More people gave money to charity in the United Kingdom in 2010/2011 than the year before, although the average donation fell by about 8 percent, or £1 ($1.5), with medical research topping the list of charitable causes, a new report published on Friday showed.
The UK public gave £11.0 billion to charity, and an additional 1.1 million people donated, the report commissioned by the Charities Aid Foundation and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations said, but the average amount given per month fell from £12 in 2009/2010 to £11.
The organization collects its data three times annually, and the most recent report aggregates information gathered in June of 2010, October of 2010 and February of 2011.
The proportion of people giving continued the upward trend since 2008/2009 when the proportion of adults who gave hit 54 percent, a low point in the history of the report.
That drop was thought to be due to the recession, the report said.
“The further increase this year seems to suggest that the proportion of adults giving has returned to pre-recession levels,” it said.
John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said in a statement that the economic downturn meant many more people were turning to charities for help.
Women aged 45-64 years are the most likely to give and give the most, typically £20 per month, while those aged 16-24 years remained the least likely to give, the report found.
