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Scanning Homeless People to Make a Donation

A new project is offering homeless people barcodes, which you can scan to make a donation. It could help donors who don’t carry cash. But some see the idea as ‘dehumanising’

Have you ever wanted to donate to a homeless person, but found yourself without any cash, or concerned about how they may spend the money? A potential solution is being proposed in Oxford, England, through a scheme issuing homeless people with barcodes which can be worn around the neck or printed on a sign

Members of the public can scan these barcodes on their smartphones and read the homeless person’s story, before deciding whether or not to donate. Any money pledged goes into a special bank account managed by a support worker, helping the homeless person save towards long-term goals

Some think the project solves a number of problems but others fear the act of scanning someone using a smartphone could be dehumanising

We visit Oxford to meet homeless people using the barcodes, and speak to the people behind the big idea

Presenter: Harriet Noble

Photo Caption: One of the homeless people helping trial the new system in Oxford
Photo Credit: ´óÏó´«Ã½

Available now

23 minutes

Last on

Tue 4 Sep 2018 19:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Tue 4 Sep 2018 02:06GMT
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  • Tue 4 Sep 2018 19:06GMT

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