Councillor Mel Nott, Leader of Bridgend County Borough Council, praised staff for their generosity.

He said: “I am delighted but not surprised to see Bridgend top this table. Bridgend County Borough thrives on the strength of its communities and it is an extremely caring place. The local authority is no different.

“Only last month 500 members of council staff came together to play rounders for charity, resulting in £1200 being raised for The Alzheimer’s Society.

“I would urge anyone to consider using the simple Workplace Giving Scheme to help the charity of their choice.”

Many councils around the country have been inspired to join the scheme or relaunch dormant schemes as a result of MP Anne Snelgrove’s work launching the Geared for Giving Campaign with Duncan Bannatyne. The aim of the campaign is to give one million more employees access to a Workplace Giving Scheme.

The scheme has been around for the last 21 years but uptake is still only 3% compared with nearly 40% for a similar scheme in the US. The reason for the huge disparity is lack of awareness and promotion of the charity initiative in the UK.

Bridgend is intending to promote its scheme more widely in the coming months as part of its corporate social responsibility role. The council believes that promoting the scheme internally is the key to having a successful scheme.

Vale of Glamorgan and Isle of Anglesey County Council are the only two not to have the scheme in place at all, but , Carmarthenshire, Conwy, Neath Port Talbot and Newport, who do have the scheme, have nobody donating to charity via the Workplace.

Workplace Giving is favoured by charities because of the tax efficiencies. If you’re a higher rate tax payer for example, and give £6 a month, the charity will get £10. It also provides them with regularity of donations which is so vital for their forward planning.

Top money saving expert Martin Lewis is in no doubt about the importance of workplace giving.

“With charity funds being hit across the country due to the recession, we all need to get behind every venture that encourages people to give, give easily and give efficiently. Many people pop coins in charity tins, but while that’s good news, a few quid a month off the payroll has the benefit of a massive tax boost with up to 40% extra going to the charity”

Often it’s not about giving more, it’s just about giving more efficiently.

Since the Campaign began May 19th 2008 over 650,000 more employers have been given access to a Workplace Giving Scheme.

Companies which have re-launched or launched since the Campaign began include:

Brabners, Beaverbrooks, Darwin Rhodes, Dudley Council, Telegraph, Ebay, Delice de France, London Development Agency, Endemol, Buck Consultants, Highlands Council, Spinvox Ltd, Bannatynes, fish4, Adecco, Framstore, FlightCentre, Liverpool City Council, Argyll and Bute Council, Stoke on Trent Council, Logica, Premier Foods, Chelsea Building Society, Swindon Borough Council and WH Smith

Donations totalling £678,054.52 annually have already been pledged for 1082 different charities. Over the lifetime of a Workplace Giver (8 years is the official figure) – this equates to £5.42 million for the charity sector

The Campaign was launched at the House of Commons by Anne Snelgrove MP with Duncan Bannatyne OBE and Workplace Giving UK

Workplace Giving is a simple, tax efficient, scheme which allows employees to give to any charity they choose by having a deduction taken straight from their gross pay.

Workplace Giving is also known as Payroll Giving or Give As You Earn

A £10 donation through the scheme, would cost a standard rate taxpayer £8 or a higher rate tax payer £6.

Workplace Giving is the only way for a higher rate tax payer to pass their 40% tax straight to their chosen cause as only the basic rate of tax can be claimed back by charities under the Gift Aid scheme.

From April 2010 a £10 donation would only cost £5 for those paying 50% tax.