Happy List 2015: The rich ARE different... they're not as generous

Britons' commitment to charities is unwavering, with £11bn donated in 2014 – and it's good for us

Emma Ledger
Sunday 26 April 2015 00:00 BST
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We donate £14 a month on average to charity
We donate £14 a month on average to charity

The vast majority of charitable giving in the UK comes from the type of people celebrated on The Independent on Sunday’s annual Happy List, rather than from the super-rich, a new report reveals.

The latest UK Giving report, conducted by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), calculated that the total amount donated to charity by UK adults in 2014 was an impressive £10.6bn. While the country’s super-wealthy donated an unprecedented amount, their contribution was less than a quarter of the total amount given.

The report found that donations from almost 300 of those who feature in the top 1,000 of last year’s Sunday Times Rich List made up £2.4bn. Moreover, not one name on the Rich List’s top 10 was among the top 10 biggest givers, which was calculated using the proportion of total wealth donated to charity, called the Giving Index.

The Sainsbury family gave away the most, after donating £84.7m last year

With a combined fortune of £11.9bn, brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja of global conglomerate Hinduja Group were named as the richest men in Britain last year. But proportionately the Sainsbury family gave away the most, after donating £84.7m and boosting by a further £80.6m the financial resources of 18 of their grant-making family trusts, equivalent to 30.6 per cent of the family’s residual wealth of £540m.

Yet it is the general public who make the greatest total contribution to charitable causes. Eight out of 10 of those surveyed had participated in at least one act of charitable giving in the past 12 months, and 44 per cent said they did so in a typical month.

The average monthly amount given by a donor was £14.

“The quiet commitment and dedication of people who volunteer or just put a few pennies into a collecting tin is what makes charities in the UK special,” said Dr John Low, chief executive of CAF. “Many charities face financial pressure and an uncertain future, but one of the few things on which we can rely is that British people will turn to help the causes close to their hearts. Giving to charity is something to which the British public remains steadfastly committed.”

Psychologists said that this encouraging picture of philanthropy not only showed that for most people “doing their bit” by sponsoring someone or raising funds is part of everyday life, but also that such activity is likely to make people happy. Studies have found that charitable giving is also a big factor in determining our sense of well-being.

The Hinduja brothers are worth a combined total of £11.9bn

“Happiness depends on a balance of doing activities you love and meaningful activity that plays to your values,” said Dr Rob Yeung, a psychologist at consultancy Talentspace. “It is up to us to work out what our own individual values are, but meaningful activities could be helping others or supporting a cause, whether that be political or charitable.”

Stefan Klein, the author of The Science of Happiness, agrees, and cites a study carried out by psychologists Richard Ryan, Tim Kasser and Peter Schmuck which found that people for whom money and success are especially important are less satisfied than those who strive for good relationships and are active in social causes.

Those who seek to help others in Britain without thought for their own fame or fortune are celebrated in The IoS Happy List. Last year’s list included a teacher who donated a kidney to a pupil, a couple who set up a homeless shelter, and a woman who has fostered hundreds of children.

Nominations are now open for our readers to help us shine a light on those who deserve special recognition when this year’s list is published in June. As well as appearing in a special section of the paper, all the chosen 100 Happy Listers will be invited to a celebratory reception hosted in their honour by luxury hotel group Grange Hotels (www.grangehotels.com) in central London this summer.

And this year, for the first time, The IoS is partnering with the social-giving platform JustGiving to make the Happy List bigger and better than ever before. Every individual featured on the Happy List will also receive the accolade of being put forward for special recognition at the JustGiving 2015 Awards.

How to nominate

These volunteers, by their nature, are not generally attention-seekers, so we need your help to find those who deserve to be celebrated in your area.

All we require are a few details about the individual you are nominating - including their name, age and, if possible, a way to contact them – and the reason why you’re putting them forward.

Nominations from all corners of the UK, all cultural backgrounds, and people from all parts of the community are welcome.

Please nominate online by going to independent.co.uk/happylist, via

email to happy@independent.co.uk or by writing to: Lisa Markwell, Editor, The Independent on Sunday, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5HF.

The selected entries will be revealed in The Independent on Sunday’s Happy List 2015 in June. Individuals cannot nominate themselves.

Follow us at twitter.com/HappyList100 and facebook.com/IndependentHappyList

The Happy List is in proud partnership with Grange Hotels

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