Only A Pavement Away (OAPA) has announced that it is working with Pennies, the UK’s leading fintech charity, and is looking for partner hospitality operators to adopt its customer micro-donation solution to help raise vital funds and continue supporting vulnerable people back into employment.

Pennies’ micro-donation solution, the digital upgrade of the traditional charity tin, is designed to suit today’s increasingly cashless lifestyles. It is compatible with a wide range of payment technology providers, and can be installed across offline, online checkouts and growing app-based solutions. Pennies enables customers to make safe, anonymous donations towards the businesses’ nominated charity, by either rounding-up or topping-up on their bill when paying by card or mobile wallet.

Latest figures show that there were 16,976 alerts made to Streetlink by the public about rough sleepers between April and June 2020 – over 10,000 of those alerts were just in London (where they saw a 76% rise) and homeless charities have stated that the pandemic has led to a new cohort of people being made homeless – with a sharp rise in numbers from the hospitality industry – as the services and facilities that they normally relied on closed. It is estimated that around 600,000 from the industry have lost their jobs to date, a figure which is expected to rise in the coming months.

Since launching in October 2018, Only A Pavement Away has supported 77 people back into employment. Over the next 3 years, it wants to help a total of 700 people from across the UK into work within the hospitality industry and estimates that society would benefit by c.£175m over a 10-year period - a cost saving which could be used to employ c. 420 nurses per annum. Pennies is seeing across brands that have re-opened, that micro-donations are meeting a public appetite for giving to charity, due to the ease of opting-in and the affordability Pennies offers. During the height of the national lockdown, the charity saw giving rates in businesses that were able to operate increase as people wanted to come together and make a difference in their communities.

Greg Mangham, Founder & CEO at Only a Pavement Away, said: “We know from the national lockdown that a number of hospitality workers got lost in the ether and became the new rough sleepers. Whilst a number of initiatives are in place, I believe we need to look at preventative solutions to long term destitution for our colleagues. Adopting the Pennies technology within your business is one way that we can achieve this.”

Alison Hutchinson, Chief Executive Officer at Pennies, said: “Hospitality has always given significantly to support charities and the communities they serve and Pennies has become a popular way to do even more, enabling their customers to give a little but have an aggregated impact. By nominating to support Only a Pavement Away with Pennies, the sector can support colleagues and others who have fallen on desperately hard times, exacerbated by coronavirus.

“Pennies has now surpassed 100 million micro-donations and growing, and we invite a conversation to businesses who are considering a micro-giving option in-store, online or in-app.”

Greg Mangham, continues: “There is no better time for us to help those who have lost their careers due to COVID-19, no matter how hard their employers have tried to protect them. There is no magic solution but we can be there to support them through these unprecedented times. Following on from the successes of our recent campaigns and as awareness of our work continues to grow, ensuring we have a diverse range of fundraising streams is of increasing importance to us so that we can continue to make a difference and help transform the lives of vulnerable individuals and struggling ex-hospitality workers across the UK.”

For further information or to discuss this opportunity of becoming a Pennies Partner please email; fundraising@onlyapavementaway.co.uk