Brits are housing £760 million in loose change across the country

The average Brit has up to £26.99 in loose change or forgotten cash lying around their house, according to new figures from pub company and brewer Greene King, equating to a whopping national total of more than £760 million].

In the average UK home, coat pockets are the most common place in which to find or keep loose change or spare cash, with nearly six in ten Brits (58%) doing so, followed by in a handbag (48%) and in a pot or piggy bank (45%).

The study has been conducted by Greene King, as it heads into one of its annual fundraising campaigns for Macmillan Cancer Support, to highlight the positive impact that a charitable donation of just a few pennies from this re-discovered cash can have. This research and fundraising drive also aim to demonstrate that even the smallest donation can have a big impact, challenging the belief held by one in three people that anything under £2 is too small a sum to donate.

With the cost-of-living crisis continuing to affect many households across the UK, Greene King is encouraging a little and often approach to its fundraising initiatives across each of its 1,600 pubs in 2024, putting the nation’s pennies to good use in support of the vital work that Macmillan Cancer Support does.

There are currently around 3 million people in the UK living with cancer and with an ageing population, this is set to rise to 4 million by 2030. With many patients facing ongoing disruption to care and treatment, loss of income and everything else a diagnosis brings, this makes the support they offer is now more important than ever.

The generosity of customers is further supported by Greene King’s partnership with Pennies, the digital collection tin, which allows pub-goers to top up their bill by 25p when visiting any of its pubs across the country.

It’s certainly a well utilised feature, with a recent survey of pub goers revealing that two in five (40%) said they will choose to round up their bill to donate. The partnership, introduced in 2019, has recently just surpassed the £2 million mark in donations to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Assad Malic, Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer at Greene King, said: “We’re extremely conscious of the impact the cost-of-living crisis is continuing to have on people which is an understandable obstacle for many when it comes to considering donating to charity.

“Despite this, the research shows that there is a significant amount of loose change lying around households in the UK. It’s important to recognise that the smallest donation, even if it’s from re-discovered cash down the backs of sofas, can make such a monumental difference to the important work Macmillan Cancer Support carries out daily in the UK.”

Claire Rowney, Executive Director of Fundraising, Innovation and Marketing at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “We are incredibly grateful for the continuous support from our wonderful partner Greene King. The commitment from Greene King team members and customers to raise vital funds for Macmillan is inspiring, and we truly appreciate their generosity. At Macmillan we rely almost entirely on donations to provide the vital support so many people with cancer rely on, and all donations – big and small – add up to make a huge difference.”

Greene King also has a number of different ways people can donate cash to Macmillan, including the £1 card collector and collection tins on the bar many of its pubs. Small change really makes a big difference and this has contributed to the £18m that has been raised by Greene King team members and customers for Macmillan since 2012.

To learn more about how Greene King pub goers and customers fundraise, and how the money they generously give benefits the lives of those with cancer, please visit https://www.greeneking.co.uk/our-company/greene-king-for-good/macmillan.