#CharityIs, a campaign by Charity Bank to highlight “positive ways charities touch people’s daily lives”, trended on Twitter yesterday, with charity leaders taking the chance to voice what the sector means to them.

The #CharityIs campaign launched yesterday and will run for a week, Charity Bank said.

Yesterday the chief executive of Mind, Paul Farmer, said the campaign marked a “significant moment” for the sector.

“The campaign has been taken up by people who want to talk about what charity means to them,” Farmer said. “It’s quite likely that in the next few months and years, we will see a whole variety of different initiatives to remind people what #charityis.

“At the heart of this we need to build a new focus about what charity is. The sector has changed but perhaps we haven’t been clear enough about explaining what those changes have been about. In some places there is a lack of understanding about 21st century charity. But we can also look at places where work is being done.”

Peter Kelly, business development director for Charity Bank said: “Charity means different things to different people: an answer to loneliness, a second chance, an important part of society."

“What’s clear from the research is that charity is part of everyday life, but rarely do we hear these positive associations get told.

“Let’s share what charity really means for us as individuals and for our communities. We are privileged to see the amazing work our borrowers do to help create a better and fairer society. We want to help them, and the wider charity sector, tackle any misconceptions that exist by showing what #CharityIs.”

Twitter responses from sector veterans, include tweets by regular Civil Society News blogger, Andrew Purkis who said “#CharityIs using expertise and independence for the public good”.

NCVO’s director of public policy, Karl Wilding, said #CharityIs is “standing up for those without a voice.” In another post, he added: “#CharityIs…long term. Not 5 year electoral cycles.”

Big Society Capital’s financial relationships director Evita Zanuso said: “#CharityIs helping those who wouldn't be helped otherwise.”

Kathy Evans, chief executive of Children England, said: “#charityis to give of oneself without expectation of return. Giving unconditionally is a generosity of spirit that can perform magic.”

Jay Kennedy, director of policy and research for the Directory of Social Change, said: “#CharityIs fundamentally important for our society. Put simply, without Britain's tens of thousands of charities our society would collapse.”

According to research compiled as part of the campaign, 78 per cent of UK adults have used charity services in the past year, while 51 per cent of UK adults have volunteered for a charity.