The wealthiest people in the UK gave nearly £500m more to charity over the past year, according to the Sunday Times Giving List.
Published today in association with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), the list tracks the philanthropic activity of 100 individuals listed in the Sunday Times Rich List and the 40 richest under 40.
This year’s list shows that the top 100 collectively gave £3.7bn to charity, either personally or through their charitable foundations or businesses, compared with £3.2bn last year.
For the first time, hedge fund managers have taken the top spot on the list, with industry leaders collectively giving £5.3m a week to charity.
Hedge funders top the list
Chris Hohn, a hedge fund manager worth an estimated £8.15bn, is the UK’s most generous person, having donated £983m to causes including climate change, children’s health and gender equality.
However, he comes in at third place when his donations are calculated as a percentage of his wealth.
Suneil Setiya and Greg Skinner, the founders of Quadrature Capital who are worth an estimated £980m each, jointly top the rankings. Collectively, they have donated £270m over the past 12 months.
English singer, songwriter and actor Harry Styles entered the list for the first time at position 15. Styles is worth an estimated £225m and has given £5.2m to causes such as social, children and humanitarian.
Meanwhile, British singer, songwriter and pianist Elton John, worth an estimated £475m, “holds steady with his ongoing charitable contributions” in sixth place, having donated £26.5m to causes including HIV/Aids, arts and humanitarian.
The Sunday Times said that, according to the most recent accounts filed with the Charity Commission and the Scottish Charity Regulator, 10 out of the top 100 gave more than £100m in the past year, and 64 out of the top 100 gave less than 1% of their wealth.
Super rich are ‘critical’ to charities
Neil Heslop, chief executive of the CAF, said: “High-net-worth individuals are critical to enabling charities to do more of their life-changing work.
“For charitable organisations, there has never been a more difficult combination of circumstances, demands are through the roof, costs are up dramatically higher, and income is under pressure.
“If wealthy individuals were giving just 1% of their investible assets, as the people at the top of the Giving List are doing, that’s £19.9bn going into the charity sector on an annual basis.”
Jonathan Simmons, CEO of NPC, commented: “It’s great to see an overall increase in donations from the wealthy this year. Our aim should be to see that increase continue every year.
“We’re working to increase philanthropic giving and grow the impact sector. We’re also encouraging philanthropists to think more about their impact.
“It’s great to give, but understanding the difference you make to get the most value for money is equally important.”
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