Walking With The Wounded, a charity to help injured British Armed Forces veterans in their career transition from the military to civilian life, has launched a debit card in partnership with Currensea, enabling supporters to make charitable donations each time they spend at home or abroad, boosting donations during the cost of living crisis.
The new Walking With The Wounded (WWTW) Currensea card links to supporters’ existing bank accounts and will be available to both members and supporters wishing to donate to WWTW. Donations can be made by rounding up spending to the nearest 50p or £1 in the UK, and also when spending abroad.
The Currensea card also allows users to save money when using the card abroad. People save at least 85% – and up to 100% – on every transaction abroad by removing the normal fees leveraged by banks and other card providers, and Walking With The Wounded supporters are able to donate some or all of these savings on top of the donations on UK spending. For example, a user spending $1500 while visiting the USA can choose to contribute 50% of their savings – which would equate to more than £20 – while still saving money.
Walking With The Wounded delivers employment, mental health and care coordination programmes in collaboration with the NHS to support those who served, and their families, enabling them to make a positive contribution once more
All of the donations made using the new Walking With The Wounded card will enable the charity to provide vital support to get veterans who are struggling back on their feet by providing employment, mental health and care coordination programmes which are saving jobs, homes and relationships. Since the charity was founded in 2010, it has supported over 16,000 veterans and family members.
The cost of living crisis has severely impacted charity donations over the last 12 months – figures from Benefact Group indicate that total donations fell £5bn in 2022, down from £9.3bn in 2021 to £4.3bn last year.
Similarly, research from Charities Aid Foundation revealed that six in ten charity leaders are concerned that people will not continue to or begin to donate to their charity due to the cost of living crisis – in such a climate it is vital that charities diversify their donation streams.
Andy Sloan, Head of Business Development at Walking With The Wounded commented: “Times are really hard for so many at the moment so we are always looking for innovative ways our fantastic supporters can fuel the incredible work of our frontline staff in communities around the UK. This card not only saves you money but keeps a reminder in your wallet of the sacrifice and determination of our beneficiaries which can be a daily source of strength too.”
James Lynn, Co-Founder of Currensea, comments: “This partnership offers a unique fundraising tool to boost donations to support the integral work Walking With The Wounded provides the UK’s veterans.
“The charity has already supported over 16,000 veterans and their families to date. To continue this fantastic work in a challenging climate where many charities are seeing donations decline due to the cost of living crisis, unlocking access to a wider supporter base is vital.
“This new card not only makes donating much more simple for supporters, it also offers users savings each time they spend in the UK or abroad. Charity donations can be made instantly and automatically as the card connects directly to existing current accounts, with users able to simply change the proportion of their savings they wish to donate.
“Our innovative powered by programme provides charities with a unique way to increase engagement with existing supporters, boost donations and attract new donors.”
Walking With The Wounded is the latest charity to partner with Currensea’s unique ‘powered by’ programme, launched in Q4 2021, which allows charities to issue branded cards to supporters and increase donations.
Currensea adds that one of the charities offering its own card through its ‘powered by’ programme has raised four times as much via donations from Currensea users compared to donations via Amazon Smile which closed recently.
Other ‘powered by’ partners include:
- Dogs Trust – one of the UK’s largest animal welfare charities
- Royal Marines Charity – the membership body supporting serving and veteran Royal Marines and their families
- Royal Society of Medicine – a global membership organisation of 20,000 healthcare professionals
- Royal Trinity Hospice – the oldest hospice in the UK
- St Martin-in-the-Fields Trust – which works with many of London’s most vulnerable communities
To find out more and sign up for a Walking With The Wounded powered by Currensea card visit: https://www.currensea.com/partner/walking-with-the-wounded