Church of England to trial contactless collections in 40 churches

The churches will use contactless payment devices to take payments of less than £30

The Church of England has chosen 40 churches around the UK to trial contactless payment alongside the traditional collection plate.

The churches will be equipped with the contactless payment devices to accept payments of less than £30, and will use them to take collections as well as payments for things such as hall hire.

The trial, announced last month, is expected to start in the autumn and run until the end of the year, with full roll-out to all dioceses expected to happen in 2018.

In a statement on its website, the Church of England said: “The trial aims to encompass a variety of churches – urban, rural, large and small – to make sure that the needs of different parishes are considered when the scheme is offered nationally.”

Ten of the larger churches chosen for the trial will place the contactless payment devices on a fixed terminal at the entrance and exit, allowing people to donate on their way past.

The other churches will have devices that will be passed around the congregation during the service.

Churchgoers will be able to select from three common donation amounts or key in a different amount in order to donate.

St Nicholas Cathedral in Newcastle is among those selected to test the fixed-terminal devices.

The Very Reverend Christopher Dalliston, the Dean of Newcastle, told Third Sector: “We are conscious that to maintain the cathedral as an open welcoming space takes a lot of money and we rely on the generosity of visitors.

“Increasingly people don’t carry cash, but they want to be generous, and this is a way of enabling people who are very accustomed to making contactless payments to give gifts in a very easy and accessible way.”

The trial is being overseen by the Church of England’s collective purchasing service, Parish Buying, which said in a statement that to take the donations it would use three card readers from companies that came up with the best overall proposals for usability and price for use in the church.

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Women more generous for office charity collections, says CAF survey

An online survey for the Charities Aid Foundation finds that 66 per cent of women responded to office charity appeals last year, compared with 49 per cent of men

Women are more generous than men at responding to office charity collections, according to the Charities Aid Foundation.

An online survey of more than 1,000 people commissioned by CAF in March found that 66 per cent of women had responded to office charity appeals in the past year, compared with 49 per cent of men.

Overall, staff donated a mean average of £46.53 over the year. Of the 30 per cent who had sponsored a colleague to do something for charity, the median average donation was £10.

CAF, which is the UK’s largest payroll-giving provider, published the figures to mark the 30th anniversary of payroll giving.

The research, which was conducted by YouGov for CAF’s UK Giving survey, also found that 50 per cent of respondents were unaware of payroll giving.

Klara Kozlov, head of corporate clients at CAF, said charity appeals at work helped to boost morale as well as benefit good causes.

“While most people will find the money to make donations on an ad-hoc basis, some prefer a more structured approach,” she said. “Payroll giving enables people to make donations direct from their pre-tax pay each month.”

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