New £5 Note Sees People Donate Plastic Cash In Brilliant Scheme

Will you be joining them?
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The new plastic £5 note has gained a lot of attention.

Piers Morgan and John Humphrys have chewed on it, and keen scientists have been testing whether it really can withstand going through the washing machine.

But the new polymer note, which features Winston Churchill, is now being used in a brilliant way to help charities around the UK.

Thanks to an online campaign, many people are choosing to give the first new note they receive to charity.

The idea was first tweeted by a man called John Thompson.

He shared a poll which received over 2,000 votes, asking whether people would join him in giving their first new £5 note to a good cause.

Using the hashtags #FirstFiver and #FiverGiver, people have happily obliged and posted about the charities that they are handing their notes out to.

Charities including the NSPCC and Guide Dogs have had donations thanks to the idea:

Charities have even started getting in on the act:

How to donate your £5 note to a charity

There are a range of ways to give cash to a charity.

  1. If the charity has physical branches or shops you can access, you can visit to hand in your note.
  2. You can post your note to the charity. Check their website for details on donating cash.
  3. You can also put your note in a donation box in shops and public areas - look out for them.

For some tweeters talking about the #FirstFiver trend, though, paper (or plastic) money is a thing of the past:

And others missed their change to give away their first fiver:

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