Posted on 24th June 2010
Several leading figures from the world of philanthropy and the wider civil society sector have been honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2010, published on 12th June.
Peter Harrison received a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for charitable services through the Peter Harrison Foundation. On the sale of his IT business Chernikeeff in October 2000, Peter and his family gifted £30m as a capital endowment to the Foundation, which distributes around £1m each year to support education and sport for disabled and disadvantaged people.
Co-founders of The Waterloo Foundation, Heather and David Stevens, were also awarded CBEs, Heather for charitable services and David for services to the insurance industry and to charity. They are two of the founding managers of the Cardiff-based Admiral insurance business. In 2007 they set up the Waterloo Foundation with a donation of half their shareholding in the company. According to the Sunday Times Giving List, the couple gave the equivalent of 87% of their remaining £115m wealth. Based in Cardiff, the Foundation aims to make annual grants of around £4m a year in four core areas: world development, the environment, child development, and projects in Wales.
Venture capitalist Stephen Dawson was granted an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to the voluntary sector. Stephen co-founded Impetus Trust and was a founder trustee of the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA). He is also co-founder and chairman of Jacana Venture Partnership, which aims to tackle poverty in Africa by helping build a venture capital industry. Dawson told Philanthropy UK, says, “It is great to have this recognition for Impetus and the work we’ve been doing over the last seven years. It’s been very satisfying to see venture philanthropy take hold in the UK, and to be able to play a role in helping more disadvantaged people here to get the education and jobs they need to escape poverty.”
In the wider arena, Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) since 1994, received a knighthood in recognition of his work on behalf of the voluntary and community sector. Etherington described the knighthood as an “unexpected honour” and one that demonstrated recognition of the importance of civil society.
