The Mayor of London’s homelessness fundraising partner TAP London has been hit hard by COVID, with the majority of their 100 partner hosts closing their doors for much of lockdown. However, they have managed to drum up a number of success stories using digital and contactless innovation from Goodbox, considered grant-funding approach and strong corporate partnerships.

In 2020, the number of young people rough sleeping increased by a stark 47%. In recognition of this pressing issue, TAP and the Mayor of London opted to support a smaller coalition of 4 charities supporting young homeless Londoners. This change from the previous coalition of 29 charities means that funds raised can be more effective and targeted in addressing the changing homelessness landscape during COVID.

The homelessness charity has been partnered with Network Rail for a number of years and have recently grown their network – installing new devices at Waterloo and Victoria along with their existing donation points at London Bridge and Liverpool Street. This standalone contactless device pictured) takes centre stage on the main concourse in Waterloo, giving travellers a COVID-secure way to show their support in the Mayor’s fight against homelessness.

In response to fewer donations coming through their contactless giving network due to ongoing lockdown measures, TAP launched an online giving tool in late 2020. Since launching this, TAP and the Mayor of London have raised close to £35,000 of a £50,000 target from over nine-hundred generous Londoners.

Thanks to TAP London’s agile and creative approach to fundraising, and the support of their generous hosts, over £200,000 has now been raised through their partnership with the Mayor of London. Around 15% of this was raised through online donations, and the remaining 85% has been raised through contactless donation points. That totals over £170,000 raised through GoodBox technology, from over 56,000 generous Londoners.