Pennies: Making giving simple everyday

In 2011 we became the first hotel brand to partner with Pennies, giving customers the opportunity to add a few pennies to their hotel room bookings for charity. Since then our customers have raised over a million pounds by using the Pennies digital charity box. For the first two years of our partnership, customers’ online micro-donations supported KidsOut and Cancer Research UK. From 2013 to early 2017, donations benefited Macmillan Cancer Support.

In March 2017 after a company wide poll, Travelodge colleagues nominated to start supporting the British Heart Foundation, and thanks to the amazing generosity of our customers, we have now raised over £600,000.

“Pennies bridges the gap between fantastic customers and amazing charities…. Nearly everything is pre-booked at Travelodge and we have to keep things straightforward. Pennies is a low barrier to entry for customers to make a booking and give.”

Tom Edwards, Chief Revenue Officer, Travelodge

Watch our full story to learn more about our journey with Pennies, with insights from Tom Edwards, Chief Revenue Officer, Ermelinda Ceci of British Heart Foundation and Alison Hutchinson CBE of Pennies:

How micro-donations help the British Heart Foundation

The micro-donations raised fund ground-breaking research for the British Heart Foundation that help to save and transform lives. Examples of the impact the donations have made include helping run the BHF Heart Helpline which provides heart patients a way to better manage their condition and treatment plan. Plus, donations also help fund a machine which exposes heart muscle and blood vessel cells to real-life conditions, like the ones seen in people with high blood pressure or heart failure.

Charmaine Griffiths, CEO of British Heart Foundation, said:

“For 60 years BHF has funded ground-breaking research into heart and circulatory disease, only made possible thanks to the generosity of our brilliant supporters – including Travelodge customers. We’ve helped identify many of the genes responsible for conditions that cause sudden heart attacks and cardiac arrests, meaning people can be identified before these deadly events strike.”

Alison Hutchinson CBE, CEO of Pennies said:

“Travelodge is one of Pennies’ founder partners, and an early adopter of consumer micro-donations…We’re thrilled to have them in the Pennies family. They demonstrate just how much the UK public likes to give – little and often; giving back to communities and causes they care about. Well done, Travelodge!”.