Peterborough scheme raises hundreds of pounds to help the homeless

On October 12 the donation point was opened outside the Argo Lounge in St Peter’s Arcade, allowing residents to use their contactless cash cards to donate £3 to charities in the city which help homeless people. So far it has raised more than £360.

The project is run by Safer Off The Streets - a partnership made up of 17 different organisations including the city council, Peterborough Soup Kitchen and Peterborough Food Bank.

The scheme is already having an impact, helping more than 20 residents like Mary and John, who had been using emergency ‘crash beds’ at a hostel.

Since engaging with the partnership at the beginning of October, they have received help for depression, received clothes and footwear, and help getting new accommodation. The charity also helped re-home their dogs to help them move forward.

Since the scheme was started, there have been 127 donations - meaning £381 has been donated. A further £220 has been donated online on a website set up at the same time. However, for each £3 contactless donation the merchant bank account takes a transaction fee of 22p, the rest goes directly to the Safer off the Streets partnership, while the bank takes 15p from every £10 donation online.

Peterborough City Council is funding the running of the contactless machine - which costs £15 per month, as well as the initial cost of £325, and installation costs of £605.

For more information, or to make a donation, visit www.saferoffthestreets.co.uk