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Beacon Awards

Beacon awards for philanthropy

The Beacon Awards were previously awarded to philanthropists who had made outstanding contributions.  Beacon no longer gives out awards. We now celebrate philanthropy by communicating the incredible achievements of all philanthropists. The awards were given from 2003 – 2017. The previous awards winners are below.

2017 Winners

Alexander Hoare

Dame Kelly Holmes

Tom Ilube

Martin Lewis OBE

Jonathan Ruffer DL

Dr Kim Tan

James Thomas

Dame Vivienne Westwood & Cool Earth

Helen Wilde & Peter Wilde

2015 Winners

Suzanne Biegel

Jamie Carragher

Graham Clempson and Pilotlight

Ben Drew aka Plan B

David Harding and Claudia Harding

Lord Harris and Lady Harris DBE DL

Bill Holroyd CBE DL

Sir Peter Lampl OBE

Jonathan Moulds

Trevor Pears CMG

Jack Petchey CBE

Sir Peter Vardy DL and Lady Margaret Vardy

Sir Ian Wood CBE and Lady Helen Wood

2013 Winners

Harris Bokhari

Richard Bradbury CBE

Angila Chadha

Carol Colburn Grigor CBE

Stephen Dawson OBE

Lloyd Dorfman CBE

Nick Ferguson CBE and Jane Ferguson

Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett

Paul Marshall

Jack Morris OBE
Gordon Morrison

Michael Norton OBE

Kavita Oberoi

Marcelle Speller OBE

2011/12 Young Philanthropy Syndicate Founders (Michael Harris, Adam Pike, Sam Cohen, Alex Dwek, Alex Gardner, Paul Gorrie, Niccolo Manzoni, Jack Prevezer, Conor Quinn)

Four special awards were made by board of judges to the following, commended for demonstrating the highest standards of philanthropy in the UK today:

Sir Vernon Ellis
Harvey McGrath
J.K. Rowling OBE
John Stone

2010 Winners

Geordie Greig
Angus MacDonald OBE and Michie MacDonald
Dr James Partridge OBE
Sir Alec Reed CBE
Benita Refson OBE
Clive Staffford-Smith OBE
Jane Tewson CBE
John Timpson CBE and Alex Timpson MBE
Robert Wilson
William S White

2008 Winners

Paul Barry-Walsh
Dr Peter Carey
Vikki George
Tom Henderson OBE
Kevin Jenkins OBE
Richard Moore

2007 Winners

Diana Barran MBE
Zacwan Chowdhury
Samendra Das
Michael de Giorgio
Gill Donovan
Duncan Goose
Janet Hannay
Claire Hicks MBE
Sir Torquil Norman
Heather Reynolds
Michale Spencer
Jane Winter

2006 Winners

Helen Bamber OBE
John Bird MBE
Rev William Broad
Dame Vivien Duffield
Paul Hardie
Okezie Kerryanne Jacobsen
Paul Lamplugh
The late Diana Lamplugh
Claire Mackintosh
Kate McVeigh
Matthew Orr
Rita Patel
Leah Pattison
John Vanier
Benamin Wells
Michael Wood

2005 Winner

Zulfi Hussain

2004 Winners

Dr Mohammed Amran
Jake Bonsall
The late Major Richard Carr-Gomm OBE
Ann Cotton OBE
Bruce Crowther
Francesca D’Arcy
Niall Fitzduff
Sir Bob Geldof
Prof Peter Guthrie OBE
Dennis Humble
Dr Frederick Mulder CBE
Jamie Oliver MBE
Rosalind Portman
The late John Profumo CBE
Sigrid Rausing
Sir David Rowe-Beddoe
The late Dr Mora Scott MBE
Brigadier Peter Stewart-Richardson MBE
John Studzinski CBE

2003 Winners

Baron Amir Bhatia OBE
David Constantine MBE
Martin Fisher
Sarah Francis
The late Sir Paul Getty
Zac Goldsmith
Sir Tom Hunter
Jason Maude
Alexander McLean
Nick Moon
The late Prof David Morley CBE
Niall Quinn MBE
Dame Stephanie Shirley
Carol Wiggins

Beacon now celebrates philanthropy through our dedicated ‘Stories’ section.

Read stories

‘We support writers and artists to ensure a rich cultural heritage for future generations’

Philanthropists Sam and Rosie Berwick support emerging writers from under-represented low-income backgrounds via an early careers bursary programme.

David Clarke: Why I enlisted 12 strangers to give away £100k of my inheritance

David Clarke spent a lot of time thinking about wealth inequality in his work as a political researcher. So when he inherited from his late mother he wanted to give it away to good causes – but why should he have the power to decide where it goes? Surely it would be better to put it to the people…

Baba-Jallah Epega: ‘I’d be a much richer man but a much less happy man if I wasn’t giving’

Baba-Jallah Epega is a Nigerian-born British-educated entrepreneur and philanthropist. He established The Richard Coker Foundation in memory of his late cousin who had sickle cell disease. His work for the foundation is hard ‘but utterly joyous’ says Baba.

John Bothamley CBE: ‘People with money should share it around; I used to be rich’

The Four Acre Trust closed in March this year after making more than £40 million in grants, primarily to children’s charities. Its founder John Bothamley explains why he decided to spend down.

Laura Trevelyan: “I hope my apology and reparations for my family’s slave-owning past will set an example.”

Laura Trevelyan was a long-serving BBC journalist and news anchor when she found out some of her ancestors had been slave owners. The discovery would take her on a journey to Grenada and propel her from journalist to philanthropist and advocate.

David Forbes Nixon: “Follow your passion. Your philanthropy has got to be relevant to you.”

When fund manager David Forbes-Nixon’s son Charlie was born with learning and physical disabilties, he was inspired to ensure that young people with learning disabilities and/or autism could access high quality education and long-term employment.