*   The use of charity is widespread with nine in ten Scottish households having used a charity at some point, and four in five having used a charity service in the last 12 months.
*   „„ Better off households are more likely to have used a charity service overall, those of social classes ABC1 are also more likely to have used a number of specific services.
*   „„ Younger people aged 18-24 use on average more charitable services in the last 12 months (5.3), with the number decreasing the older you are, reaching 2.2 on average amongst those aged 65+.
*   „„ Households which use charities perceive a wide range of benefits to doing so, most commonly this is having an enjoyable / fun experience (19%), receiving emotional support or counselling from a charity service (16%) or legal advice or support (16%).
*   „„ People are often not aware they are using a charity with 27% unaware that the service they or someone in their household had used was provided by a charity. Younger people aged 18-34 were the most likely to be unaware, at 34%.
*   „„ Charities are best placed and most trusted to speak on behalf of the disadvantaged with 68% believing that charities were best placed to speak on behalf of disadvantaged people to government to help influence government policies.

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## About SCVO

SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) is the national membership organisation for Scotland's voluntary sector.

Our role is to champion the role of voluntary organisations in Scotland and to support them to do work that has a positive impact.

SCVO supports members and the wider voluntary sector with all aspects of setting up and running a voluntary organisation. SCVO represents the needs and concerns of the voluntary sector to the Scottish government in Holyrood and UK government and Westminster. Through our learning and events programme SCVO offers training and development opportunities to the sector.

Members access an extensive membership benefits package including specialist, in-depth, 1-to-1 guidance from our Information Services team and from professional service partners.

Access to exclusive membership networks (including comms, employers, governance and policy) supports members to grow their connections, stay up to date, exchange ideas and views with peers, and learn through tailored, learning opportunities.

SCVO members enjoy free access to Funding Scotland Premium to stay on top of funding opportunities to support their organisation’s financial resilience.

Discounts and savings savings on SCVO products and services (including our HR service, managed IT support, payroll service and events and training) and partner offers provide members with support to allow them to focus on delivering their organisation’s goals. Further SCVO products and services include [extensive digital support](https://scvo.scot/support/digital), a climate action resource [Growing Climate Confidence](https://climateconfident.scot), a voluntary sector publication [Third Force News](https://tfn.scot) and a voluntary sector jobs and recruitment service [Goodmoves](https://goodmoves.org).

For more information on SCVO membership, visit [SCVO membership](https://scvo.scot/membership)