Cathedrals’ honesty boxes to go cash-free

CHURCH of England cathedrals are to trial contactless donation boxes in response to concerns about the low level of contributions to “honesty boxes”.

Twelve cathedrals and one abbey are to introduce the contactless technology before the end of the year to bolster income from collection plates and donation boxes.

Matt O’Grady, the director of operations at Guildford Cathedral, which is participating in the pilot, said the church receives around £10,000 in donations a year from 30,000 visitors – an average of 30p a head, despite suggesting a £5 donation.

Most cathedrals are still free to enter and many are reluctant to consider introducing a charge.

Mr O’Grady said: “We definitely don’t want to impose a fee. In our case we think that would be a barrier to people coming here. We’re on a hill outside the town of Guildford. Not only is it against the mission of the cathedral to charge, but it would also be a barrier for people to come up.” The Rev David Potter- ton, at Romsey Abbey, where the first unit will go live on Thursday, said he believed it would make a “significant difference” to income levels. “We hope that giving everyone, particularly people who aren’t carrying cash any more, the opportunity to donate will increase the abbey’s visitor donations substantially,” he said.

The other cathedrals taking part in the pilot include St Paul’s, which charges for entry, and other free cathedrals such as St Edmunds- bury, Liverpool and Bristol.

A pilot of contactless technology in collection plates was announced earlier this year. Around 40 churches were involved in the first phase of the scheme.

Last week a report by UK Finance found that charities had lost out on £160million over the past year because people were no longer carrying cash.