Eight in ten adults plan to be charitable this Christmas – including donating money

The generosity of the nation will see 48 percent be more charitable this year than last.

But 27 percent plan to turn to alternative, non-monetary means to spread cheer, as a way to help cut back on expenditure.

The research, commissioned by Sky Mobile, revealed other ways people will give back include buying charity Christmas cards (28 percent), and donating items including food (26 percent) and clothes (20 percent).

People’s kindness is being driven by wanting to help those worse off or lonely (30 percent), and believing that it is the meaning of the season (29 percent).

The festive spirit also sees December as one of the most popular months, year on year, to generously donate (86 percent), with people gifting to charities an average of four times a year.

But 68 percent would be willing to donate more to charities if they knew there were alternative options – such as swapping their mobile data for a donation (72 percent).

To help people give back this holiday, Sky Mobile has partnered with the NSPCC, so customers can exchange 30GB of their spare data – which will be turned into a monetary donation on their behalf – to help fund important services such as Childline.

Paul Sweeney, managing director of Sky Mobile, said: “The gift of giving has never been more important than it is today – so, once again, we’re giving our customers the option to donate their data, as many times as they like, to help fund vital services this December.”

The research also found 92 percent believe it is important to make charitable gestures as much as possible throughout the year, with the promise of spreading positivity (41 percent).

Two-thirds (65 percent) of those being generous this year have also been on the receiving end, too – having someone do a kind deed for them at Christmas, including gifting money to help pay for gifts and food (43 percent).

And over half (52 percent) of those polled, via OnePoll, would be more likely to donate to charity, be it financially or with time, if someone else they knew was already doing so.

Kirsty Lawson, associate head of corporate partnerships at NSPCC, said: “As the Christmas school holidays are fast approaching, we are gearing up to keep our 13 Childline bases open 24/7 over the festive period.

“December and January are common months for children to confide in us about abuse for the first time, so it is vital the service is there whenever a child chooses to disclose.

“Thanks to customers’ generous donations to help fund our services, our counsellors will be ready to answer and listen to anyone’s call this holiday season.”

Customers have until 12th December, or until the target donation of £70,000 has been met – the equivalent to the cost of funding Childline for two days.