Three in four people (75%) say that they broadly trust charities and community groups working across Ireland, according to a new survey.
The survey of 1,000 people by nfpResearch, on behalf of the We Act campaign, has ranked trust in charities second after schools (82%), with trust in gardaí coming a close third (73%).
We Act is a collaborative initiative of The Wheel, Volunteer Ireland, Dóchas, the Disability Federation of Ireland and Boardmatch Ireland.
The most trusted type of charities amongst those surveyed are small charities (74%), larger charities are least trusted at 63%.
When it comes to the number of people who feel they benefit from charities there was a notable drop.
One in three (33%) said that they "personally know someone who has recently benefited from the work of a charity or community group".
One in seven (15%) said that they had recently benefited from the work of a charity or community group.
Those aged 25-34 were most likely to know someone who had benefited (39%), while those aged 16-24 were most likely to have recently benefited themselves (27%).
Last year, the number of concerns raised with the Charities Regulator fell to 493 concerns from 574 in 2023.
