Shropshire Star

Manchester remains UK’s most generous area as GoFundMe logs £205m for Ukraine

Fundraising site GoFundMe, which saw one donation per second this year, has provided the PA news agency with its 2022 data.

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The Manchester skyline (Martin Rickett/PA)

Manchester has kept its top spot as the UK’s most generous area, according to data based on donations from fundraising site GoFundMe.

Figures released to the PA news agency show the city claimed the title once more having also been crowned in 2021, followed by Salford, Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The site also revealed 250 million US dollars (around £205 million) was raised for Ukraine across the website and US platform Classy in 2022, with more than 1.2 million donations.

Russian invasion of Ukraine
The top 5 fundraisers in the UK this year were all Ukraine related (David Parry/PA)

The UK’s top three fundraisers were all Ukraine-related following Russia’s invasion in February.

In aid of the Association of Ukrainians, Britons donated more than £2.8 million to the campaign, which topped the charts as GoFundMe UK’s largest appeal.

On October 20, an update was posted on the fundraising page by team member Iryna Terlecky, who said a “significant milestone” has been achieved.

“We have now delivered a full £1 million to each of our three partner organisations, AICM Ukraine, Caritas Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, who are all working to relieve the suffering of people in Ukraine,” she said.

Another fundraiser on the list, which aimed to “keep Ukraine’s media going”, raised more than £960,000.

Rounding out the top 10 for the country’s most generous areas were Norwich, Bradford, Saint Albans, Brighton and Hove and Newcastle upon Tyne.

The GoFundMe data also revealed Ireland remains in the top spot for the most generous countries, followed by the US and UK, which is up one place from last year.

Canada and Australia claimed fourth and fifth place respectively.

GoFundMe has seen one donation per second in 2022.

John Coventry from GoFundMe said: “The UK going up in the ranks for most generous countries was in part due to the huge response on our platform to the crisis in Ukraine, which was led by generous British donors.

“Despite the cost-of-living crisis, people are digging deep for people and causes they care about.

“What we’ve seen in 2022 is that, at times of crisis, kind-hearted people always want to help each other.”

Here is GoFundMe’s list of the UK’s most generous areas:

1. Manchester
2. Salford
3. Belfast
4. Edinburgh
5. Glasgow
6. Norwich
7. Bradford
8. Saint Albans
9. Brighton and Hove
10. Newcastle upon Tyne

The most generous countries based on the number of donations per capita in 2022 are:

1. Ireland
2. US
3. United Kingdom
4. Canada
5. Australia

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