IT IS officially known as the most depressing day of the year, but a cashback site is set to make Blue Monday more bearable by giving away thousands of pounds in cash to Basingstoke residents.

The town has been chosen as one of 10 locations across the country to benefit from Quidco’s freebie, when the team will hand out envelopes to passers-by containing either £5, £10, £20 or £50 in cash at Basingstoke railway station.

The company will give away a total of £10,000 to cheer people up, with each location receiving £1,000 handed out to random people.

The 100 envelopes for each location will be filled with either cash or a scratch card.

The giveaway will take place between 5pm and 6pm on Monday in Basingstoke.

Other towns and cities chosen include Sheffield, Manchester, Cambridge, Colchester and Bournemouth.

Chris Hutchings, CMO at Quidco, said: “We want to celebrate our members on one of the most dreaded days of the year by shining a bit of light on the UK doing what we do best – giving away cash.”

The third Monday of January is awarded the title of Blue Monday because of a combination of post-Christmas blues, cold dark nights and the arrival of unpaid credit card bills.

A university professor managed to precisely calculate the most depressing day of the year, using a formula taking into account the weather, time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, debt level, low motivational levels and the feeling of a need to take action.