Ten charities implementing life changing projects across London have been granted £244,100 as part of Benefact Group’s Movement for Good Awards.

The latest phase of the Movement for Good Awards has awarded over £480,000 to charities working across climate change and environment, education and skills, heritage and arts and rural and community sectors.

The charities set to benefit include the InterClimate Trust, The English Heritage Trust, The Black Swimming Association, Transaid Worldwide Services Ltd, Forum for the Future, The Historic England Foundation and more.

The Black Swimming Association ensures people of African, Caribbean and Asian heritage in the UK have equal access and a safe and quality experience in, on and around the water. The £40,000 funding they are set to receive will be used to inform and educate KS3 and 4 pupils about the potential for harm in and around water by increasing their knowledge and providing an environment where they can challenge behaviours, understand the pressures that they face, and co-create a set of learning resources that can look to get embedded into the school system.

Transaid Worldwide Services is a charity transforming lives through safe, available, and sustainable transport. They work with communities, partners, and governments to solve transport challenges throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The £10,000 award will enable Transaid to help save lives by ensuring Ghana’s professional road transport sector continues to grow in a safe and sustainable way. Working in partnership with local training institutions, Transaid will upskill local driver trainers in accordance with a newly developed HGV driver training standard, specifically designed by Transaid for Ghana.

The awards are designed to help charities make a real difference in their communities. More than 900 charities applied for the funding which is being put towards the advancement of education and skills, rural and community development, heritage, arts and culture, and climate change and environment. The winning projects were selected against four criteria: impact and effectiveness, sustainability, innovation, and care and compassion.

The Movement for Good Awards large grants provide charities with flexible funding that can be used within three years and for a blend of capital and running costs for their projects.

Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive of Benefact Group, said: “Benefact Group is a family of award-winning companies and the third largest corporate donor to charity in the UK. We are delighted to be able to announce another series of transformational grants and are grateful to all our supporters, including the customers of the trusted insurer, Ecclesiastical, and the boutique responsible and sustainable asset manager, EdenTree. On behalf of the new beneficiaries announced today, we offer them our sincere thanks – whether they realise it or not, they are transforming lives.

Benefact Group understands the importance of longer-term funding for charities, especially when trying to bring ambitious new ideas to life and get larger transformative projects off the ground. Through our large grants, we are actively championing innovation, giving charities the backing they need to propel their plans forward and turn creative ideas into practical solutions that benefit society. Owned by a charity ourselves, charitable giving is at the heart of what we do and all of our available profits go to good causes.”

Seren Jones, Black Swimming Association Co-Founder and Together We Can Teacher, said: “It is an absolute honour to receive funding from Movement for Good. Being safe in and around water is a right that we believe everyone should enjoy, regardless of race, geographic location, or background. With the help of Movement for Good, we aim to continue and sustain our ‘Together We Can’ initiative across the UK, to ensure that young people who were impacted by the disruption of COVID-19; who have little to no swimming ability; and who are at risk of expulsion are given the opportunity to be water safe.”

Caroline Barber, Chief Executive of Transaid Worldwide Services, said: “Transaid transforms lives through safe, available, and sustainable transport. We work with partners and governments to reduce death and injury on the roads through our professional driver training programmes. This Movement for Good grant will make a significant contribution to our road safety work in Ghana – we are very grateful to the Benefact Group for their support.”

Benefact Group has donated over £200million to charitable causes since 2014 and has been recognised as the third biggest corporate giver in the UK1. The organisation aims to reach £250million in donations by 2025.