SINGAPORE - More Singaporeans were moved to help others in 2019 through various online platforms and physical volunteer centres, said the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) on Thursday (Jan 16).

Online charity portal Giving.sg saw a 35 per cent growth in the number of registered users in the past year - an increase of 60,000 to more than 220,000.

Volunteer sign-ups through the portal also increased from 22,000 in 2018 to over 28,000 in 2019. The platform is run by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre.

MCCY Minister Grace Fu revealed the statistics during the ministry's Year-in-Review event on Thursday.

There were also 9,500 new account sign-ups last year on volunteer.sg, an online platform by MCCY that connects volunteers with public agencies, bringing the total to 31,000. At least 4,000 volunteers volunteer regularly through the portal, the ministry revealed.

With the launch of four new volunteer centres in 2019, MCCY now has six such avenues run in collaboration with community-based organisations to encourage people to help out within their neighbourhoods.

Through these centres, more than 4,000 have stepped up to contribute in various ways, said MCCY on Thursday.

Throughout 2019, over a million acts of care were also carried out by various organisations and individuals, the ministry added.

These acts include cash donations towards charities and social services agencies under Community Chest, Giving.sg and the President's Challenge, projects organised by community-based organisations and corporate volunteerism, among others.