Church Wigan has been a staple of support in the community with it's social justice-focused ministry 'Lifted'. As well as operating five food pantries open across the borough, the mental health and wellbeing aspects of social justice are also key.
Residents pay £5 for annual membership for the pantries and then they can go twice a week to get 20 items of food for £3.
Lifted Ministry contacted me a few months ago enquiring about setting up contactless giving devices for some of their local food pantries.
I was delighted to assist with setting up five Lifted pantries with a contactless device, and a further four Wigan churches with a contactless device. This will enable attendees to the pantry to pay via contactless card if they wish to. This also makes payments more secure and saves time, as less cash needs to be counted and deposited by volunteers. After the training session this month, 50% of Wigan churches now use contactless giving in their churches and ministry projects which is a brilliant step forward in digital giving for the deanery.
Another positive impact of having the devices is that pantry leads can personalise the donation screen to show a friendly welcome and selected donation amounts to make payment an easy and positive experience (second to the warm welcome of the diligent volunteers who make possible the work of each food pantry!)
With 97% of the UK population having a bank account[1] and, according to data from Barclays, over 91% of all transactions were made via contactless card last year, having a contactless giving facility in place for people to make quick payments us essential.
If you are interested in contactless giving for your church or project, do get in touch and join the majority of churches across Liverpool Diocese who are seeing the benefits of this efficient, safe and secure way of giving.
Lucia Miller, Resources Team at the Diocese of Liverpool
lucia.miller@liverpool.anglican.org | www.liverpool.anglican.org/talking-money
[1] https://www.finder.com/uk/banking-statistics M.Boyle, Aug 2023