Just over 80 per cent of churches took part in food distribution 2013/14, according to the results of the third biennial National Church and Social Action Survey for the United Kingdom.
As part of the survey, churches were asked to record their involvement in 39 different social action activities. Of the 230 churches that responded, over 80 per cent said they took part in food distribution, making it the top ranked social action area for the first time. Food distribution was ranked 4th in 2012 and 16th in 2010.
When the first survey was carried out in 2010, only 7.8 per cent of churches reported being involved in food distribution, an increase of 72.4 per cent in four years.
While this is the first time that food distribution has topped the table, it doesn’t represent the biggest overall percentage increase for food distribution since the survey began. Between 2010 and 2012, the number of churches involved in food distribution rose by 53.8 per cent as opposed to 18 per cent between 2012 and 2014.
The survey also shows that churches involved in debt counselling has risen by 22 per cent since 2012, with over forty per cent of respondents saying they were involved. This rise in the last two years has taken the overall percentage involved in this metric back to the levels that were seen in the 2010 survey.
The percentage of those providing lunches for the needy has also risen steadily from five per cent in 2010 to over 27 per cent in 2014.
Social action up across the board
The report estimates that there are between 1.1 million and 1.4 million volunteers. And the average amount of time staff at churches dedicate to social action activities has increased by 19 per cent from 1,130 hours in 2012 to 1,342 in 2014.
Social action spending has also increased to approximately £393m per annum, an increase of 14.9 per cent from 2012 and 36.5 per cent from 2010.
Despite these increases, the results also seem to show that social action involvement has reached something of a peak in the United Kingdom and will likely plateau in the next two years. 58 per cent of churches plan to increase (or increase somewhat) their social initiatives in the next 12 months, the same figure as was recorded in 2012 and a figure 10 per cent lower than those recorded in 2010.
Also, the percentage of churches planning to ‘reduce’ social action has risen to five per cent, following the trend of a one per cent growth across the UK in that metric since 2010.
Top 10 social action activities in 2014 (2012 rank in brackets)
- Food distribution - 80 per cent (4)
- Parents and toddlers - 70 per cent (2)
- Schools assemblies - 66 per cent (3)
- Festivals/fun days - 55 per cent (4)
- Children's clubs up to age 11 - 50 per cent (5)
- Caring for the elderly - 44 per cent (6)
- Debt counselling - 43 per cent (11)
- Youthwork - 43 per cent (7)
- Public cafe - 39 per cent (8)
- Marriage counselling - 33 per cent (14)
