Cash after Covid

sir – A young man stood outside Waitrose on Thursday trying halfheartedly to raise money for the Surrey Air Ambulance.

I fished a fiver from my wallet only to be told, apologetically, that he could not accept it. Did I want to partake in a weekly lottery? I did not. Did I want to hand over my bank details or initiate an iniquitous continuous payment authority on my debit card? No. I wanted to give the poor young man a fiver to support an excellent cause.

We are beginning to realise, I hope, that, in the post-covid era, we still need cash.

Christopher Pratt

Dorking, Surrey