Beacon Awards for Philanthropy
c/o UK Community Foundations
12 Angel Gate, 320-326 City Road
London EC1V 2PT
0207 713 9326 (option 3)
www.beaconawards.org.uk
News release: EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 23 October 2014
Search for the UK’s Most Inspirational Philanthropists:
2015 Beacon Awards for Philanthropy Open for Nominations
London, 23 October 2014 – The Beacon Awards for Philanthropy has launched a search for the most
inspirational philanthropists in the UK. Nominations for the prestigious awards are now open and will
close on 5 December 2014.
To mark the launch of the 2015 awards, and to encourage nominations, Beacon is celebrating ten
inspirational philanthropists from cities around the UK, many little known, to kick start a debate about
how the UK has been shaped by philanthropy and who has left a ‘philanthropy footprint’ that still affects
society today. The full list is contained in the appendix below and can also be found on Beacon’s website.
Check the hashtag #philanthropyfootprint to see the conversation.
Beacon Awards are presented to those whose giving is creating a permanent legacy, like our list of
historical philanthropists, and whose giving will inspire others to give and contains useful lessons for
other philanthropists.
The main award is the Beacon Award for Philanthropy. In addition Beacon will also be presenting:
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Beacon Award for Outstanding Philanthropic Foundation
Beacon Award for an Outstanding Partnership Between a Philanthropist and a Charity
Beacon Award for City Philanthropy (sponsored by the City of London Corporation’s charity,
City Bridge Trust through its project City Philanthropy – A Wealth of Opportunity)
Beacon Award for Cultural Philanthropy
Beacon Award for Impact Investment
Previous winners of Beacon Awards include J.K. Rowling, Zac Goldsmith, Paul Marshall, Sir Ronald
Cohen, Dame Stephanie Shirley, Kavita Oberoi, Nick & Jane Ferguson, John & Alex Timpson.
Gay Huey Evans, Chairman of the Beacon Awards said: “The UK has a tradition of philanthropy to be
proud of – from George Cadbury, the chocolate heir who set up the Bourneville Village Trust in the 19th
Century, to Dame Cicely Saunders who laid the foundations of the modern day hospice movement in the
20th Century. The Beacon Awards honour the incredible men and women who are building on that
heritage in order to inspire others to give.”
The deadline for nominations is 1800 on Friday 5 December 2014. The Beacon Awards ceremony will
take place at the old City of London Boys School on 21 April 2015.
For full details of the categories, eligibility and criteria or to nominate someone for an award please visit
the Beacon website: www.beaconawards.org.uk
Media contact: Bridget Hargreave, bridget.hargreave@beaconawards.org.uk 07740 584 404
The Beacon Awards, which take place biennially, are supported by J.P. Morgan Private
Bank with additional support from the City of London Corporation’s charity, City Bridge
Trust and its project City Philanthropy – A Wealth of Opportunity, and Pears Foundation.
The awards are managed by UK Community Foundations.
Tracey Reddings, head of J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Management for the UK commented: “J.P.
Morgan Private Bank is delighted to sponsor the Beacon Awards 2015. Our firm has a proud history in
philanthropy through the work of our founding fathers, amongst them J.P. Morgan, George Peabody and
John D Rockefeller. Philanthropy continues to be at the core of our business through our corporate
foundation, and within the Private Bank our Philanthropy Centre team of experienced advisors is
dedicated to helping our clients to fine-tune strategy and fulfil charitable goals. We are excited to
celebrate and honour such an inspirational array of outstanding philanthropists in the UK, who continue
to encourage others on giving back through innovative solutions across a vast variety of causes.”
The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Fiona Woolf, said; “The City of London is a hive of
philanthropy where, for almost a millennium, its citizens, businesses and institutions have used their
wealth and resources for public benefit. This tradition continues today, with many shining examples of
wealth and resources being used to tackle some of society’s greatest challenges.
“I am particularly pleased that the City of London Corporation’s charity, the City Bridge Trust, is
sponsoring a special Beacon Award for City Philanthropy – and I know that the winners of this award and
others will indeed be a beacon of what is possible when time, talent and treasure are used for the greater
good.”
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For media enquiries, including interview requests, please contact Bridget Hargreave
(bridget.hargreave@beaconawards.org.uk/ 07740 584 404) or Mark Greer; CEO, Beacon Awards
(mgreer@ukcommunityfoundations.org / 0207 841 4383).
About the Beacon Awards
Since 2003 Beacon Awards have been made to over 100 people. In addition to the biennial awards
ceremony Beacon also runs a programme of roundtables and other smaller events that offer opportunities
for philanthropists to connect with each other in order to share best practice and learn about the best
philanthropic work in the UK today.
Since 2010 the Beacon Fellowship has been managed by UK Community Foundations. UK Community
Foundations’ national network of community foundations allows Beacon’s influence to spread throughout
the country to reach a diverse range of communities and philanthropists.
About J.P. Morgan Private Bank
With client assets of $992 billion, J.P. Morgan Private Bank is a global financial leader providing advice
and customised solutions to wealthy individuals and their families. The firm leverages its broad
capabilities in investing, tax and estate planning, family office management, philanthropy, credit, and
special advisory services to help our clients advance toward their own particular goals. For more than 160
years, the Private Bank’s comprehensive and integrated approach, commitment to innovation and
integrity, and focus on client service have made J.P. Morgan the advisor of choice to those of significant
wealth around the world.
About City Philanthropy – A Wealth of Opportunity
City Philanthropy – A Wealth of Opportunity is a three-year project funded by the City of London
Corporation's charity, City Bridge Trust. It aims to promote more effective philanthropy among City
professionals earlier in their careers and position the City of London as a leading global centre for
philanthropy. To find out more visit www.cityphilanthropy.org.uk
About Pears Foundation
Pears Foundation is a British family foundation rooted in Jewish values. Its work is concerned with
positive identity and citizenship. Support of the Beacon Awards complements other investments by the
foundation in strengthening and encouraging philanthropy, including the new philanthropy education
programme First Give, fund development work with the community foundations, and the annual
Foundation Giving Trends reports published by the Association of Charitable Foundations. For further
information, please visit www.pearsfoundation.org.uk
Appendix
Ten Great Philanthropists from the UK
Philanthropy footprints that shape society today
Barney Hughes 1808-1878 (Belfast)
A business baker & pioneer impact investee whose bread alleviated hunger on an industrial scale.
Bernard Hughes, known as Barney, was born in Armagh. Having worked as a bakers’ boy for 6 years, in 1826 he moved to
Belfast, and by 1870 he was recognised as the cities’ leading baker. As the owner of the largest baking enterprise in Ireland, his
production supplied Belfast’s poorer population with much-needed cheap bread, particularly during the harsh years of the Great
Famine. He gained the respect of the community as a municipal politician and industrial reformer, donating the ground for St
Peter's Cathedral.
Current legacy = http://www.stpeterscathedralbelfast.com/tour-the-cathedral/ St Peter’s Cathedral described as ‘a landmark
building’.
George Cadbury 1839 – 1922 (Birmingham)
The son of UK Chocolate and pioneer of responsible business practices
Everyone has heard of the Cadbury’s chocolate empire, but not many people know that the founder’s son, George Cadbury, was
an important philanthropist in the 19th Century. George was driven by a passion for social reform, wanting to create clean and
sanitary conditions for his workers in contrast to the usual grim reality of factories in Victorian Britain. He set new standards for
living and working conditions and gave the Bourneville estate to the Bourneville Village Trust in 1901. The trust was founded to
develop the local community and its surroundings.
Current legacy = https://www.bvt.org.uk/ One of the largest and most respected housing trusts in the country specialising in
development, communities, supported housing, special needs and urban regeneration.
Sir Montague Maurice Burton 1885 – 1952 (Leeds)
A clothing entrepreneur with an ethical edge
A Lithuanian immigrant who arrived at the turn of the last century with just £100 to his name, Montague founded Burton, one of
Britain's largest clothing shop chains. He started a tailoring business with the philanthropic aim of clothing the entire male
population in good quality, affordable suits. Having enforced an unusually short working day for the time (8 hours) on his
workforce, he was aware of the necessity to encourage wise and profitable use of spare time. He became one of the first to instil
formal welfare provisions in the workplace, introducing food halls, leisure groups and activities such as theatre, dance and sports
teams. He took an interest in maintaining the wellbeing of workers through health clinics and rest rooms.
Current legacy: Burton Clothing is still a successful British retailer. The company has worked closely with Cancer Research
UK funding research into bowel cancer, and has supported the Movember Prostate Charity Campaign with the 'Burton'
moustache, modelled on the moustache of their founder.
William Armstrong 1810 – 1900 (Newcastle)
A visionary engineer who saw that culture, history and identity matter
A visionary inventor, engineer, scientist and businessman, in his heyday William Armstrong employed over 25,000 people in the
manufacture of hydraulic cranes, ships and armaments. Armstrong built Newcastle’s Swing Bridge and the hydraulic mechanism
that operates London’s Tower Bridge. He also restored Bamburgh Castle on the Northumberland coast, often hailed as one of the
most magnificent English castles to survive. A prolific philanthropist, he founded Armstrong College (which evolved into
Newcastle University), and gave funds to the Royal Victoria Infirmary as well as the Hancock Museum of Natural History (now
the Great North Museum).
Current legacy = Bamburgh castle "Bamburgh - the finest castle anywhere in this country" Time Out Great Britain
http://www.bamburghcastle.com/visitors.php . The Great North museum http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/great-northmuseum.html
Edward Rushton 1756 – 1814 (Liverpool)
A poet who developed advocacy and campaigning as a tool for social change
A poet and slavery abolitionist, Edward Rushton was born in Liverpool in 1756. Whilst sailing with slave ships as
a young man he became outraged at the appalling conditions he witnessed. After an outbreak of the eye disease ophthalmia,
Edward took food and water to the slaves which resulted in him losing his sight in his left eye and the damage of the right. As
well as a career as an influential abolitionist, Rushton helped establish the Liverpool School for the Indigent Blind, the first of its
kind in Britain, in 1791.
Current legacy = Royal School for the Blind, Liverpool http://www.rsblind.com/history/4585610591
The Davies Sisters Gwendoline Davies (1882-1951) and Margaret Davies (1884-1963) (Cardiff)
Welsh sisters who pioneered music therapy and founded one of the UK's first music festivals
The Davies sisters, Gwendoline and Margaret, were two sisters from mid-Wales who will be remembered as dedicated patrons of
the arts, bequeathing one of the great British art collections of the 20th century to the National Museum of Wales. This is not all,
however. Serving as Red Cross volunteers in World War One, Gwendoline and Margaret were so moved by the suffering they
witnessed they resolved to establish an art and music centre for ex-soldiers. Gregynog Hall, the location of the centre, became the
home to the annual Gregynog Music Festival, attracting musical luminaries such as Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams and
Gustav Holst.
Current legacy = National Museum of Wales https://twitter.com/AmgueddfaCymru. Gregynog festival is still going today
http://www.gregynogfestival.org/
Dame Cicely Saunders 1918 – 2005 (Barnet)
A founder of the modern hospice who revolutionised care for the terminally ill
Dame Cicely Saunders founded the modern hospice and started a worldwide movement to provide compassionate care for the
terminally ill. A nurse, social worker and doctor, she developed what is now called palliative care, and the modern hospice. In
1948 she met a patient, David Tasma, a Polish-Jewish refugee who, having escaped from the Warsaw ghetto, was dying of
cancer. He bequeathed her £500. This donation helped germinate the idea which would become St Christopher's, founded in 1967
and the beginning of the hospice movement. In 2002, Saunders co-founded a new charity, Cicely Saunders International.
Current legacy = @CSI_KCL Cicely Saunders International http://www.cicelysaundersinternational.org/ St Christopher’s
Hospice http://www.stchristophers.org.uk/ National Council for Palliative Care http://www.ncpc.org.uk/
Edward Alleyn 1566–1626 (London)
A Shakespearean actor who created opportunities for others
http://www.dulwich.org.uk/oas-development/old-alleynians/alleyn-club-committee/charity-support
Born in Bishopsgate, London, Edward Alleyn became widely known as one of the most accomplished actors of Shakespeare’s
time. During his theatrical career he was the most famous of players, but is now little remembered. In his later life Alleyn turned
away from the stage and towards philanthropy, founding a school. Alleyn’s bequest established clear principles by which the
school should be governed, with an important attribute of the school being its favouring of ‘poor scholars’, so that children could
access education irrespective of wealth or social background. 3 foundation schools are still supported by his legacy: Alleyns,
James Alleyns and Dulwich College
Current legacy: the schools are very successful with strong philanthropic traditions upheld today, for
example Dulwich http://www.dulwich.org.uk/oas-development/old-alleynians/alleyn-club-committee/charity-support
William Alison 1790 – 1859 (Edinburgh)
A doctor who cured the establishment of its cruel indifference to poverty.
William Alison was an eminent Scottish physician who argued that poverty’s link to disease was to do with circumstance and not
sin. The ethos of the age dictated that poverty was due to indolence, and treatment should be withheld for the ‘healthy
impoverished’. A man who was ahead of his time, Alison campaigned for the government to take a more active role in alleviating
poverty, with his proposal of the Scottish Poor Law and his 1840 treatise Observations on the management of the poor. He lived
to see a noticeable shift towards his call for tolerance and compassion.
Current legacy = a key campaigner in changing social attitudes – early pioneer of what would become Welfare State and NHS
John Rylands 1801 – 1888 (Manchester)
A businessman whose gave locally and was concerned globally
The first multi-millionaire from Manchester, John Rylands owned the largest textile business in the UK,
combining his aptitude for business with a social conscience. In the Borough of Stretford, where he resided at
Longford Hall, he made considerable philanthropic donations to the town which included the founding of
orphanages, homes for the elderly and the donation of a Town Hall. His huge gifts of money to aid the poor of Italy earned him
the "Crown of Italy" honour from the Italian king, and his sizeable private book collection constituted the basis of the John
Rylands Library.
Current legacy = Part of the university of Manchester’s library http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rylands_Library . Longford
Hall is a Grade 2 listed building http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/5664