Sorry it’s taken me weeks to respond! So, how long have you got?
♢ Princes Trust (Palace 2 Palace bike ride was for this too & he’s an ambassador of PT!) The Prince’s Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people.
♢ London’s New End Primary School auctioned off a photo Benedict donated to them.
♢ Cards for Keeps - a celebrity charity auction run by Stampin’ Up! UK on behalf of children’s charity Coram.
♢ He supported the London Night Hike for Maggie’s Centres. Maggie’s offers free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer .
♢ He has supported and urged fans to donate to the MND charity. ALS/MND charities fund and promote global research into MND and provides support to people affected by Motor Neurone Disease.
♢ Donated a Spencer Hart suit to Annos Africa. UK based African children’s arts charity running educational arts projects in the Nairobi slums.
♢ Asked fans to donate to Myeloma UK one year for his birthday. Myeloma is a myeloma/multiple myeloma blood cancer disease
♢ Cool to be Kind - Benedict Cumberbatch knows it is Cool to be Kind to animals.
♢ Benedict hosted the Laureus Awards in 2014 & 2015. Laureus use the event to raise awareness and fundraise. The foundation is also partnered with the Prince’s Trust and aims to fund sports programs for disadvantaged kids.
♢ Was involved with Dramatic Need. Dramatic Need is a creative arts charity helping vulnerable children in Africa to build hope & self-belief in the face of conflict, trauma & hardship. Benedict also contributed to a fantastic Dramatic Need again in 2015.
♢ Went to the zoo with a fan with Cystic Fibrosis which was part of her ‘Make A Wish’.
♢ Drew a ‘Dove for Peace’ who help raise funds for children in war zones. They asked people to show their support and draw a dove in aid of UNICEF for exhibition & auction.
♢ He is a patron for Odd Arts. Odd Arts has worked with over 60,000 people, making safer communities and individuals. They are market leaders in issue and evidence based arts work within criminal justice and community settings.
♢ Signed a Deerstalker for St.Mungo’s. St Mungo’s is a charity registered in England to help homeless people.
♢ Urged his fans to donate to the late great Stephen’s Story who was suffering and sadly died of a incurable cancer.
♢ An auction went live after the High Life interview and photoshoot where they auctioned Benedict’s coat that he wore for the shoot. This was for Flying Start is a global charity partnership, British Airways and Comic Relief UK. The aim is to raise money to help children living incredibly tough lives in the UK and around the world.
♢ Attended a charity dinner gala with Prince William to celebrate the work of the Royal Marsden. He also attended the Met Gala which is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s Costume Institute in New York City.
♢ Reportedly brought food for beggars in Kuala Lumpur.
♢ Read at an event called “Letters Live” for The Reading Agency which raised over eleven thousand pounds for The Reading Agency.
♢ Fans had (somehow!) found out a t-shirt he had worn was bought at “The Henry Miller Memorial Library. Which is a public benefit, non-profit organization championing the literary, artistic and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist and Big Sur resident Henry Miller.
♢ Drew a self portrait to auction off for the Willow Foundation which is dedicated to bringing special days to the seriously ill who are between the ages 16 and 40 years of age and live in the United Kingdom.
♢ Benedict was just one of the guest presenters at the Gold Award Presentation in St. James’s Palace on 19 March. . The DofE is a leading youth Charity the DofE gives all young people aged 14-24 the chance to develop skills for life and work, fulfil their potential and have a brighter future.
♢ Benedict supported the drama training of upcoming actor Ben Eagle by donating items for auction at Bonhams, including an iconic, signed deerstalker.
♢ Benedict attended an event to celebrate five Los Angeles high school “stars” in recognition for their excellence in academic achievements, despite the overwhelming obstacles that stand in their way. This charity is called the Children’s Defence Fund.
♢ He attended a charity gala for The Park Theatre which raised over £100,000 to help build a new education floor at Park Theatre.
♢ Benedict read (& is honorary Vice President) for The Story of Christmas event which raises funds to support charitable projects that benefit homeless people and disadvantaged children in and around London. The Story of Christmas is supported by private and corporate benefactors, together with famous faces from the worlds of stage and screen who perform live.
♢ Benedict attended Elton John’s Aids Foundation Oscar party. EJAF is an international non-profit organisation funding direct patient care services and AIDS prevention education.
♢ Benedict was photographed for a Stand Up To Cancer campaign where he was asked to run as if he were about to save a life. Stand Up To Cancer is a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4. They actors involved were part of an exclusive short film and set of photographs shot by renowned photographer and film director, Greg Williams.
♢ He attended the 2004 Amnesty International Burlesque party which helped raise over £100,000 for human rights.
♢ Benedict & Martin took time out filming Sherlock in 2013 and 2015 to meet young people with cancer from the unit at University College London Hospital nearby.
♢ Benedict attended the Centrepoint Winter White gala. Centrepoint is the UK’s leading charity for homeless young people, supporting 16-25 years olds with housing, learning, health and life skills.
♢ He’s supporting Bowel Cancer UK who have been aiming to save lives and improve the quality of life for all those affected by bowel cancer.
♢ His nibs took a selfie for The Big C The Big C Challenge urges people to take on any challenge beginning with the letter C throughout September. The aim of the campaign is to challenge cancer.
♢ Benedict took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge in the summer of 2014 when the challenge went viral. An activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone’s head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
♢ Benedict took part in a skit for Red Nose Day, which debuted for the first time in America. Red Nose Day is a fantastic night of TV, with comedy and entertainment to inspire the nation to give generously.
♢ Benedict donated his famous sparkly Vuitton shoes to Small Steps Project which help children living on rubbish dumps globally.
♢ In 2014 Benedict attended the annual Young Patron’s Bright Young Things Gala which supports emerging artists at London’s National Theatre.
♢ Benedict was photographed by Jason Bell, who was commissioned by TK Maxx to shoot a variety of famous faces, including Liam Neeson, Kate Winslet and Jerry Hall, to celebrate ten years of its Give Up Clothes For Good campaign, which has raised more than £17 million for Cancer Research.
♢ Benedict joined a host of stars in calls to “Save Soho" from gentrification and also featured in their Save Soho video. The Save Soho campaign aims to protect performance arts venues in the area. Benedict is also seen sporting their pins at events.
♢ He’s a patron of Phoenix Cinema who will participate in an event there for their friends and community, as soon as his currently very full schedule allows. The programme of events and films on offer is curated by people who truly love and know cinema and is made possible by a charity that puts people before profit.
♢ Benedict helped design a Paddington Bear. The Paddington Trail helped to raise in the region of £950,000 for NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), ChildLine and Action Medical Research when the bears were sold at auction.
♢ Benedict and the cast of The Imitation Game signed posters for The Turing Trust to auction off. The Turing Trust is established by the nephew of Alan Turing and is a UK based sustainable development charity which makes people more employable by bringing transformative technologies to those that will otherwise miss out.
♢ He signed prints for photographer Ian Derry to auction off for Cure Leukaemia.
♢ The inspiring champ Stephen Sutton raised lots of money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, which helped him throughout his battle with colorectal cancer. Stephen’s campaign went viral in 2014 and broke all records on Just Giving. Benedict shared a photo via his bud James Rhodes urging people to donate to Stephen’s cause. RIP Stephen Sutton.
♢ Benedict and Sienna Miller filmed themselves doing Sohana’s EBtonguetwister challenge for the Sohana Research Fund which is helping to find effective treatment for Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa.
♢ Benedict donated some Gucci glasses, Modalu bag and a signed photo to #Boxathon who send boxes to people who fill it with things they can auction off to raise money for The Teenage Cancer Trust.
♢ Benedict donated another pair of shoes, this time Edward Green’s to Small Steps which helps children and famlies living on rubbish dumps.
♢ He signed a Yorick skull in auction for @barbicantrust.
♢ Benedict donated a pair of Gucci Sunglasses and designer bag for Boxman who donated the proceedings to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
♢ Signed a photo for African Children’s Fund which is a UK charity working to break down the barriers preventing African children leading happy & fulfilled lives.
♢ Another signed photograph went up for auction for photographer Ian Derry who was raising money for @CureLeukaemia.
♢ There was a celebrity auction in aid of Deafinitely Theatre in which Benedict sent a signed photo for them to auction. Deafinitely Theatre support bilingual theatre for deaf and hearing children.
♢ Benedict donated an Armani cardigan of his for Turn2us which is a national charity set up in 1897 to fight poverty in the UK.
♢ During Benedict’s 3 month run of Hamlet in 2015 Benedict appealed for Save The Children at the end of every performance which raised £150k. As well as that, he participated in a Save The Children video for the charity single raising money for Syrian refugees.
♢ Benedict featured in a video for ‘Save Our Human Rights’ supporting a campaign to stop the Government scrapping the Human Rights Act.
♢ For America’s first red Nose Day in 2015. Benedict was one of many celebrities to help out with a video skit.
♢ A huge bear joined Benedict and Johnny Depp on The Graham Norton show in Nov 2015 which Benedict attacked live on the show. Johnny and Benedict signed the bear to be auctioned off for @GOSH. Great Ormond Street Hospital provides world class care to hundreds of children every day.
♢ Benedict donated a signed photo to auction off for the Holy Cross Catholic Primary School in East Cowes in the Isle of Wight.
♢ Benedict called up radio host Christian for Who’s Calling Christian who spent two weeks looking for celebrities to Call Christian for the chance to win £20,000 towards the charity of their choice (or £10,000 for their charity and £10,000 for a listener who told them to call up). After selecting the top 5 calls and then opening up the vote to you to choose the best. Unfortunately Benedict didn’t get to the final Top 5.
(That’s not including all the other charities and gala’s he attends and help that we don’t know about).
~ Additionally Benedict joined the Stop the War Coalition protest against the Iraq War in London, addressed activists in a protest sponsored by the Trade Union Congress in Westminster on the suggested risks to the arts due to spending cuts expected in the Spending Review, was a signatory of Amnesty International’s letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron campaigning for women’s rights in Afghanistan for International Women’s Day 2014, protested against what he perceived were civil liberties violations by the UK Government, publicly backed “Hacked Off”, officiated the same-sex marriage of his friends and was among a group of actors to voice their opposition to the Government’s plans to scrap the Human Rights Act.
And every year for his birthday his ever growing fan base raise thousands to his chosen charities or charities they want to support. Perhaps the biggest, for example, Cumberbatchweb organises one. One year £10K for the Teenage Cancer Trust was raised, last year £15k for Myeloma UK and this year (as it stands currently) £6,163 to The Princes Trust. Not forgetting all the other fans raising large amounts for other charities throughout the year in his name.
♢♢ In 2015 Benedict was acknowledged in the Queen’s Birthday Honours with a CBE for his services to performing arts and services to charity. ♢♢
“Every good act is charity. A man’s true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.” - Moliere.
In the light of a seeming constant intrusion into his whereabouts and privacy, it would be a delight to make a few frenzied discussions on what he does to truly deflect his own fame for good. Take his lead & shine a light into a weary world.