HOOP’s top five charitable celebrities

When the rich and famous aren’t signing autographs and enjoying the life of luxury, many lend their voice and sizeable clout to humanitarian causes. At HOOP, we think the best celebrities understand that it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. So in this week’s blog, HOOPster Catherine gives her definitive list of celebrities famed for supporting good causes.

Angelina Jolie 

Angelina Jolie, is more than just an on-screen heroine. After filming for Tomb Raider in Cambodia back in 2001, the Hollywood A-lister says her eyes were opened to worldwide humanitarian issues. She has since volunteered in more than 20 countries, contributed towards over 29 different charities, and is a goodwill ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency UK (UNHCR). When taking part in humanitarian missions, Jolie is even known to share the working and living conditions of other volunteers in the field.

Elton John

It seems like British pop legend, Sir Elton John, is as good at helping others as he is at writing chart-topping hits. Year after year, he’s one of the biggest donators of personal wealth of any celebrity. After losing several friends to Aids, he also set up the Elton John Aids Foundation in 1992, which has raised more than $125 million to date. His glitzy annual ball and regular fundraisers attract the world’s biggest stars and raise huge sums of money for the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Emma Watson

Since graduating from the set of Harry Potter, Emma Watson has become a leading advocate for gender equality and was named the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador in 2014. As well as being at the forefront of the UN ‘He For She’ campaign, the British movie star has helped launch the ‘IMPACT 10X10X10’ initiative that lobbies governments, corporations and universities to become more influential as advocates for women’s empowerment.

Richard Branson

The man who launched the first and only space tourism company has given away a massive $29 billion in his lifetime to different causes and charities. He has pledged a further 50% of his $3 billion wealth, and has committed $3 billion to the reduction of global warming over the next 10 years. He is also an advocate of the ‘Global Zero campaign’ for the elimination of nuclear weapons, and in 2014 joined WildAid for the ‘Say No’ campaign, aiming to bring public awareness to the issues of animal poaching and trafficking.

JK Rowling

The author behind the Harry Potter series was the first celebrity to knock herself off the billionaires list in 2012 by giving an estimated $160 million away to charity, including $10 million to charities supporting those with multiple sclerosis. In November 2013, Rowling handed over all earnings from the sale of “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”, totalling nearly £19 million. She is also president of the charity Gingerbread, which supports single parents, and has raised over $15.7 million by writing books for BBC Comic Relief.