Perhaps fittingly following the critical acclaim for a documentary about the legendary Brazilian F1 racing driver Ayrton Senna, the foundation that he created with his sister has been honoured by BNP Paribas.

The French banking group bestowed a Grand Prix prize – given to an individual or family for outstanding charitable work – to the foundation, created by Senna and his sister, Viviane Senna Da Silva Lalli, in 1994.

The three-times F1 champion was killed in a racing accident in 1994. Some 18 years on, he is still considered one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. A documentary film, Senna, has been recently made about his life on and off the racing track, and was awarded two UK BAFTA awards in February this year.

The Institute Ayrton Senna works with children and young adults in Brazil.

A second BNP Paribas prize for philanthropy, called the Jury's Special Prize, was awarded to Michael de Giorgio on behalf of the Greenhouse Charity. This honoured his work with children from underprivileged backgrounds, which helps them to find fulfilment in such fields as sport and the performing arts. This prize is given to a philanthropist who has initiated an original project and has been working to implement it. The project must have been running for at least three years but still be in its development phase or at a critical stage. The Special Prize confers €50,000 for the furtherance of the philanthropist’s project.

The prize-giving, held in Paris, was an opportunity for the French banking giant to showcase the work it does advising high net worth individuals and others in making philanthropic projects. The winners were chosen by an independent jury, made up of experts from the world of art, culture, business and NGOs, chaired by Suzanne Berger, Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.

In a report, BNP Paribas said that individual philanthropy has seen strong growth in recent years, with total private giving rising from €228 billion in 2009 to reach €329 billion in 2010 (source: the Hudson Institute 2012 Index of Global Philanthropy & Remittances).