With lockdown restrictions easing across the country, charity shops are reopening. These shops – known for selling donated or second-hand goods to raise funds for charities – are a great place to find some bargains.

Savoo has conducted a study to determine which UK cities and world countries are the most charitable, where are the highest rated charity shops across the nation and which tips we can follow when it comes to bargain hunting and charity shopping.

Savoo analysed the 20 most-populated cities in the UK, looking at average monthly Google searches related to charity, the number of charity shops according to Google Maps, the average rating given by customers and the average weekly household expenditure on charitable donations.

Brighton and Hove stands out as the most charitable city, with the highest volume of monthly Google searches for terms related to charity (92,100).

UK beach capital, Brighton and Hove ranks as the most charitable city, even if it has only two charity shops per square mile, twice as less compared to Nottingham, with a ratio of six charity shops per square mile.

Charity shops in Brighton and Hove also have the best rating from Google Maps customers’ reviews: 4.6 in a 1–5 scale.

Besides having the biggest quantity of charity shops and the highest number of average Google searches for keywords related to charity, London stands almost at the end of the chart, in position 19, with less than one charity shop per square mile and the lowest overall ratings on Google Maps (4.1).

When it comes to the most charitable countries in the world, the US the crown with the highest number of registered charities (22,232), the biggest amount of average monthly Google searches related to charity (+10 million), the biggest quantity of money donated to foreign aid grants ($35.47 billion) and the first position in the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index.

The UK stands in second position in the global ranking, performing very well in all indicators. As seen on the table below, the UK, in fact, stands right behind the US in almost all variables. However, the difference between both countries is bigger in the CAF World Giving Index, with the US in the first position and the UK sitting in seventh. This index is a combination of different factors like the amount of people that help strangers on a regular basis, the quantity of money donated to charities and the time spent on volunteering.

Ireland, Germany and Canada also complete the top five most charitable countries.

Ed Fleming, Managing Director at Savoo comments: ‘At Savoo, we predict that charity shops will continue to have a deep impact on retail consumption across the UK –  especially after the challenges of the last year. It’s a wonderful way to find interesting items at cheaper prices, save money and help causes we deeply care about. 

‘Our desire is that the quantity and the quality of charity shops across the country will increase and that customers will become more aware of the options they have and how to buy in a smarter and more sustainable way.’