New research released by nfpSynergy claims that almost half the British public think that voluntary sector workers do not get the credit they deserve.

Between 23 March and 2 April, a nationwide pool of 1,000 people was asked questions related to the official honours system and the voluntary sector, and 48 per cent of participants answered the question,"Do people working in the voluntary sector (charities, community groups etc.) get their fair share of official honours?" with a negative response.

Breaking the responses down into sub-groups the highest proportion of those surveyed named unpaid volunteers as the most deserving (48 per cent), while just 7 per cent thought charity chief executives were deserving of official honours. 

MPs were seen as the least worthy with just 1 per cent of the vote, while nurses received 14 per cent. Participants were asked to consider people who had been active in their roles for more than ten years.

Joe Saxton of nfpSynergy commented: “Despite overt efforts by powers-that-be to change both reality and perception, this research shows that half the public still don’t think the official honours system sufficiently recognises those working in the voluntary sector – and that they think unpaid, oft unsung, heroes are more worthy recipients than either professional charity chiefs or wealthy philanthropists.”