Hall
Location
Slogan Easy1Peasy
Mission To help young Londoners escape the threat of poverty.
Website www.pennyforlondon.com

Penny for London is a charity fundraising scheme devised by The Mayor's Fund for London,[1] to help transform the prospects of young Londoners from deprived areas of the capital.

The scheme marks a change in how people donate to charity, providing a new way for people to make small charity donations by harnessing contactless payment technology.

By registering their contactless debit or credit card, Londoners are able to donate one penny, or more if they wish, every day they travel on the Transport for London network and National Rail services that accept Oyster – and every time they use their contactless card in participating retailers in the city.

The scheme brings together many strategic partners, including the Mayor’s Fund for London, Transport for London, Barclaycard, Visa Europe, London Evening Standard and Magic and Kiss radio stations, Caffè Nero, Leon and Santander.

Penny for London launch

Penny for London was launched by London Mayor, Boris Johnson, on October 29, 2014 at an event held at London Bridge Underground Station. He told the Evening Standard: “Penny for London is a big, bold idea that will revolutionise the way we give to charity. Enabling people travelling around the city to pool their pennies could add up to hundreds of thousands of pounds. The best thing about it is just how simple it is. Just sign up and swipe.”[2]

Writing for the Evening Standard on the day of the launch, Chief Executive of The Mayor's Fund for London, Matthew Patten, said: "What’s the point of a penny? It’s worth so little that most of us wouldn’t bother to pick one up off the street. But in the world’s greatest city, with a population of 8.3 million and growing fast, just think what we could achieve if we could all give just a penny a day. Not for some faceless government scheme or quango, but to make a real difference to the city we love. Penny for London is just that. A world-first set to help transform the fortunes of young Londoners from disadvantaged backgrounds all over the capital, made possible by the arrival of contactless payments on the Transport for London network and clever backroom tech by Barclays."[3]

Beneficiaries

The money raised by Penny for London will be given to not-for-profit organisations across London to help improve the lives and prospects of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. 70 percent or more of proceeds raised by Penny for London will be made available for the Mayor’s Fund for London and other London charities helping disadvantaged young Londoners. Up to 30 percent of proceeds are reserved for charitable activities of Penny for London’s strategic partners where they work with disadvantaged young Londoners.[4]

Celebrity supporters

Model Penny Lancaster,[5] pop stars Pixie Lott and JJ Hamblett[6] and Olympian Peter Waterfield are among the celebrity names to support the scheme.

Pixie Lott told MailOnline: "Penny for London makes donating to charity so quick and easy. It may not sound like much, but if we all sign up and give a penny a day, we can make a huge difference to the lives of kids in disadvantaged areas of the world’s greatest city."[7] The singer and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant sung Christmas carols with children who are set to benefit from the money raised.

Lancaster, in a visit to Charlton Manor primary school in her a capacity as a Penny for London ambassador, said "when we see a penny on the ground, we don’t think about picking it up. We just walk on by. But I often think about what we could do if we did collect all those pennies and give them to good causes."[8]

Support from employers

In March 2015, Penny for London announced the support of some of the biggest employers in London. The move saw leading organisations from the private and public sectors encouraging their employees to sign up and give a penny.

In a joint letter to City AM, the bosses of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclaycard and Visa said: "Penny for London’s focus on making a difference to the lives of young people resonates strongly with each of our own philanthropic initiatives and so we are delighted to be the first of the capital’s financial powerhouses to support this great initiative."

The following organisations supporting the scheme:

Political support

Penny for London was devised by The Mayor's Fund for London, an independent charity with the Mayor of London as its patron. At the time of launch, the Mayor was Boris Johnson.

The scheme has received the support by leading politicians from all major parties, including Labour's Tessa Jowell, David Lammy and Chuka Umunna, Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes, Conservatives Victoria Borwick and Theresa Villiers and many other Members of Parliament. They came together to declare their support at an event outside Parliament in November 2014.

Simon Hughes, Lib-Dem MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said: “This is a really good and easy way for people to help others less fortunate than ourselves. Most of us make journeys every day. So just as a little extra on a bill at a cafe or restaurant can go almost unnoticed, so a little extra as you travel could mean a small amount to us but a big amount to others.”

Tottenham’s Labour MP David Lammy said: “This is possibly the easiest, most straightforward and convenient way to give to good causes. Despite busy lives we all recognise that, whether in international development or in health and social care, there’s much more we need to do.

Enfield North Conservative MP Nick de Bois said Londoners were “no shrinking violets” when it came to helping charities and he hoped Londoners would back the “exciting scheme”.[9]

Participating retailers

Coffee chain Caffè Nero and fast food restaurant Leon were announced as the scheme's first retail partners in December 2014. Each have sought to incentivise new sign-ups by giving away free coffee and breakfasts for new registrations.[10]

James Flett, partnerships manager at Caffè Nero, commented: "Supporting the communities we serve has always been an aim of ours and with Penny for London we are able to make this something our customers can share in as well. And by matching donations I hope we can make a real difference together."

Technology

Barclaycard has developed the innovative technology for Penny for London. The credit card supplier also helped the Mayor’s Fund for London build the Penny for London website which allows consumers to register their contactless cards, set their donation preferences and a payment cap in less than two minutes using a smartphone, tablet or desktop PC. All Visa and MasterCard contactless cards, irrespective of the issuing bank, are eligible.

Through the site, consumers can keep track of their giving and amend their donation levels whenever they like. Each consumer’s donations are then aggregated into one debit at the end of every month. If the amount totals 49p or more than it is debited from their nominated current or credit card account. If it less than 49p then the amount rolls over into the following month.

The project was part funded by Barclays’ Social Innovation Facility. This was launched in 2012 with a £25m commitment to accelerate the development of commercial solutions that directly address social challenges.

Matched funding

Some organisations have announced they will match fund each penny donated. Visa Europe pledged to give £1 for each of the first 30,000 people who agree to donate a penny via the scheme.[11] Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have made a similar pledge, matching each of their employees' donations.[12]

Potential for fundraising

If 100,000 people sign up, the scheme could raise more than £1m over a year.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Penny For London | The Mayor's Fund For London". Mayorsfundforlondon.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  2. ↑ Matthew Beard (2014-10-29). "Penny for London: Charity revolution lets you donate each day with your bus or Tube trip via contactless card - Dispossessed - News - London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  3. ↑ "Matthew Patten: How commuters' change can better Londoners' lives - Comment - Comment - London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  4. ↑ "Charity projects". Penny for London. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  5. ↑ Reynolds, John (2015-03-30). "Penny Lancaster backs charity to help young people in poverty | UK | News | Daily Express". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  6. ↑ "JJ Hamblett on Twitter". Twitter.com. 2014-12-11. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  7. ↑ Ojomu, Nola. "Pixie Lott stuns in gold dress as she sings Christmas carols at St Pancras station | Daily Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  8. ↑ Chester, Jason (2014-12-18). "Penny Lancaster and Sally Humphreys dine out with husbands Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood | Daily Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  9. ↑ Joseph Watts (2014-11-04). "MPs give their vote to Penny for London - Dispossessed - News - London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  10. ↑ "Caffè Nero and Leon join Penny for London contactless scheme". Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Visa's 'in for a penny, in for a pound' pledge gives London charity a boost - London - News - London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  12. ↑ "Four financial powerhouses get behind Penny for London | The Mayor's Fund For London". Mayorsfundforlondon.org.uk. 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  13. ↑ Claudia Cahalane. "Penny for London: your two minute guide to how charities can benefit | Voluntary Sector Network". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.