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Who gives? Del Boy or Sex and the City’s Carrie? More poor people than rich give to charity

The Giving Campaign

Headline findings:

New Experian research, commissioned by The Giving Campaign – a national initiative that has been working to promote charitable giving across the UK, reveals that poorer people more frequently give to charity than the rich.

The research has found that charitable giving is most prevalent amongst those who live in council houses, and least prevalent amongst high earners and affluent households.  Furthermore, there is a clear north / south divide between areas where charitable giving is rife (in the north) and where it is less common (in the south). 

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The following table emphasises the inverse correlation between giving and wealth.

10 Most Charitable Towns

Wealth
Rank

(1-rich, 114 –
poor)

10 Least
Charitable Towns

Wealth
Rank

(1-rich, 114 –
poor)

1.
Sunderland

100

1.  London

23

2.
Blackpool

92

2.  Harrow

10

3.
Motherwell

89

3.  Twickenham

20

4.
Dundee

55

4.  Kingston-upon-Thames

2

5.
Newcastle upon Tyne

72

5.  Ilford

33

6.
Kilmarnock

60

6.  Croydon

18

7.
Liverpool

69

7.  Southall

86

8.
Oldham

81

8.  Guildford

1

9.
Paisley

49

9.  Slough

5

10.  Sheffield

83

10.St
Albans

3

10 most charitable towns


The average wealth within the 10 most charitable towns – where giving is most prevalent – is significantly lower than the national average.

In contrast, the 10 towns with the lowest number of donors have an average wealth of twice the national average. The three wealthiest towns are amongst the 10 towns with the fewest donors in the UK. (See Notes to Editors for more regional data).

Experian has developed a postcode based consumer classification system called UK Mosaic which divides the UK population into 11 groups, containing 61 different types.  Using these criteria, the following list shows how prevalent giving is amongst the following stereotypes.


Individuals most likely to give to charity:

1. Municipal Dependency – Often living in council housing earning a low rate of income, unemployed or retired.  Few people within this group have significant savings.

2. Twilight Subsistence -With the support of housing and social services departments, this group relies entirely on state benefits for their income and have a low level of savings and income.

3. Blue Collar Enterprises – Mainly living on council estates, this is an enterprising group of self-reliant individuals, many of whom have become homeowners.

Individuals least likely to give to charity:

1. Symbols of Success – As successful, higher rate taxpayers, these individuals have substantial equity, expensive leisure interests and live in spacious, fashionable housing.

2. Urban Intelligence  – Typically well-educated, stylish young professionals with no children, this group tend to live in inner city areas. Many have high disposable incomes.

3. Rural Isolation – Living deep in the small rural communities where farming remains a key occupation, this group tend to have low disposable incomes, but high value, illiquid assets.

The Giving Campaign has been working to encourage people to consider their charitable giving in relation to their overall income and wealth and is challenging the UK to double donations over the next decade.  Amanda Delew, Director of The Giving Campaign, says:

“It is staggering to think that, although the better-off have more money than ever before, it is the poorer people in society who are giving their money away to good causes.  While there are many wealthy people who do give to charity, often very generously, there are too many who aren’t.  I’d like to see people across the UK working to generate a culture of giving, where it is natural for people – particularly the wealthy – to give generously towards the good causes they care about.”

This news comes at the closure of The Giving Campaign (ending 30 June 2004) and is accompanied by the launch of the Campaign’s ‘Blueprint’ for charitable giving, in which the UK public is challenged to double charitable donations, as a percentage of GDP, by 2014.  Currently, 70% of people in the UK give to charity, giving an average of 0.7% GDP to charity.

For further information, visit www.givingcampaign.org.uk

– Ends –

Media Enquiries
Lucinda Gould    
The Giving Campaign
lu***********@gi************.uk

Notes to editors

· The Giving Campaign (www.givingcampaign.org.uk)

The Giving Campaign is a partnership between the Government and the charity sector, working to encourage a greater culture of giving in the UK and to raise the overall level of giving in the UK. Working from July 2001 to the end of June 2004, the Campaign has focused on four specific work streams: Targeting Wealthy People, Tax-Effective Giving, Employers and Employees and Young People.  The Campaign remains as an online tax-effective giving resource at www.givingcampaign.org.uk

· Experian (www.experian.com)

Experian is a global leader in providing information solutions to organisations and consumers.  Experian works with more than 40,000 clients across diverse industries, including financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, insurance, retail and catalogue, automotive, manufacturing, leisure, utilities, property, e-commerce and government.  Experian is a subsidiary of GUS plc and has headquarters in Nottingham, UK, and Costa Mesa, California.  Its 13,000 people support clients in more than 60 countries.  Annual sales exceed £1.2 billion.

The word ‘Experian’ is a registered trademark in the EU and other countries and is owned by Experian Ltd and/or its associated companies.

 

·
Regional
Breakdown of data

Postal
Area

Giving Rank

Wealth Rank

Giving Index

Wealth Index

Sunderland

1

100

120

32

Blackpool

2

92

116

37

Motherwell

3

89

115

40

Dundee

4

55

114

78

Newcastle upon Tyne

5

72

114

61

Kilmarnock

6

60

114

73

Liverpool

7

69

113

62

Oldham

8

81

113

50

Paisley

9

49

112

84

Sheffield

10

83

112

47

Hull

11

71

112

61

Cleveland

12

76

112

56

Blackburn

13

78

112

53

Wakefield

14

87

112

41

Glasgow

15

39

111

101

Torquay

16

109

111

24

Kirkcaldy

17

56

111

76

Manchester

18

88

111

40

Wigan

19

91

111

40

Durham

20

90

111

40

Doncaster

21

98

111

33

Halifax

22

68

110

64

Darlington

23

85

110

42

Newport

24

75

110

59

Galashiels

25

102

110

31

Truro

26

113

110

11

Dumfries

27

112

109

20

Canterbury

28

80

109

50

Falkirk

29

44

109

91

Bolton

30

38

109

102

Wolverhampton

31

66

108

66

Carlisle

32

107

108

26

Llandudno

33

93

108

36

Lancaster

34

106

108

26

Nottingham

35

64

108

68

Stoke-on-Trent

36

74

108

60

Walsall

37

57

108

76

Swansea

38

95

108

35

Norwich

39

96

107

33

Perth

40

62

107

71

Plymouth

41

103

107

29

Portsmouth

42

63

107

71

Inverness

43

79

107

53

Bradford

44

82

106

48

Dudley

45

58

106

76

Huddersfield

46

50

106

84

Harris

47

108

106

24

Cardiff

48

52

106

82

Chester

49

29

106

113

Bournemouth

50

41

105

99

Kirkwall

51

110

105

24

Lincoln

52

101

105

32

Derby

53

73

105

60

Birmingham

54

47

105

89

Brighton

55

54

105

79

Exeter

56

111

104

21

Warrington

57

27

104

123

Leeds

58

37

104

103

Taunton

59

99

104

32

York

60

77

104

54

Aberdeen

61

34

103

106

Dorchester

62

94

103

35

Edinburgh

63

26

103

126

Colchester

64

59

103

75

Telford

65

65

103

67

Peterborough

66

61

103

72

Southend-on-Sea

67

67

103

65

Coventry

68

32

102

108

Preston

69

45

102

90

Romford

70

84

102

47

Northampton

71

36

102

103

Llandrindod
Wells

72

114

101

4

Stockport

73

12

101

186

Ipswich

74

70

101

61

Lerwick

75

105

101

26

Medway

76

48

100

86

Northern Ireland

77

53

100

81

Luton

78

42

100

95

Hereford

79

104

100

28

Bristol

80

30

99

110

Bath

81

46

99

90

Dartford

82

51

99

83

Leicester

83

43

99

91

Crewe

84

24

98

138

Gloucester

85

40

98

99

Swindon

86

28

98

118

Worcester

87

31

97

110

Shrewsbury

88

97

97

33

Salisbury

89

35

97

104

Harrogate

90

13

96

182

Southampton

91

22

96

148

Tunbridge
Wells

92

17

96

173

Milton Keynes

93

19

94

164

Stevenage

94

15

93

179

Chelmsford

95

11

92

194

Enfield

96

25

92

131

Watford

97

9

91

213

Sutton

98

21

91

151

Cambridge

99

14

91

181

Oxford

100

16

90

176

Redhill

101

8

90

241

Bromley

102

7

89

247

Hemel Hempstead

103

4

88

296

Reading

104

6

88

260

St Albans

105

3

87

300

Slough

106

5

86

294

Guildford

107

1

86

320

Southall

108

86

85

41

Croydon

109

18

83

169

Ilford

110

33

82

107

Kingston-upon-Thames

111

2

82

320

Twickenham

112

20

82

152

Harrow

113

10

76

210

London

114

23

62

147

*The wealthiest 10 towns are shaded in the table above

Giving Rank: No. 1 is the region where the highest proportion of inhabitants give to charity, no. 114 is the region with the lowest proportion of donors Wealth Rank: No. 1 is the region where the inhabitants are most wealthy, no. 114 is the region whose inhabitants are least wealthy Giving Index:  Indices of over 100 show an over-representation of
donors compared to the national average.  Indices lower than 100 show an under-representation of donors compared to the national average . For example, Sunderland with a giving index of 120, means that people in Sunderland are 20% more likely to donate to charity in comparison to the national average.  

Wealth Index: Indices of over 100 show a higher proportion of wealthy people than the national average, indices lower than 100 show a lower proportion of wealthy people.  For example, Sunderland with a wealth index of 32, is
less wealthy than the national average.


[1] Analysis of Experian’s Canvasse Lifestyle Survey (842,707 respondents, 2001) in May 2004.

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