UK Parents Decide Santa’s Celebrity Nice List

David Beckham hailed as UK’s Kindest Celebrity by Parents

Survey of 1400 parents by pre-school show Clangers reveals the celebs they feel are setting the best example for kids with their kindness, making Santa’s nice list just in time for Christmas 2016

A survey conducted ahead of Christmas, the time of year known for giving, has revealed the celebrities that have made Santa’s nice list – the stars that UK parents feel are setting the best example for their kids through their kind acts – and David Beckham has topped the list.

A study of 1400 parents of 2-6 year olds asked which celebrities they perceived as being the kindest, with the list including the likes of Eddie Izzard, Mary Berry, and J.K Rowling.

Top of Santa’s nice list according to UK parents is David Beckham, who over the past 10 years has played a crucial role in UNICEF’s work to save and improve the lives of children. In 2015 David donated £5 million to charity.

A spokesman for pre-school show Clangers, which commissioned the survey as part of its #ClangersForKindness campaign, comments: “It’s really important that kids see kindness in the world. In our research, we found that 56% of parents teach their children kindness by undertaking kind acts themselves, so it’s great to have this reinforced by people in the public eye undertaking acts of kindness and setting a wonderful example.”

Closely following David Beckham at number two was Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who is a vocal supporter of a number of charities, and in 2000 founded the Volant Charitable Trust, which raises money to combat social poverty, and provide aid to children and single parent families. She’s also donated £10 million to charity.

Third on the list was This Morning’s Holly Willoughby, who is a patron of children’s hospice charity Together For Short Lives, and is involved in the campaign for Children’s Hospice Week every year. She also fronts ITV’s Text Santa appeal at Christmas, which donates to Age UK, Barnardo’s, BeatBullying, British Heart Foundation, CLIC Sargent and Help the Hospices. Her This Morning co-presenter Philip Schofield was at number seven.

Number four was I’m A Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here Presenters Ant and Dec, who are patrons, ambassadors or supporters of 14 children’s charities, including the Make A Wish Foundation, which the show is currently raising money for via the phone-in votes.

At number five was Great British Bake Off’s Mary Berry, who is a patron of Child Bereavement UK, a charity with which she has a personal affinity with having lost her teenage son William in 1989.

Another celeb that featured was popstar Ellie Goulding, who over the past couple of years has spent her Christmas Eve volunteering at a homeless shelter, as well as performing at many charity events. Also featuring on the list were comedian and political activist Eddie Izzard, who completed 27 marathons in 2016 for Sport Relief, and Beauty and The Beast actress Emma Watson, who famously launched the United Nations’ #heforshe campaign.

Child development expert Dr Jacqueline Harding consulted with Clangers on the study: “ An important aspect of parents nurturing kindness in their children is to undertake kind tasks together. Our study found that 30% of parents are already doing this, and that families are always looking for new ways to instill kindness in their children.

“ It is lovely to see so many excellent examples of kindness from the celebrities that UK parents have chosen, and if families are inspired by celebrities kind acts, then that is fantastic.”