How your old spare change can transform into cash for our care

A welcome surprise for volunteer Ian

They hide down the backs of sofas, long forgotten in an old wallet or purse, or are tucked away in a box in the attic…we have all rediscovered spare currency – whether British or foreign – hidden somewhere in our homes.

One of our volunteers had a great surprise last week when a few kindly donated old banknotes made over £700 in profit for St Luke’s care after listing them on our ebay store. He is now asking everyone to consider donating any unneeded or old currency to St Luke’s.

Ian Anderson has been volunteering for St Luke’s for the last 12 years and has been putting his specific set of skills to the test helping out with our ebay department based at our Western Approach store.

The 75-year-old is a numismatist, also known as a coin collector, and has spent over 40 years collecting and researching coins, with a vast collection of his own, which he says he has already listed in his will to be donated to St Luke’s.

Ian spends his Tuesday afternoons researching and preparing donations ready to be sold on our ebay store. It was a welcome surprise therefore when four banknotes from Cyprus managed to raise a collective sale price of £730.01. The assortment included a 10 shilling note from 1954, two 250 Mils notes and one 500 Mils note, with the late Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait on.

“These are the best ever amounts that I have ever been able to raise from foreign or British banknotes in the 12 plus years that I have worked for St Luke’s,” he said. “We’ve had other banknotes that have been maybe £30, £40 or £50 but nothing quite this much.”