British people gave a record £13.9bn to charities in 2023, with people in some of the least wealthy areas of the country making the most generous donations, a report has found.
The total amount increased by 9% from £12.7bn in 2022, as average monthly donations increased by nearly 40% to £65.
The report, produced by the Charity Aid Foundation (CAF), also shows that some of England’s poorest areas gave the most of their household income to charity over the past year.
Donors in Belfast West, one of the most deprived areas in Northern Ireland, where more than a quarter (28.5%) of children live in poverty, donate an average of 2.2% of their household income to good causes. did.
The wealthy New London constituency of Kensington and Bayswater gave the second-highest amount to charity, accounting for just 0.5% of household income, the lowest of all constituencies in the country.
The most generous constituency was Sheffield Hallam, where residents contributed 3.2%.
The report highlighted that the number of people who regularly donate to charity has fallen from 65% in 2019 to less than six in 10 (58%) in 2023.
CAF said the total increase was only due to an increase in average contributions from donors.
The coronavirus pandemic and cost of living crisis have put “significant pressure” on charities, which are facing increased demand and reduced income, it added.
75% of adults in the UK have carried out at least one charity event in the past 12 months, such as donating, volunteering or sponsoring. On average, constituencies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland contributed more as a proportion of their income than constituencies in England.
Neil Heslop, chief executive of CAF, said: “The act of giving unites us across communities and societies. Societies that give more can have stronger social structures. But it is worrying that the group of regular donors we rely on is shrinking and that the typical gift is static and being eroded by inflation. ”
“For these reasons, we need to foster a broader and more sustainable culture of giving to support charities that are under pressure from all sides,” he added.
“The next important step is for the Government to work to develop a national strategy on philanthropy and charitable giving, ideally as part of a new approach to civil society as a whole, to ensure that charitable giving is improved across all parts of the UK. It’s about making use of it.”
This report was based on an online survey with a sample size of 13,164.
