Charities are still the fourth most trusted UK institution and public trust in them has increased for the third year running, according to nfpSynergy’s annual survey of 1,000 UK adults.

The poll suggests that 66 per cent of people now trust charities “quite a lot” or “a great deal”, up 2 per cent since last year and the highest figure for the sector since 2010.

The findings suggest that sector scandals that have hit the national media, such as the Cup Trust and, just this week, the Dove Trust, have had little impact on people’s perceptions of charities’ trustworthiness.

The armed forces remain the most trusted institutions, and the Scouts and Guides have overtaken the NHS into second place.

Political parties are still languishing at the bottom, with trust levels of 8 per cent.  Some 57 per cent of respondents said they trusted political parties “very little”.

Trust in the BBC has also fallen in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, and is now in ninth place down from fifth last year.

Even though half of respondents said their reasons for trusting charities was because they believe they follow high standards in their fundraising – the most popular reason chosen - nearly half had never heard of the Fundraising Standards Board and just 19 per cent trusted the FRSB.

nfpSynergy’s Joe Saxton said the finding were good news for the sector because trust is so important, but he added: “We don’t know why it goes up or down.

“Until the sector does a lot more to manage public trust, we can feel neither complacent nor content.”

Saxton said the sector cannot continue with its “laissez-faire approach” to trust and confidence, and must better communicate its impact and address key public concerns like CEO salaries and overhead costs.