Editing Floella Benjamin (section)

==Educational and charitable interests==
[[File:FloellaBenjamin.jpg|thumb|right|Benjamin in 2007|194x194px]]
Benjamin's interest in education has also seen her on the "4Rs Commission"<ref>{{cite web |author=Christian Moon |url=http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2008/04/did-lib-dem-4rs-commision-ever-issue.html |title=Liberal Democrats: The 4Rs Commission |publisher=Liberalengland.blogspot.com |date=16 April 2008 |access-date=29 May 2010}}</ref> established by the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] to look into primary education in the UK.

Benjamin is vice-president of [[Action for Children|NCH]] Action for Children and [[Barnardo's]], and was in the [[NSPCC]]'s Hall of Fame. She runs the [[London Marathon]] to raise funds for Barnardo's and the [[Sickle-cell disease|Sickle Cell Society]]. She was a [[Ambassador|cultural ambassador]] for the [[2012 Summer Olympics]]. In September 2011, she participated in the Great North Run.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mcelderrydaily.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=4286&fullsize=1 |title=McElderry Daily Gallery: Click image to close this window |access-date=2011-09-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402212813/http://mcelderrydaily.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=4286&fullsize=1 |archive-date=2 April 2012 }}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/tyne/hi/front_page/newsid_9002000/9002434.stm "In pictures: Great North Run 2010 celebrities"], BBC.co.uk; accessed 21 March 2014.</ref> She features in the BBCs [[CBeebies]] animation ''[[Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/03_march/19/cbeebies_mirabelle.shtml |title=Press Office: CBeebies press pack: Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies and the Sarah Jane Adventures. |publisher=BBC |date=19 March 2007 |access-date=29 May 2010}}</ref>

In July 2007 she spoke of what she saw as the low standard of children's television<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/26/ntv226.xml |title=Floella raises banner to save children's TV |newspaper=Telegraph |date=26 July 2007 |access-date=29 May 2010}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and in March 2013, she used a speech marking [[International Women's Day]] to warn of the impact on children of the availability of violent pornographic material online, saying that this was leading to the increasing [[objectification of women]].{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Benjamin is a patron of the charity Beating Bowel Cancer, having lost her mother to the disease in 2009.<ref>[http://www.beatingbowelcancer.org/news/jan2013/floella-benjamin-becomes-patron "Floella Benjamin becomes Patron of Beating Bowel Cancer"], Beating Bowel Cancer, 16 January 2013. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512204348/http://www.beatingbowelcancer.org/news/jan2013/floella-benjamin-becomes-patron |date=12 May 2013 }}, beatingbowelcancer.org.</ref>

In October 2015 in a talk to migrant children, Benjamin said that dropping her accent was the key to her success and that migrant pupils should do the same to avoid racism and bullying.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/ditch-your-accent-in-school-presenter-tells-migrant-pupils-smswcqghxkq |title=Ditch your accent in school, presenter tells migrant pupils |date=31 October 2015 |first=Nicola |last=Woolcock |newspaper=[[The Times]] |access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref>

In June 2022, as chair of the Windrush Commemoration Committee, she unveiled a statue in [[London Waterloo station|Waterloo Station]] by the sculptor [[Basil Watson]] as the [[National Windrush Monument]] in the presence of the [[Duke of Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Khomami |first1=Nadia |title=Windrush generation 'moved to tears' as monument unveiled in London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/22/windrush-basil-watson-monument-unveiled-waterloo-station-london |access-date=23 June 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=23 June 2022}}</ref>