Voluntary and Community Sector
10.51 Whilst general charities are at the core of the voluntary and community sector it also includes a much wider range of not-for-profit organisations, which operate for social, and community benefit. In particular these include small often fairly informal unregistered community groups. Government estimates that the entire not-for profit sector in the UK comprises between 500,000 and 700,000 organisations ("Private Action, Public Benefit", Strategy Unit, Cabinet Office 2002). Assuming the South West has the same share of this total as it does of registered charities, then this suggests that there are between 52,000 and 73,000 voluntary and community sector organisations in the region. However as the only comprehensive and robust data available for voluntary and community organisations relate to registered charities they are the focus for this section.
10.52 Registered General Charities - According to the NCVO Almanac 2007, which draws on Charity Commission and Guidestar data, there were over 17,100 general charities in the South West in 2005. The South West has the third highest number of general charities of all the English regions and the highest proportion of charities per 1000 head of population at 4.1 charities compared to 3.1 for England as a whole.
| Region |
General charities |
Adult population (mil) - mid year estimates 2005 |
General charities per 1000 population |
|---|---|---|---|
| London |
20,080 |
6,075 |
3.3 |
| South East |
23,683 |
6,588 |
3.6 |
| South West |
17,145 |
4,141 |
4.1 |
| East of England |
16,096 |
4,456 |
3.6 |
| East Midlands |
10,712 |
3,484 |
3.1 |
| West Midlands |
11,575 |
4,297 |
2.7 |
| Yorkshire and Humber |
10,129 |
4,082 |
2.5 |
| North East |
4,374 |
2,085 |
2.1 |
| North West |
12,712 |
5,504 |
2.3 |
| England |
126,506 |
40,712 |
3.1 |
| Source: NCVO, The UK Voluntary Sector Almanac 2007 | |||
10.53 The total income of South West general charities in 2005 was estimated to be £1.9 billion. In all regions, a relatively small number of charities are responsible for a disproportionately large share of total income; and this picture is reflected in the South West of England. The 231 charities (1.3% of the regional total) in the South West with an income of over £1m have a combined income of £1.4 billion (71% of the regional total).
10.54 The South West has a relatively large number of small charities in terms of income compared to the England average. The South West has 11% of all charities with an income of £1 to £10k but just 5% of all charities with an income of over £10m. This is also reflected in the fact that South West charities represent 13.5% of all charities in England but just 10.2% of total charitable income.
10.55 Charitable Giving - Just as the South West has a particularly active charity sector, it is also a generous region; over half the population (58%) regularly donate to charity with the average donation size of £14.
| Region / Country |
Average donation per month (£) |
Proportion of population giving to charity (%) |
|---|---|---|
| London |
23.00 |
53 |
| East of England |
20.00 |
61 |
| South East |
17.00 |
56 |
| North East |
15.00 |
60 |
| South West |
14.00 |
58 |
| Yorkshire/Humber |
14.00 |
53 |
| East Midlands |
12.00 |
56 |
| West Midlands |
12.00 |
54 |
| North West |
11.00 |
59 |
| Source: NCVO, The UK Voluntary Sector Almanac 2007 | ||
10.56 Data from the Communities and Local Government 2005 Citizenship Survey found that, in the South West, the most popular forms of charitable giving were the purchase of raffle tickets, items bought from charity shops and catalogues, and then street collections and sponsorship, respectively.