What recent charity registration says about the ‘big society’.

What recent charity registration says about the ‘big society’

What do the latest figures for charity registration tell us about how the ‘big society’ is playing out?

The second Charity Commission Registration Trends Bulletin (May 2012) suggests that the appetite for creating a charity and charity registration remains strong.

The types of charity that feature in the 2,613 charity registrations in the 6 months to 31 March 2012 seem to reflect response to needs of a type expected in the face of  public spending reductions.

So what are they?  The Bulletin draws our attention to charities providing foodbanks, meeting the needs of those who are unemployed - in particular young people - and those who are socially excluded.  Charities providing education and training account for the majority of charity registrations for the period, at 57%.   The majority of charities registered overall, are service providers, at 59%.    And 36% of charities registered during the period provide advocacy, advice and information. 

Figures which may point to recent charity registrations reflecting response to current need – plugging gaps left by the withdrawal of public services perhaps?

What the figures don’t tell us is the extent to which these charities are initiated by  members of the public at a local level, as envisaged by the notion of the ‘big society’.   That said, the Bulletin does draw our attention to those recently registered charities falling under community development and those which involve promoting active citizenship in some way.   Charities of a type which may suggest that participation and engagement, within and amongst the community, is a growing reality for many members of the public at least.

We wait to see what the future brings for charity registration: whether the trends suggested by the recent figures will continue.