This week is Small Charity Week, a national celebration of small charities across the UK, as well as a recognition of the role that they play in our communities.
The campaign defines a small charity as any voluntary organisation with a social or charitable purpose that has an annual income of less than £1 million.
Small charities make up a huge proportion of the UK voluntary sector, with Small Charities Data reporting that 96% of all UK voluntary organisations are classed as small charities.
Here at The Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness, we work with a number of small charity organisations to help us support stronger and more resilient communities.
The importance of small charity organisations is something that our research team knows well. Professor Chris Dayson has been researching small charities for over 20 years.
Between 2016 and 2021, Chris led a major programme of research for the Lloyds Bank Foundation exploring the distinctive role, value and contribution of small charities.
Working with a number of researchers, including our Talgarth Embedded Researcher Vita Terry, Chris’ research showed that small charities have a distinct value that emerges through their connection with and responsiveness to seldom heard communities.
You can read more about the research that Chris and his team conducted here.
Our new Deputy Director Jon Dean recognises this importance too. Back in 2023, Jon put together a piece for the Voluntary Sector Studies Network that explored 6 things you need to know about small charities.
In addition to sharing Chris’ work, Jon takes a look at research exploring voluntary sector infrastructure organisations, data on small charity fundraising in the Netherlands and the ways in which small charities use their brand personality to influence giving.
Jon has also written his own book exploring the topic of charities from a wider perspective, analysing the reality of how charity operates in the real world. You can read his book, ‘The Good Glow: Charity and the Symbolic Power of Doing Good’ here.
These examples provide just a small insight into how our research team are collaborating with small charities to support their work and to build more connected communities.
So, for this Small Charity Week, we want to say a big thank you to all the small charities we work with, and to all those across the UK who dedicate their time to supporting these organisations and communities.
Cite this Article:
Varley, C. (2026) Celebrating Small Charity Week: Saying Thank You! The Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness. https://doi.org/10.7190/c4.2026.1291822637
