HRH the Prince of Wales will honour Sir Terence Conran, FCSD, Sir Peter Moores, CBE, DL, Mathew Prichard, CBE, DL, Sir Gerald Elliot and Lady Elliot, the Lady Rayne, and Dame Theresa Sackler with medals for arts’ philanthropy today.
   Sir Terence’s contribution includes giving £50 million to the Design Museum and its predecessor, the Boilerhouse, over the last 31 years, sponsoring the summer graduates’ show, serving as Provost of the Royal College of Art, and nurturing careers, including that of Thomas Heatherwick.
   In a release from the Design Museum praising Sir Terence, it is said that ‘Throughout his life, whether he is making it, selling it, teaching it or championing it, Sir Terence has simply been an evangelist for good design.’
   The Boilerhouse project in 1981 was initiated by Conran after being inspired by the Triennale in Milano. He was knighted two years later. The Boilerhouse was relaunched in 1989 as the Design Museum. It will have a new home soon at the old Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington, in a space three times larger than its present site. Sir Terence donated £7·5 million to the new premises, as well as the proceeds from the sale of the lease of the old building, valued at around £10 million.
   ‘It’s not just the money,’ says Vicky Richardson, design director at the British Council, in the same release. ‘It’s the support and encouragement he’s given to people he thinks are doing good things.’
   The awards today were determined by the Prince of Wales’ Art Cluster Group, among others. A final panel of artists decided the five recipients. The panel includes Sir Ronald Harwood (writer), Dame Monica Mason (the Royal Ballet director), Christopher Le Brun (artist), and Colin Tweedy (vice-president, Arts & Business).
   Full details of the honourees from 2008 to 2012 are available at www.artsandbusiness.org.uk.