No spare change in your pocket? Worried about what will happen to your donation? There are a number of reasons we choose not to donate to the homeless and such reluctance has made it increasingly difficult for those on the streets to survive on the generosity of the general public. Hoping to combat this, a Dutch independent advertising company have developed a solution that they believe could revolutionise the way we donate to the homeless and help thousands towards rebuilding their lives.
Amsterdam based company N=5, have created a coat that allows passers-by to donate money via contactless payment. The jacket, endearingly referred to as the ‘helping heart’, has a card reader sewn into its front and payment, just like that of consumer contactless transactions, is made by the tap of a card. Donations, which are limited to the fixed sum of one euro, are then debited from the donator’s bank account to that of the wearer.
The most innovative element of this design is that the donation can only be redeemed at an official homeless shelter and used solely in exchange of a service; a place to sleep, a shower or a hot meal. Alternatively, the donations can be put towards long term solutions, such as vocational training courses or to build up savings towards rent or the deposit of a house.
Currently in the prototype phase, the jackets are proving popular on the streets of Amsterdam. Initially intrigued by the jackets, passers-by have been largely impressed with the high-tech creation. Promoted by convenience and the embedded assurance that their donation will be used positively, those trialled say they are much more likely to donate via the helping heart than an outstretched hand.
But what about Britain? Currently, there are no plans for such a product in the UK and there are fears that Britons may be less enthusiastic about the product than the Dutch. But after generating great interest in the Netherlands and with N=5’s plans to eventually scale up the production, the jacket could soon be seen on the streets of Britain and be a vital step towards solving our growing homelessness crisis.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.