‘Give your first plastic fiver to charity’ goes viral
A social media campaign has gone viral after it encouraged people to donate their first plastic £5 note to charity.
The new plastic polymer version of the £5 bank note, which is meant to be cleaner, more secure, and more durable than paper banknotes, entered circulation on 13th September.
The on-line campaign was started on Twitter by John Thompson, fundraising consultant at Changing Business, asking people to give their first new £5 note to a charity of their choice.
Supporters are using the search tags #firstfiver, #givefive and #fivergiver to share the campaign with their followers.
Mr Thompson said “it all took off over the weekend” after he started a poll on Twitter and that “it seems to have captured people’s imagination”.
It has been backed by the Institute of Fundraising and NCVO. The Children’s Society, Blue Cross and Sue Ryder are among the first charities to be asking their supporters to get involved.
The Bank of England is also doing its bit to help worthy causes by organising a charity auction of Bank of England banknotes with low serial numbers, which will be held on Monday 3 October. The money raised will be donated to the Myotubular Trust, The Lily Foundation, and Bliss.