New research figures released by ActionAid reveal the top ten most generous UK areas based on the numbers of children in poor countries sponsored by local people.

Surrey was ranked the most generous region in the survey, with over 2,160 people from the area sponsoring through ActionAid more than 2,360 children living in poverty across Africa, Asia and South America.

The ten most generous UK areas were:

These new figures come at the same time that ActionAid launches child sponsorship as a Christmas gift for the first time. Brand new for this Christmas, it is now possible to sponsor a child for friends and family for £15 a month. People can give a life-changing gift that lasts and lasts enabling their nearest and dearest to have a connection with a child and their community in the developing world all year long.

The findings show that people in the UK truly are a generous bunch, raising more than £3 million every year in these ten areas alone – money that goes directly to the child and their community, enabling them to build a future free from poverty.

People in the top ten areas in the UK have sponsored an amazing total of 58,741 children through ActionAid since the charity was set up in 1972 – enough to fill 2,397 primary school classes.

Dawn Wyatt from ActionAid’s child sponsorship team says of the Christmas gift campaign:

“At a time when life is financially harder for most of us, the generosity of people in the UK is inspiring and absolutely vital in supporting ActionAid’s work.

"We want to thank all those people who are already helping us by sponsoring a child. We also want to show that there are thousands more children around the world who desperately need our help. For them December is often just another month of starvation and not a festive season.”