If you have no qualifications the gov will fund 1 level 2 corse and if you are on means tested benefits the cost will be less or free you may be surprised at what you can get.
The way I see it is all trades have to have one if they want to work on site some have to have a lot more and pay a lot more so you can take it or leave it but it's not going away. And the testing is only going to get stricter and the qualifications harder to obtain so I would do it sooner rather than later and I have ;0)
Sooner rather than later is great advice.
We currently have a tiler who finished an apprenticeship in 1983, but cant get his card as he hasnt got copies of his indentures! He has City and guilds certs but no proof of finishing the apprenticeship.
As mentioned above its only going to get more difficult to obtailn.
The colour of the card isnt that important, as long as you have one you will be allowed on site.