Croydon residents are some of the most generous charity donors in the country, according to figures released today, with residents living in the Croydon South constituency topping the table among London’s charity-givers.
Just giving: a report published today suggests Croydon residents are among the most generous
Despite the Cost of Living Crisis, Londoners donated an estimated £4.1billion to charities last year, according to the Charities Aid Foundation’s UK Giving Report.
Across the country, the British public gave an estimated £13.9billion, compared to £12.7billion in 2022, according to CAF’s report.
The report shows that donors in Croydon South are London’s most generous, with those living in a second Croydon area, the Croydon East constituency (1.6%) , also in London’s top eight of charity givers.
Those living in Croydon South, the report says, gave an average of 2% of their household income to good causes. This is four times higher than those living in Kensington and Bayswater, where people donate just 0.5% of their household incomes– the lowest proportion in the whole country.
Big givers: Croydon South and Croydon East are among the most generous charity donors in London, according to research by CAF
Croydon South is the only one of London’s 75 constituencies that makes it into the top 100 most generous places in the UK.
For the first time, the UK Giving Report has used statistical modelling by Electoral Calculus to reveal that some of the least affluent areas in the country are among the most generous in supporting charities.
Although London contributed a significant part of the total donated, it is far less generous than other parts of the country as a proportion of household income. Londoners donate an average of 1.3% of their disposable income to charity compared to 2.5% in Belfast, 2.1% in Cardiff and 1.8% in Edinburgh.
According to CAF, there are fewer people regularly donating to charity compared to before the 2020 covid pandemic. Across Britain, 58% donated or sponsored in the past 12 months, compared to 65% in 2019 and 69% in 2016.
“The Cost of Living Crisis following the covid-19 pandemic is putting significant pressures on charities who are facing higher demand for their services, inflated costs and declining income,” CAF said in releasing its report today.
“Yet, the typical donation to charity – the amount given by most people – has remained unchanged at £20 for seven years.” A donation of £20 to charity in 2017 would need to increase to more than £25 for a charity to buy the same amount of goods and services in 2024.
“The UK is a generous country, and CAF’s UK Giving Report shows how we can come together, to give more to causes that matter to us, even when times are tough,” said Neil Heslop, chief exec of the Charities Aid Foundation.
“But it’s concerning that we’re relying on a dwindling group of regular givers, and the typical donation is static and eroded by inflation.
“Levels of generosity are also uneven across the country, so we need to foster a more widespread and sustainable culture of giving to support charities that are squeezed from all sides.
“Government can set the tone by committing to drawing up a national strategy for philanthropy and charitable giving, ideally as part of a renewed approach to the whole of civil society in every part of the UK.”
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Well that’s something to be proud of!
I’m pleased to see that ‘generosity’ in this instance, is being measured in terms of “proportion of household income donated to charity” rather than in terms of ‘total amount donated’. Despite Croydon South’s reputation as a privileged, commuter-belt, quasi-Surrey constituency, there are many relatively deprived estates and households across this part of Croydon, yet this report’s results are a testament to the benevolence of Croydon South residents of all income brackets.
I hope that as well as donating financially to such good causes, Croydon residents will consider supporting the many active charity groups throughout the borough, including Nightwatch, with their time, wherever possible.
That said, it’s unfortunate that we are still all dealing with the long-term legacy of the austerity cuts inflicted on council budgets during the Cameron/Osborne years, with much of the kindness Londoners have demonstrated both in terms of financial donations and in operating voluntary groups throughout the capital, essentially ‘filling in the gaps’ for services that had long been funded and staffed by government agencies.
Charitable giving makes us all feel understandably good about ourselves, and we should endeavour to be generous even at the best of times (whenever they were/are), but it’s unreasonable and unsubstainable that basics like essential nutrition should be so dependant on something so inconstant as charity.
Feeling guilty for voting in Chris Philp?
No amount of conscience cash can ever compensate for doing that.
I hadn’t heard of this survey, but it’s interesting to see that my constituency, Chris Philp’s, is more generous that those rich bastards in Kensington.