Wolverhampton BID and City of Wolverhampton Council have joined forces to introduce the first ‘Tap to Donate’ point for the Alternative Giving Charity. The tap to donate device is installed in Victoria Square close to Sainsbury’s Local, Wolverhampton Railway Station and Wolverhampton Bus Station. All you need is a bank card to tap the device which automatically sends £3 directly to the charity.

The Alternative Giving charity is pleased to be the first homeless charity to install a tap to donate device in the West Midlands.

By tapping to donate to the charity people can be sure their £3 (the cost of a hot drink) will go directly to helping the homeless and vulnerable rather than to people begging on the street. So far, a massive £27,000 has been raised from public and business donations, which then goes to local agencies including P3, St Georges Hub and other charities supporting homelessness in Wolverhampton.

We hope the new ‘Tap to Donate’ device will boost donations across the city centre.  All donations received either via the donation points or website at Alternative Giving by kind hearted Wolverhampton residents through the Alternative Giving Charity will be granted to charities that continue to work incredibly hard to improve the current circumstances of the homeless and vulnerable by offering them accommodation, assistance and advice. 

Cherry Shine, BID Director and Charity Trustee said: “‘Tap to Donate’ provides an easy way to support genuinely homeless and vulnerable people in our City Centre.  This is the first of many tap to donate devices we will roll out to attract donations from city centre visitors. By providing an easy way to donate directly to these worthy charities and working together with businesses, we will be able to support a positive change in our city centre in a Covid-safe way”.

Councillor Jacqueline Sweetman, Cabinet Member for City Assets and Housing, added: “The first of these new ‘Tap to Donate’ points in our city now makes it even easier for people to ensure the money they give gets used for the purpose it was meant for.
 
“Our work during the coronavirus crisis has built on the collaborative, partnership working approach to services for homeless individuals and rough sleepers in Wolverhampton.
 
“We want to identify those truly vulnerable people that need our help and are living on the street in desperate conditions. We also want to tackle aggressive street begging.
 
“The Alternative Giving Charity is about channelling help to rough sleepers in a way which does not support a culture of street living but rather helps vulnerable individuals get off the streets.
 
“Our key homelessness agencies reinforce this approach as being more beneficial to the homeless than giving directly to people on the streets.”

Satvinder Goraya, Trustee, said “Alternative Giving is an opportunity for everyone and anyone to make the choice to give, donate and support those in need. We recognise the value and importance of helping those in a less fortunate position and have innovated the culture of giving, introducing the tap to donate scheme.

We will continue to ensure all donations are used to stop the ‘revolving door’ of homelessness many people find themselves going around. Safely providing individuals and services funding, enabling access to bespoke intervention, preventing homelessness and reducing risk of rough sleeping. 

“This is a wonderful initiative, focused on guaranteeing funding, donations and resources reach those across our City currently in severe hardship and without access to alternative provision.”

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