Super rich are giving more - but UK public still want them to donate greater amount of their wealth
More rich people are giving part of their wealth to charity - giving a total of £2.58 billion in the past 12 months, an increase of 7.8% on last year.
The Giving List – a collaboration between the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and the Sunday Times Rich List – looked at donations from more than 300 of Britain’s richest people, revealing 105 individuals gave more than 1% of their total worth in the past year.
They include musicians and sports personalities, including the bands One Direction and Coldplay, the former England football captain Steven Gerrard and the golfer Rory McIlroy.
Sir Elton John is again the highest-ranked celebrity in the Giving List, donating just under £24.1m — or 8.9% of his overall wealth — to charity last year, the bulk of it to his Aids Foundations in the UK and America.
Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard gave away about 3% of his wealth last year via his foundation while golfer Rory McIlroy gave £1m to the Daisy Lodge short break centre in Co Down.
Musician Eric Clapton, a recovering alcoholic, continued his support for the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, which treats drug and alcohol addiction.
It comes as separate research from CAF shows Britons believe the wealthiest in society should donate at least a quarter of their money to charity in the course of their lives.
And more than half (53%) of people think wealthy people should give away more than they do.
The research was released to coincide with the Giving List, revealing the UK’s top donors of the year.
According to the research those identifying as non-Christian wanted to see the affluent donate an even larger proportion of their wealth, this group believing richer people should give nearly a third (32%) of their money away.
People also welcome the idea of a UK version of the Giving Pledge, a US-born project spearheaded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett asking wealthy individuals to commit to give away at least 50% of their wealth to good causes.
Five British philanthropists have already committed to the pledge, including Richard Branson.
John Low, chief executive of CAF, said: "There is growing awareness of inequality around the world, and it’s clear people believe the richest in society could help to address this problem by giving significant proportions of their wealth away to help those less fortunate.
“We see so many incredible examples of generosity by the world’s wealthiest, and movements such as the Giving Pledge are leading the way in opening up the conversation and bringing giving and charitable organisations into the public eye.
“Driving a project like this forward in the UK could help more philanthropists feel comfortable speaking out about their work with charities, and help further grow giving and support among the wealthy and the public.”
For the study 2,085 online interviews were conducted with UK consumers by Populus between 20-22 March 2015.
