Charities are being hit by the move to a cashless society: Sarah Todd

It was the emblem on the white vehicles that seemed so symbolic. Its red cross on a white background is the inversion of the Swiss flag (a white cross on a red background) and was adopted under the original Geneva Convention of 1864. Such a beacon of hope.

Now, while this correspondent can chatter away about issues like farming policy until the cows come home, there is no point even attempting to make any sense of the situation out in Gaza.

However, what is perhaps interesting is to highlight is the very real difference charities like the Red Cross are making and to comment on the negative impact our increasingly cashless society is having on donations. Not just for the big name causes, but everyday appeals.

The impact of people no longer having loose change in their pockets hadn’t really been hammered home until the summer.

We have a small campsite and if there was a pound for everybody in a tent who expects to be able to pay with a debit card in the middle of a field (with no signal) we would be well enough off to not bother letting them camp in the first place.

Electricity price rises have hit small businesses such as ours hard, especially when nobody seems to be able to have a night away from home without a heater, fridge and at least two showers a day.

This hostess-without-the-mostest came up with the idea of an honesty jar.

Maybe visitors could throw the odd pound in if they plugged in a lot of electrical kit? All well and good in theory but, as a camper pointed out, nobody carries cash around with them these days.

As an aside, interesting to ponder whether farm lane egg and potato sellers have already realised this.

So it is back to the drawing board and, after realising the fact that cash really is no longer King, it has been impossible not to notice how our cashless society impacts on others.

Take the supermarket. There always used to be a junior football team, local Rotary or brownie club taking a stint at ‘helping’ customers with their packing at the checkout in return for a few coins in their collection buckets. Just start and notice; they have all gone. All these grass-roots good causes missing out on extra cash.

Thinking of rural roots, are cash collection caps at hunt meets or charity tractor runs organised by young farmers’ clubs and vintage vehicle enthusiasts fairing as well as they used to do? As Christmas approaches, how do carol singers go on?

But back to the real world. Never has this reporter felt more awkward than at the beginning of the month. There, outside King’s Cross Station in London, was a Chelsea pensioner (resplendent in his scarlet jacket) and the ten minute wait in the queue for a taxi meant witnessing that not a single person stopped to donate and collect a remembrance poppy.

They were either all ignorant or they simply didn’t have any cash on them.

Banking body UK Finance says almost half of all payments were made with debit cards in 2021, with newer ways of paying set to almost completely eclipse cash within a decade.

Cash is forecast to account for only six per cent of all payments made in the UK by 2031.

It must be more than coincidence that as Britain becomes more of a cashless society, there is a decline in charitable donations.

The latest available figures show that people gave £10.7bn to charity in 2021, a significant drop from £11.3bn in 2020. Just notice, the next time you are at a wedding or funeral, how few folk leave a note - or even a few coins - on the collection plate as they leave.

We continue to be a largely generous society, with an inspiring one in three people donating to help the innocent victims of the war in Ukraine. Here’s hoping the large charities that spend a lot on television advertising don’t get too carried away spending; especially with what they pay their chief executives.

Also some of the imagery and language used in these costly ads doesn’t sit comfortably.

It must really pray on the heart - and purse - strings of the elderly and vulnerable.

But back to where we started, with those white trucks emblazoned with the simple symbol of the Red Cross.

If ever anybody is rattling a bucket for that particular charity, this correspondent will be sure to support.