Donations to charities have slumped by 20% because of the recession.

This is one of the findings of the annual survey by the Charities Aid Foundation and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, which found that donations to charities fell by by £2.3 billion last year to £9.3 billion, figures adjusted for inflation. The proportion of people giving to charity also fell – from 58% to 55% – and the average gift fell from £11 per month to £10 per month.

Meanwhile there have been calls for those not working actively for charity to not be considered for knighthoods, an aspect that would apply to more than 25% of the names on the last honours list. This would not of course have applied to Sir Jimmy Savile, whose unsuitability for the knighthood he was given was due to other factors.