Over 70 per cent of the British public would rather give their money to charities working with the under-privileged or to the poor than to central or local government to spend on programmes to tackle poverty, claims a new opinion poll for the Centre of Social Justice (CSJ).

When posed with the hypothetical question: “If you had £200 to give to a good cause, to whom would you entrust with your money?”, 31 per cent of the 2,005 people participating in the poll said they would give the money to a local charity or church working with needy people, while 31 per cent nominated to give it straight to the person in need. Not one person chose to contribute to one of the government’s anti-poverty programmes.

Set up earlier this year by former Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith, the CSJ is a think tank which aims to fight poverty by developing policies that help more people live independently of the state. The results of the YouGov poll add to the organisation’s belief that the public is distrustful of big government solutions to social problems and would prefer to see community groups and small local charities playing a bigger role in fighting deprivation.

Iain Duncan Smith, who is a special guest at the UK Charity Awards on Thursday 23 September, said: “Reform of the welfare state is popular but people don’t want government to turn its back on the needy without putting an alternative in place. There is an alternative – the welfare society – in which money and support is given to a local charity or directly to people in need.

“The welfare state has crowded out most of the room for such giving. I want more taxpayer’s money to go to the kind of welfare entrepreneurs that enjoy the confidence of needy people and local communities – groups run by people who have personally conquered problems such as drug addiction."

For more information on CSJ visit www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk