OREANDA-NEWS. November 20, 2015. Benefacto is the latest winner of the Prime Minister’s Big Society Award for its work in providing volunteering opportunities for hundreds of people.

The community interest company is an innovative brokerage for booking employee volunteering. Nearly 11 million people in the UK are given paid time off to volunteer and Benefacto helps them find convenient, engaging projects to take advantage of it.

Its staff works with 35 London charities to provide volunteering opportunities which are really meaningful; makes it easy for volunteers to get involved and helps companies to build a culture of volunteering.

Benefacto have already helped over 1,500 volunteers from firms such as Accenture, AECOM and the FCA to give 2,667 days of valuable time to small charities – whether it’s providing vulnerable men with interview clothing and preparation at Suited & Booted, or helping the over-50s get to grips with IT skills at Hackney Silver Surfers.

Prime Minister David Cameron said:

It is fantastic that so many businesses now give their employees paid leave to volunteer their time and help the causes they support around the country. By bringing together companies looking for ways to make staff volunteering easy with charities that need their support, Benfacto helps even more people give something back to their local communities. I am delighted to recognise their work with a Big Society Award.

Linz Darlington, CEO and founder of Benefacto, said:

Benefacto is delighted to be recognised for our work promoting meaningful corporate volunteering. Our service has helped hundreds of talented professionals invest their skills in a wide range of charities across London; this award really emphasises the potential that effective partnerships between business and the third sector have for investing in our communities.

The Big Society Awards

The Big Society Awards were set up by the Prime Minister in November 2010 and were created to recognise and celebrate groups and organisations doing exceptional work in their community, going above and beyond to make things better for others.

Launching the awards, the Prime Minister said:

There are some amazing projects and remarkable voluntary work going on in towns and cities up and down the country, by all kinds of organisations from large enterprises to tiny grassroots schemes.

These awards are a chance to pay tribute to those making a valuable contribution to their community, the real champions of the Big Society, but perhaps more importantly, I hope they will motivate many others to take action, get involved and drive change in their area.