Charities to receive bulk of ITV's premium rate service repayments

Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has advised ITV on distributing the money that the broadcaster promised to reimburse following the premium rate phone-in competition scandals last year.

The vast majority of the £7.8 million of revenue involved is being donated to charity now that the reimbursement process has closed and all the forms from members of the public have been processed.

CAF says that it has helped ITV to follow its principal guiding objective of reaching into "as many UK communities and touch as many individual lives as possible" to help tackle significant current needs and issues.

CAF advised ITV by suggesting a range of charities with a national footprint and strong presence in local communities and smaller, regionally based charities. ITV's Executive team chose charities from this list and the beneficiaries will be contacted shortly.

ITV announced in October 2007 that it would be reimbursing viewers who had been affected by the premium rate service problems highlighted in a report by auditors Deloitte.

www.cafonline.org/grants