Christmas at Vaultex has become synonymous with supporting The Children's Adventure Farm Trust (CAFT), and this past festive season was no exception. Members of our HR, Change, & Procurement teams joined CAFT to help deliver their annual Christmas extravaganza. CAFT, perched on a 10-acre site, runs free programmes for terminally ill, disabled, and disadvantaged children across the Northwest. While it operates year-round, Christmas is a full-blown production, complete with crafts, Santa visits, and enough hot chocolate to warm an Arctic expedition. But it relies heavily on volunteers to make the magic happen. Cue the Vaultex crew. On a chilly Saturday, our eight-strong team waded into the action, helping to keep the festive machine running like clockwork. There were buzzers to hand out for Santa visits, present forms to fill, and maps to distribute - essentially, we became logistics for the North Pole! The team made sure no one froze, with hot chocolates, teas, and toasted marshmallows aplenty to keep spirits high. They also indulged the children’s imaginations through creative crafts, such as wand-making, and even donned Elf costumes to ferry presents to and from the grotto. The ultimate goal? To keep the children smiling. And smile they did - alongside the 3,681 other children who visited CAFT over their 30-day programme. Congratulations to CAFT on yet another successful Christmas celebration. It was a privilege to help bring so much joy to so many families.
The Superhero Series is the UK’s one and only disability sports series - and we’ve been proud to be a Corporate Friend since 2023. Through our partnership, we’ve helped fund places at their incredible sports events, making it possible for young people from disability schools and sports clubs to participate, while also offering our Vaultex community the opportunity to volunteer and make a difference. Our support enabled two educational facilities to join the excitement: Vanguard School in London, specialising in supporting autistic children, participated in the At Home Superheroes, bringing the fun right into their classrooms. Meanwhile, a coach full of children and young people from Hackney Ark – a centre providing for those with disability and special educational needs – made the trip to Dorney Lake in Windsor to take part in the flagship Superhero Tri, a day filled with challenges and superhero costumes! Across both events, over 100 children had the chance to experience the joy of sports competition and promote disability inclusion.
In 2023, our network of sites disbursed £150 million more cash to our customers compared to 2022. Even more impressively, in the first 11 months of this year, we have already surpassed our total for 2023 by an additional £5.7 billion; a clear indication that Vaultex cash remains not only relevant but increasingly vital. Recent data from the British Retail Consortium this month reinforces this trend, showing that retail cash usage in the UK rose for the second consecutive year in 2023. Cash accounted for 19.9% of transactions, up from 18.8% the previous year – a shift mirrored in our own internal data. These figures affirm the enduring importance of cash to retail businesses and highlights its role as a vital payment method for a sizeable number of consumers. They also serve as reassuring proof of cash’s continued significance within society and an ever-changing payments landscape. This growing demand for cash underlines the need for a strong and reliable cash eco-system. At Vaultex, we are steadfast in our commitment to ensuring cash remains a convenient and accessible payment option by working collaboratively with partners across the industry to safeguard its future. After all, cash isn’t in decline everywhere: it’s proving its worth.
