{"id":136035,"date":"2019-11-17T11:13:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-17T11:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/money\/saving\/article-7692899\/The-heroes-Alamein-win-relief-cash-desert-victory-sight-garrison-town.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490"},"modified":"2019-11-17T11:13:20","modified_gmt":"2019-11-17T11:13:20","slug":"the-heroes-of-alamein-win-relief-from-the-cash-desert-a-victory-is-in-sight-for-garrison-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/so\/the-heroes-of-alamein-win-relief-from-the-cash-desert-a-victory-is-in-sight-for-garrison-town\/","title":{"rendered":"The heroes of Alamein win relief from the cash desert: A victory is in sight for garrison town"},"content":{"rendered":"

Catterick Garrison is the largest British Army outpost in the world, home to 13,000 brave men and women working tirelessly to defend our nation.<\/p>\n

Around 3,000 soldiers are based at its Helles and Vimy barracks \u2013 centres for training excellence. <\/p>\n

The garrison is home to Gurkhas as well as the 4th Mechanised Brigade \u2013 the Black Rats \u2013 who played a vital role fighting in the deserts of North Africa in the Second World War in major battles such as at El Alamein, in a campaign led by the legendary \u2018Monty of Alamein\u2019, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.<\/p>\n

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Key role: ‘Monty’, pictured in 1948, led the Allies in North Africa <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Behind a 10ft high barbed wire fence, all new recruits are confined to barracks for at least six weeks of intensive training before they are allowed outside.<\/p>\n

And for the \u2018fiercest fighters in the world\u2019 \u2013 the Gurkhas \u2013 it can be many months. Yet incredibly, despite having numerous shops and catering facilities they have no cash machine.<\/p>\n

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But this is about to change \u2013 thanks to The Mail on Sunday\u2019s Keep Our Cash campaign.<\/p>\n

Answering our call to arms, the cash machine network organisation Link aims to install around 200 new machines in \u2018cash deserts\u2019 where communities need them most.<\/p>\n

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Following a request from soldiers, it is set to install one of the first ATMs inside the barracks of this vital military outpost in North Yorkshire \u2013 an apt choice. It hopes to put in the machine before Christmas.<\/p>\n

News of Link\u2019s decision has pleased everyone who lives or works on the garrison. Ganga Lawati and her friend Anita Rai are married to two soldiers. <\/p>\n

Their husbands are attached to the Royal Gurkha Rifles \u2013 whose motto is \u2018Better to die than to be a coward\u2019 \u2013 and the Queen\u2019s Gurkha Signals respectively.<\/p>\n

When I meet them the wives, out shopping for provisions at the Gurkha\u2019s Corner shop in the garrison, are thrilled to learn of the imminent arrival of a free-to-use cash machine. <\/p>\n

Ganga, 31, says: \u2018It is fantastic news that a cash machine is going to be installed in the barracks. Those confined to barracks want access to money for their basic spending needs \u2013 and they like to handle money rather than pay by card. So an ATM would be fantastic news for the huge number of residents who prefer to pay by cash.\u2019<\/p>\n

She adds: \u2018We have plenty of cash machines and banks back in Nepal so it is strange that in a more developed country such as Britain access to money is being made harder rather than easier.\u2019<\/p>\n

Nepalese shop owner Dil Dura also welcomes the cash machine\u2019s installation and hopes some of the cash will end up being spent in his shop situated just outside the barracks. He has been dismayed at the way banks have fled the local area \u2013 taking their cash machines with them \u2013 forcing more people to pay by card. <\/p>\n

A number of cash machines are located in the garrison, but not in the Helles and Vimy barracks.<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, local branches of HSBC and Barclays have closed and now the only nearby bank is Lloyds. It has a couple of cash machines accessed out of hours via a door \u2013 opened by a swipe of a bank card.<\/p>\n

Dil stocks many special provisions for the Gurkhas and their families \u2013 such as the Himalayan herb Jimbu \u2013 a kind of onion used as flavouring for popular dishes such as black lentil soup \u2013 and the much-loved traditional butter ghee that reminds Gurkhas of home. <\/p>\n

He says: \u2018As a business, it is a real struggle to make ends meet and we must pay \u00a330 a month to rent payment card reading equipment.<\/p>\n

\u2018Five per cent of any sales price gets taken in processing fees, earnings taken out of our pockets by multi-billion pound financial firms.\u2019<\/p>\n

Catterick itself is a small town and has more than two dozen shops and fast food outlets, as well as a cinema complex and library \u2013 and the Lloyds branch. <\/p>\n

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Manifesto: Every town should have a free cash machine <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the centre of a parade of shops sits military supply shop John Bull \u2013 which sells everything, including rank badges starting at \u2018private\u2019 going up to \u2018full colonel\u2019 (the latter is two pips and a crown) plus regimental pace sticks that measure the required stride distance for drills such as the \u2018quick march\u2019.<\/p>\n

Manager John Gains says: \u2018The Armed Forces needs greater support and deserves better \u2013 so we salute Link for acting positively to the military\u2019s request for a cash machine. Banks have a social duty to allow customers to access their money for free \u2013 they already make enough out of us in other ways.\u2019<\/p>\n

At the top end of the street where John Bull is located is a Spar supermarket with a post office inside \u2013 but no cash machine. At the other end of the arcade is a fee-charging ATM that demands \u00a31.85 per withdrawal. <\/p>\n

Jacqueline Samways is the owner of Georgian Hair & Beauty Salon. She has been styling the hair of hundreds of women on the base for the past 30 years and runs a cash-only business. She says: \u2018It is all too clear what is going on \u2013 banks are pushing us towards a cashless society only because it serves them well.<\/p>\n

\u2018I welcome this small victory for common sense \u2013 providing the community with what it actually wants. It makes a pleasant change.\u2019<\/p>\n

She adds: \u2018It is easier to budget with cash. Banks try to make us believe money is old-fashioned but this is simply not true. It is something you can understand \u2013 unlike when you swish a piece of plastic and have no idea about what is happening to your money.\u2019<\/p>\n

Jacqueline believes coins and banknotes are vital to help people learn about budgeting \u2013 fearing those using only cards spend more than they should as contactless payments feel less painful than handing over cash from a pocket or purse.<\/p>\n

John Howells, chief executive of Link, says: \u2018The cash machine request at Catterick Garrison was one we simply could not ignore and we hope to have one installed before Christmas. We hope to ensure at least 200 cash machines are provided where necessary. But the system is crumbling and we are only able to provide a short-term solution. The Government must ensure the problem is fixed \u2013 introducing new legislation if necessary.\u2019<\/p>\n

Although Link\u2019s initiative is welcome, critics believe it is no more than a PR exercise conducted to distract attention from the fact that cash machines are being axed at the rate of 300 a month.<\/p>\n

At the end of last year there were 52,000 free-to-use cash machines across Britain and a further 11,000 pay-to-use ATMs, often charging \u00a31 or more. <\/p>\n

Despite claims by banks that we are heading towards becoming a cashless society, more than 2.4 billion withdrawals were made at ATMs last year \u2013 with about \u00a3193billion of cash being taken out. <\/p>\n

On top of the cash machines being ripped out, the number of banks serving communities is also falling at an alarming rate. Branches are being axed at the rate of 55 a month \u2013 with a third of branches (3,300) closing since 2015.<\/p>\n

Half of all NatWest branches and three quarters of RBS banks have disappeared since 2015. Barclays has axed a third, HSBC two fifths and Lloyds a third.<\/p>\n

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