New research released today, shines a light on Belfast as a giving city, and highlights a willingness many people have to help when responding to increased need, by giving more money, time and energy, to the causes they care most about.The research was commissioned by Give More, a new independent, UK wide campaign launching publicly, in partnership with BT, on 26 April, which seeks to celebrate giving in Northern Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. The aim is to encourage those of us, who can, to give more to good causes over the next 12 months and to inspire others to do the same.The key findings of the Belfast research, carried out by YouGov, include:•             Over two thirds (69%) of people in Belfast have given money, time or energy to causes they care about in the last 6 months.•             More than any other city Belfast believes its communities give more - with 26%  believing their local communities are more generous than the UK in general•             62% said that they thought need in their local community has increased in the past 12 months and two thirds (66%) think that need is likely to increase over the next 12 months - far  exceeding the UK average of 57%•             The good news is a huge 32% said they could give more to good causes than they currently do•             Overall people in Belfast care deeply about causes focusing on health (61%) followed by children and young people (44%) and then the elderly (43%)•             From a list, nearly half (46%) of people in Belfast feel inspired by their mothers and 40% by their fathers to give to good causesNuala McKeever, well-known comedy writer, says “We don’t always take compliments easily here in Northern Ireland, but we can pride ourselves on being generous people. Strong community life matters deeply to many of us, and I think we’re always up for giving more, whether that’s money, time or energy. This is more important than ever now, when times are tough and many people in our communities are suffering. It’s encouraging and exciting to realise that while we may not change the world, it is in our power to have a genuine, positive impact on the world around us. In every street, village, town and city, just think what we can achieve if we simply give more.”Seamus McAleavey, Chief Executive, the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) says "We are in very tough times in Northern Ireland, many people have lost their jobs, many have had their income reduced in real terms by pay freezes.  On top of this need in many areas rises, like advice, housing and mental health, increasing fuel poverty and even the provision of food for some families.  The Give More Campaign is timely, it can be part of the fight back to the recession. We encourage more people to be active citizens by giving their time to build better more resilient communities.  Northern Ireland also has a great record of giving. In tough times for everyone giving what financial support you can to help others a bit more often is also critical.  Everyone has the ability to do something positive that will make a difference.  All we need is the will and the encouragement".Peter Morris, Consumer Director, at BT in Northern Ireland, said: “BT is very much a part of the social fabric of Northern Ireland and through our, well established, Corporate Responsibility programme, we annually invest £1m, back into the local community. Last year alone, BT people gave 1866 days of volunteering time, that’s almost 13,500 hours, all during normal working time and fully supported by BT. This equates to more than half a million pounds of investment through time and expertise alone. People in Northern Ireland are well known for their generosity, and here at BT,  I personally take every opportunity to get involved, whether it’s in support of our BT Connected Communities programme, the BTYSTE or doing something completely different, for Comic or Sport Relief, it’s definitely worth the effort!”.Give More has used the results of the research to create a Giving Nations map which illustrates the UK wide causes we care about and our giving on a national, regional and local level. For more information go to www.givemore.org.ukIt is also rolling out a sofa tour of cities across the UK where the general public will be encouraged to talk about the causes they care about and make their own pledge to give more to those causes.The sofa tour will be launching in Belfast, Glasgow, Cardiff and London on 26 April. The Belfast event will be held at Castle Court from 9am until 9pm. The sofa tour will then roll out to Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Sheffield and Southampton across May. After this the campaign intends to visit other cities and communities within Northern Ireland.