New survey details the importance of charity services on everyday life

Nearly every household in the UK has used the services of a charity, a new survey has discovered.

A poll conducted on behalf of the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) found 98% of UK households used a charity’s service with more than half (51%) turning to a charity for advice.

Most popular services included buying goods in charity shops (88%), visiting charity-run museums and galleries (73%), visiting religious institutions with charitable status (51%) and getting advice from the charity or from a charity’s website (51%).

The number of households using a charity at least once a week has increased by 500,000 since 2014, with single parent households being the most frequent users. A third of single parent households used a charity once a week compared to 14% of the UK population overall.

All this goes to highlight the valuable role charities play in our lives - John Low

John Low, chief executive at CAF, said: “Every day more people are walking into their local charity shops, encouraging their children and family members to get involved in community groups and visiting the beautiful galleries and gardens supported by charities in the UK.

“But charities are also increasingly serving the basic needs of a community. We are now seeing growing numbers of young people, young families and single parent families counting on charities for ongoing support, whether this is online advice or more sophisticated care services.”

Young people were most likely to have used a charity service in the last year, with 88% of them saying they did compared to 80% of the rest of the population. And women used charities more than men in 2014 (86% of women against 75% men).

“All this goes to highlight the valuable role charities play in our lives, both enhancing our free time and stepping in to offer crucial support which may otherwise be difficult to access,” said Low.