Charity Champions announced for Prestigious Beacon Prize
Howard Lake | 3 July 2006 | Newswire
CHARITY CHAMPIONS ANNOUNCED FOR PRESTIGIOUS BEACON PRIZE 2005/6
Today, 16 charity heroes have been named as the 2005/6 winners of the annual Beacon Prize. Now in its third year, the Prize has come to be known as the ‘Nobel Prize of the charity world’, a phrase first coined by Chancellor Gordon Brown at the inaugural Prize Ceremony in 2003.
Joining the ranks of previous Prize winners such as Sir Bob Geldof, Jamie Oliver and environmentalist Zac Goldsmith, the 2005/6 recipients were chosen for their exceptional philanthropic contributions, through the giving of their time, money and skills in order to benefit specific charitable causes. Selected by an independent group of six judges headed by Beacon Chair, Martyn Lewis CBE, the winners were selected from more than 300 nominations received from across the UK.
Among the 2005/6 winners are Paul and Diana Lamplugh, who have been recognised by Beacon for their work for the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, created after the disappearance of their daughter in 1986, with the aim of establishing greater awareness of personal safety whilst addressing the issues of violence and aggression in society at large; The Big Issue Founder, John Bird, for his dedication to the support of the homeless and Vivien Duffield, philanthropist and arts patron who through the Clore Foundation has pledged more than £11 million to charitable causes.
Also included in the line-up of winners are the ‘Angel of Nagpur’, Leah Pattison, whose life has been devoted to working with leprosy sufferers in central India; holocaust counsellor Helen Bamber, who for nearly sixty years has worked in the care and support of victims of torture, and Rita Patel, the Leicester-based community builder, who works for the support and integration of the Asian communities in the East Midlands.
Beacon Chairman Martyn Lewis notes: We are thrilled to have such a diverse and accomplished group of winners for the 2005/6 Beacon Prize. Each in their own way exemplifies the Beacon goal of encouraging others to give of their own resources, be it through time, money or skills, in order to benefit charitable causesâ€.
The Prize Ceremony will take place in November 2006, when the winners will be inaugurated as Beacon Fellows, a community of Beacon Prize winners who together, champion charitable causes across the globe and nurture a wider culture of giving in the UK. At the ceremony, the overall Beacon Prize winner will also be announced, and he or she will receive £30,000 to donate to a charitable cause of his or her choice.
-Ends-
For further information on the Beacon Prize, winners’ biographies and photos of the 2005/6 award recipients or on The Beacon Fellowship Charitable Trust contact Victoria Walsh on 020 7861 8568 or email
vw****@be************.uk
or Fintan Nicholls on 0207 203 8295 or email
fi*************@be**************.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.