MORE than £1 million is up for grabs with the public encouraged to nominate Dorset-based charities for a slice of the pie.

Benefact Group is for the fourth consecutive year, running their Movement for Good Awards. Since the initiative began in 2019 more than 7,000 Dorset residents have nominated causes they care about with a total of £15,000 being awarded in grants to charities across the county.

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Amelia’s Rainbow, Mars Trust and Butterfly Conservation were among those to receive the award last year after gaining overwhelming public backing.

500 charities from the United Kingdom will receive a grant of £1,000 in the first phase with a further 120 grants made available in December. An extra £500,000 in larger grants will be released later this year with more details to come.

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Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive of Benefact Group, said: “We’re delighted to announce the launch of Benefact Group’s Movement for Good Awards for the fourth year running. We were thrilled to receive so many nominations from the public last year and this year we are encouraging even more people to nominate a good cause they love.

"Benefact Group, formerly named Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, is the fourth largest corporate donor in the UK and is keen to give even more. Owned by a charity, all of its available profits go to good causes, and the more the group grows, the more the group can give. As a company whose purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, charitable giving is at the heart of what we do. Our Movement for Good Awards will continue to help charities change lives for the better and we know that for many charities, £1,000 can make a real difference.”

Anyone can nominate a registered charity though the form on the Movement for Good website and, whilst winners are drawn at random, the more times a charity is nominated the more chance it has of being pulled out of the hat.

The first 250 winners will be announced this month. To nominate a charity of your choice head to www.movementforgood.com.