Charities urge us to cash in on euro

Charities are hoping for a bonanza pay-out when the euro makes its bow in Ireland at the start of the New Year.

Pleas have gone out to every household in Ireland for people to hand over their spare loose change in the old punt currency in a bid to raise £5m.

In the past few days specially-made plastic bags have been pushed through letter boxes nationwide, together with appeals to hand over coins that will be useless just a few weeks after the January 1 Change-over Day.

At the same time, collection bins have been strategically placed in banks, shops and other business places throughout the country.

The Pennies from Heaven organisation behind the scheme wants people to root out old jars and bottles that might have been filled with coins over the years and dig deep behind and down the backs of armchairs where change may have accidentally slipped.

The belief is that their could be tens of thousands of Irish homes with cash doomed to become valueless and obsolete within months.

Coins worth £200,000m are in circulation - with as much as £28m hoarded, according to the Central Bank.

The charities hope that it will not all be cashed in for euros.

Pennies from Heaven’s Giles Meyer said: "This is going to touch the lives of basically everybody and we want to make the collection as big as possible to help as many people as possible."

The message from the organisation - who will hand the money raised to a selection of charities - is that loose change will be of no use to anyone after February 9 next, when the punt finally disappears as a currency, but it could mean so much to a lot of needy beneficiaries.