Volunteering through UK churches has increased by nearly 17% over the past two years, according to the third biennial National Church and Social Action Survey. Figures indicate that 1.1 to 1.4 million volunteers participated in church-based social action in the UK in 2014, benefiting 'millions' of people through various initiatives. The survey’s revealed that UK churches have increased the average number of volunteer hours on social action to 114.8m per annum. This is an increase of 16.8% compared with two years earlier and 59.4% compared with four years ago. The research found UK churches have also increased the average number of staff hours on social action by 18.8% in two years.  In addition to volunteering, church members also finance the vast majority of initiatives, according to the study, with UK churches increasing their spending on social action to approximately £393m in 2014