LIVERPOOL City Council has doubled the number of staff giving to charity since joining the Geared for Giving Campaign and relaunching its workplace giving scheme.

The scheme enables employees to give to the charity of their choice tax effectively directly from their salaries.

Giving to charity in this way can increase all donations by up to 40% more.

The scheme has been in place for a number of years at the council, but many staff were unaware of the benefits of giving in this way.

Liverpool Council responded to campaign to help charities raise extra money by making all donations tax effective.

Liverpool City Council's chief executive Colin Hilton said: ""Liverpool City Council is one of the largest employers in this city and we were keen to give our staff an easy way of donating to charity. The people of the city are renowned for their generosity, and we have had a very good take-up of the scheme. Hundreds of staff are now taking part, raising an extra £20,000 per year for good causes."

Liverpool Council’s relaunch of the scheme began in September and, since then, not only has the number of employees giving to charity doubled, but the amount given to charities has increased by over £20,000 annually, with over 79 different charities benefiting from their employee’s generosity.

Geared for Giving said that, during a recession, it was even more important for charities to have some certainty about their income.