Donations made to UK NHS charities has soared over the past month while charitable giving to animal welfare and children's charities has fallen, a new survey has revealed.

According to a new survey by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), charitable giving in the UK has shifted 'dramatically' towards support for hospitals and NHS organisations in the weeks since the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

The organisation, which tracks UK household giving patterns every month,
surveyed 1,105 people through YouGov between April 20-23.

Results revealed 35% of people who had given to charity in the past four weeks had given to hospitals and hospices – up from the long-term average of 21%.

At the same time, the number of people giving money to children's causes and animal welfare has dropped during the same period.

The findings from the CAF UK Giving report released in 2019, which tracked trends across 2018, found children's charities and animal welfare were the joint most popular causes to which people donated their money.

Animal charities have seen a decline in donors over the past four weeks, down to 23% from 31% in March. Meanwhile, donors supporting children's charities have dropped down to 18%, which is well below the long-term average of 26%.

Survey respondents cited donating to NHS charities specifically over the past month, as people have rushed to donate to feed NHS staff and support Captain Tom Moore's fundraising drive.

CAF director of communications, Ben Russell said the support for NHS charities shows the "openheartedness and care the country feels towards people in great need and an inherent desire to stand with those on the frontlines".

But Russell said there is also concern for the maintenance of charities working on causes not directly related to Covid-19.

“As we recover from this crisis, we will also need to think about how we maintain the tens of thousands of other charities working on so many issues which make a difference to all our lives because we’ll need them more than ever.”

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