You could get a cheque but where would you pay it in to ?
It's really simple to set up an basic bank account , only takes a few minutes. I just did it recently with Santander but there's loads of banks : lloyds tsb , RBS , Halifax, NatWest . It's free to open a basic account with them. Your HR at work can probably assist with this.
As for days off , speak to your line manager , they're the only person who can authorise this .