Currys is delighted to announce it has raised over £1 million for charity from customer micro-donations since partnering with the award-winning UK fintech charity Pennies.
The partnership has raised money for a number of charities including current partners, the Digital Poverty Alliance in the UK, and My Canine Companion in ROI.
Customers are invited to make a micro-donation via the card terminal screen when they pay for their purchase in-store. They are offered a simple and discreet ‘yes or no’ option to donate if they wish.
The milestone was reached after Currys’ customers made more than 3.6 million individual micro-donations making a real difference to the charities they help fund.
Just one day of customer micro-donations in Currys’ UK stores raises enough funds through the Tech4Families scheme for the Digital Poverty Alliance to provide two disadvantaged families with a laptop, transforming the opportunities available to them. Helping families to have digital access is a vital part of our wider work to help eradicate digital poverty. Digital inclusion is no longer something that’s a ‘nice to have’ – it’s an essential. Being cut off from digital compounds and exacerbates poverty. Addressing digital poverty is our contribution towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal to reduce inequality within and among countries.
Just four weeks of Currys ROI micro- donations helps fund a specialist My Canine Companion puppy to be trained. My Canine Companion is the largest provider of service dogs to children and young adults with autism in Ireland. Service Dogs make dramatic differences in the quality of life for children with Autism and their families. Not only do the dogs assist them physically, but these special dogs also become the child’s best and in some cases, only, friend.
Alex Baldock, CEO of Currys Group, said: “We pride ourselves on helping everyone enjoy amazing technology, and that extends to those living in digital poverty. My most heartfelt thanks go to the millions of customers who generously choose to donate, especially in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. I’m proud of how far we’ve come in helping eradicate digital poverty for thousands of families across the UK. With our customers’ continued help and tireless work by the Digital Poverty Alliance, we want to make digital poverty a problem of the past.”
Elizabeth Anderson, CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance, said: “We are so grateful to every customer of Currys who has donated to our Tech4Families scheme. Hundreds of children have already benefitted this year by receiving a laptop bought with these contributions. Seeing first-hand how transformative access to a device is for the families we’ve been able to help is incredible. We’re looking forward to being able to help many more in the months and years’ to come, and want to thank Currys and its customers for their continued support.”
Keith Daly, country manager Currys Republic of Ireland, said: “I’m overwhelmingly grateful for the generosity of Currys’ customers in Ireland, in helping us raise such vital funds for My Canine Companion. We’ve seen how hard the charity works and the incredible impact the dogs have in helping children and families across Ireland. Thank you for all you do, and thank you to our wonderful customers too!”
Niall Ruddy, CEO of My Canine Companion, said: “We are delighted to announce that our fantastic partnership with Currys is to continue after another very successful year working with the company. The partnership has enabled us to continue to be the largest provider of service dogs to children and young adults with autism in Ireland. We would like to thank the staff and management of Currys for their hard work and dedication to the partnership so far and look forward to working with them into the future. We also want to thank all of Currys’ customers who contributed at the tills to our work through the Pennies initiative. Every cent is making that difference and changing lives.”
Pennies CEO, Alison Hutchinson CBE, added: “Congratulations to the team at Currys and your amazing customers for reaching over 3.6 million micro-donations for charity. These small acts of generosity have enabled all those small digital donations to add up £1 million making a huge difference for the great work that Currys’ nominated charities in the UK and ROI do so brilliantly. Thank you to the Currys team and to all those kind customers in the UK, Northern Ireland and ROI who press ‘Yes’ – your small acts of kindness make such a difference.”
