The Average UK Adult Gives Almost £30,000 in Total to Charity During Their Lifetime

The average UK adult gives almost £30,000 in total to charity during their lifetime, according to research.

Typically Brits will give £16,671 to charity by direct debit, £1,831 to collection boxes and £2,275 by sponsoring friends, family and colleagues – all during their adult years.

And those polled will also splash out an average of £8,104 on almost 2,400 different charity shop items over the same period.

Quirky charity shop finds include a bust of William Shakespeare, a kimono, a CD signed by Sting and an autographed edition of David Beckham’s autobiography.

Commissioned by Hyundai who have teamed up with Stand Up To Cancer to create a contactless car, the research of 2,800 UK adults also found half give up their free time to volunteer for good causes.

Rachel Carr, head of Stand Up To Cancer, said: “Through our charity work we know just how generous the public in the UK is.

“But the results of this survey really bring home just what the average person does on a monthly and yearly basis, whether it’s through direct debit, a charity shop purchase or sponsorship of a friend.

“Our partnership with Hyundai is all about making it even easier for people to donate – and it’s been a huge success so far.”

On average the Brits contribute six per cent of their disposal income to charity and those that volunteer give up about the same proportion of their free time for important causes.

It also emerged respondents will typically raise £1,263 for charity themselves by participating in activities such as fun runs and coffee mornings.

And three quarters visit charity shops at least once a month – 1,700 times over the course of their adult lifetime.

The most common way people typically give money to charity is through collection boxes – with over half doing this.

While four in ten contribute to charitable causes by sponsoring friends, family and work colleagues, and a third purchase consumer items which see a percentage of the profits going to charity.

Almost two thirds of respondents typically select the gift aid option when donating to charity and over half have contributed to a website such as Just Giving.

A fifth of the population said they plan to leave money in their will to charity when they pass away.

And one in ten said they would contribute more money to charity if they could do it using contactless payments.

The research, which was carried out by OnePoll, also looked at how charitable Britain’s cities are.

And Oxford is among the most generous, with its population giving more money to charity through direct debits than any other city in the UK.

Oxford is also right up there when it comes to leaving money behind to charity in wills, with only people from Brighton and Hove leaving more.”

While those residing in Birmingham give a higher proportion of their disposable income than the rest of Britain, contributing ten per cent on average.

However, Londoners are the most generous with their free time as they dedicate 12 per cent of their spare time to volunteering for charity.

Manchester is the next highest, with people from the northwest city offering up ten per cent of their free time to good causes.

When it comes to sponsorship, top spot went to Cardiff, with the average adult from the Welsh capital typically raising £2,122 during their lifetime.

Tony Whitehorn, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor UK, said: “Here in the UK we’re an incredibly generous nation – to give away nearly £30,000 over a lifetime is something to be extremely proud of – and special respect must go to the residents of Oxford.

“We’re trying to do our bit here at Hyundai Motor UK, too, the only way we know how; with innovation and technology.

“Our ‘contactless’ IONIQ EV is a world-first and has been raising funds for important cancer research up and down in the UK.”

Jake Humphrey, TV presenter and Stand Up To Cancer ambassador, added: “Throughout the UK millions of people every day are giving, sponsoring, and raising awareness of charitable causes, just like Hyundai is doing here with its Contactless Car. Beating cancer is a team effort, and it’s great to see we’ve already got so many people on our side.”