The Counting House: Qantas UNICEF donations counted by volunteers raises millions of dollars

IF YOU’VE ever done this on a flight before then you’ll be amazed what goes on in a nondescript building at Sydney Airport.

Peter, left, and Ron, right, work in the secret Qantas “Counting House”.

I’VE just been handed a ziploc bag containing a rare Australian gold sovereign coin from 1914 worth about $500.

No, I’m not at the Sydney Mint, I’m in a nondescript Qantas building near Sydney airport known as “The Counting House”. A secret facility where all the loose change that is donated from passengers on Qantas flights for UNICEF’s Change for Good program is brought to, categorised and counted — by hand.

These dedicated volunteer “counters” have just come across this rare gold coin while sifting through bag after bag of mixed currencies. “The Counting House”, run by retired Qantas cabin crew and volunteers, counts about 19,500kg of coins every year from more than 150 countries, totalling a staggering $1.4 million per year.

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One of the finds in the morning’s count.

But rare coins aren’t the only surprise these volunteers find. Over the years they have opened envelopes with wedding rings, gold teeth, toy soldiers — even a 1907 Russian five Ruble coin from prior to the revolution.

“Ron proposed to me this morning,” jokes Peter Bentley, a retired Qantas cabin crew member and staff member of the counting house, as he points to a gold wedding band found in this morning’s intake. Passengers often take their rings off during the flight because of swelling and put them in their purse. The volunteers recently had a frantic woman chasing a lost three band diamond wedding ring that she had inadvertently thrown into one of the envelopes. (It was successfully retrieved and reunited with the owner).

Peter was a Qantas cabin crew member for 40 years until he retired and has spent the past 11 years working at the counting house.

“It’s been the most satisfying time of my life,” he says. He reveals their biggest donation was a $25,000 cheque, as well as a credit card donation of $20,000. Qantas frequent flyers also often convert their points to donations.

Row and rows of empty milk cartons serve as holders for the various currencies.

Lining the wall of the unassuming counting office are rows and rows of empty milk cartons with the tops cut off, each labelled with a different country name and holding coins belonging to those countries.

There are no counting machines here — each coin and note is manually counted by the small team of volunteers.

Qantas partnered with UNICEF 26 years ago and has raised a huge $33 million in that time for the charity by asking passengers on flights and at the airport to donate their spare change.

Of all the Qantas routes, Peter says the US flights are the biggest for collections — mainly due to the size of the aircraft. The A380 seat nearly 500 passengers.

There’s also been an increase on the Japan leg as extra services are put on as well as the more popular Singapore and Hong Kong flights.

A well-used book helps the team identify the currencies.

Ron Gyde, another staff member, who spent 28 years as cabin crew for Qantas shows me a dog-eared book they often use to identify the more unusual currencies that come their way.

“The Russian coins are difficult to identify as are the Arabic currencies,” he says. “The South American coins are also very similar to each other.”

The Counting House was started up by Dave Patterson, a retired Qantas auditor in 1991. He also employed Bob Hills as a volunteer - a former flight service director and the father of Australian comedian Adam Hills.

Adam Hills often sends hand written thank you notes to the volunteers who work tirelessly from 5am until 1pm every day.

A regular thank you note from Adam Hills.

So where does the money go? UNICEF distributes the funds to where they are needed most. For example:

$0.50c can provide a child with clean water

$1 will protect a child against measles

$1.60 can provide an HIV test kit

$2 can feed a malnourished child for a day

$5 can provide 10 children with books and pencils for school

$7.50 can provide a child a blanket to keep them warm

$10 can vaccinate 10 children against polio

So next time you toss some coins in the UNICEF envelopes know that Peter, Ron and his team will be personally sorting and counting your donation and sending it on its good way.

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