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A survey by Populus for the Charities Aid Foundation says 3.7 million households use charitable services once a week, 500,000 more than did so two years ago.

The research, based on a Populus survey of 2,054 UK adults carried out in February, found that 3.7 million households used charitable services once a week, an increase of 500,000 on a similar survey carried out in 2014.

Researchers found that 98 per cent of households had used a charitable service at some point in the past, compared with 93 per cent in 2014.

Using a charity’s services is defined as interacting with anything a charity does, such as accessing medical support or financial advice, seeking help on a charity’s website or visiting a charity shop.

Charity shops were the most widely used service according to the survey, with 88 per cent of respondents reporting using charity shops in the past year. Visiting a charity-run gallery, museum, house or gardens (73 per cent), attending a church or other religious institution (51 per cent), getting advice or information from a charity website (51 per cent), attending a university (48 per cent) or visiting a community, youth or voluntary group (47 per cent) were also found to be prominent ways in which the public depended on charities.

Click here to read the full article in Third Sector.

The full report on the survey’s findings, called Charity Street 2, will be published by CAF in June.