• Paul Philpott, President & CEO, Kia UK, receives GOMW and WOMAC Award for Fundraising

• Award decided by the Guild of Motoring Writers (GOMW) and Women on the Move Against Cancer (WOMAC) members

At the annual Guild of Motoring Writers awards dinner, which took place on Thursday 5 December at the Royal Automobile Club on Pall Mall, Paul Philpott, Kia UK's President & CEO was named winner of the GOMW & WOMAC Award for Fundraising, sponsored by Sims Images.

The award is decided by members of the GOMW and WOMAC, and is presented to an individual in recognition of their outstanding contribution to charity and fundraising; and their consistent commitment to supporting a wide variety of causes.

Over the past 18 years as President & CEO of Kia UK, Philpott has taken bold and meaningful actions to support an array of UK charities and causes, ensuring Kia UK's success has been shared with various charity partners and organisations, all with the aim of helping others.

Under Paul's guidance, Kia UK has supported a main charity partner every year since 2014, with a significant donation for every vehicle sold by Kia UK, amounting to almost £1,000,000 over the past decade to Kia's three charity partners. From 2014 to 2016 Kia UK partnered with Walton Charity, an organisation providing support for poverty, health and housing around Kia UK's HQ in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. From 2017 to 2021, the brand partnered with The Children's Trust, The UK's leading charity for supporting children with brain injury. Since 2022, Kia UK has partnered with the Surrey Wildlife Trust, a local charity dedicated to protecting nature reserves and environment in the region.

In April 2024, Philpott continued Kia's partnership with Surrey Wildlife Trust by a further year, and committed Kia UK to becoming the Founding Partner of the charity's £1,000,000 'Save Surrey's Nature' Appeal.

In addition, Paul has also made significant contributions to specific automotive industry charities. Since 2007, Paul has ensured the Kia business has dedicated a donation per car sold to the Ben charity, whilst also supporting multiple other industry causes.

On a personal level, Paul has supported The Children's Trust for more than 25 years. In 2017, Paul ran the London Marathon, personally fundraising £37,000 to fully refurbish one of the Trust's specialist children's dormitories at Tadworth. The following year, Paul was joined by a team of eight colleagues to complete the London Marathon yet again; this time raising more than £50,000 as a team, these funds being used to install multiple covered wheelchair pathways in Tadworth, Surrey.

For more than a decade Paul has also provided financial support for underprivileged children in Sudan.