CHESHIRE has been named among the most caring places in the UK, according to country’s leading charitable giving initiative, the Movement for Good Awards.

Residents in Cheshire have shown their love for charitable causes, submitting nearly 58,400 nominations to the annual awards of the last five years, which amounts to 5.5 percent of the area’s total population.

This placed the area 5th in the overall list.

The Movement for Good Awards from the Benefact Group is one of the biggest charitable giving initiatives in the UK. Since 2019 it has recorded more than 1.9million nominations from the British public, awarding more than £5million to thousands of great causes around the UK and Ireland.

Since the Movement for Good Awards started £110,000 has been awarded to 58 different charities in Cheshire.

The city of Bristol took the crown as the most caring in the UK, with 40,000 nominations, equalling 8.3 percent of the population. Leafy Gloucestershire comes in a close second with 74,000 nominations, equalling 8.2 percent of the population. The Isle of Wight with its pretty seaside towns and quintessentially British attractions comes in third place with 9,300 nominations (7.2 percent of the population), while popular surf spot Cornwall follows in fourth, with 31, 000 nominations totalling 5.6 percent of the population.

Chester-based ACET (Aids Care and Education Trust) has benefited from donations as part of the awards. Gareth Cheeseman says: “Support from the Benefact Group’s Movement for Good Awards has allowed ACET UK to empower thousands of children and young people to improve their self-esteem, mental well-being and relationships. Thank you to the people of Cheshire for showing your amazing support by nominating so many great local charities.”

Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive of Benefact Group, says: “Since we launched the Movement for Good Awards in 2019 it’s been our ambition to donate critical funding to as many charities as we can by asking the public to tell us about the causes they care about the most. Thanks to the overwhelming public response it’s allowed the awards to thrive and grow, helping charities to change lives in local communities for the better.

“Every nomination counts but it’s heartwarming to see there are places where people go above and beyond to help the causes they care about most. A big thank you to the top five most caring places and in particular the people of Bristol for showing so much support for good causes. Your efforts are helping to ensure local charities receive vital funding which in turn means they can continue their important work in supporting the community.

“Thanks to all its supporters, Benefact Group has donated over £200million to charitable causes since 2014 and last year was recognised as the third biggest corporate giver in the UK1. We are striving to reach £250million in donations by 2025 and invite people to join the movement by nominating a charity, or by using our family of financial services companies who donate their available profits to good causes.”

Now in its sixth year the Movement for Good Awards is giving away another £1million and is calling on people to put forward the charities they care about the most to receive a donation. To nominate a charity, simply visit www.movementforgood.com.