The Big Give to give away £250,000 via businesses

Philanthropy website theBigGive.org.uk is giving UK businesses £250,000 to give to charities via the website during September.

Alec Reed CBE, millionaire and chairman of The Big Give, is giving £25 vouchers to 10,000 top UK businesses to promote the launch of Big Give Charity Vouchers. Each voucher can be donated to one of the 4,500 charities registered on the website directly via their page.

Charities can still register at no charge to be listed on the site and therefore be eligible to receive one or more of these vouchers.

Reed commented, "I hope my initial give-away will lead to millions of pounds reaching charities through corporate donations on The Big Give."

The quarter of a million pound giveaway is designed to encourage charities either to register or, for those already registered, to ensure their details are up-to-date to maximise their chance of attracting the attention.

The voucher scheme will be available for all companies to use after 1 September 2008. Reed hopes that businesses will use the Big Give Vouchers as an ethical alternative to client gifts.

www.thebiggive.org.uk