Top 10: Elton John tops list of charitable stars

The 'Rocket Man' hitmaker charted highly on the Sunday Times newspaper's Charitable Giving list, having donated £26.8 million to good causes last year, mainly through his AIDS foundations in the UK and US.

'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling donated £10.3 million, mainly to her own Lumos Foundation - her own charity which aims to close down all child institutions and orphanages globally by 2015 - and the Volant Charitable Trust, which raises money to fund research into multiple sclerosis, which the writer's late mother suffered from.

David Beckham was the third most generous celebrity, having donated £5 million to children's charities, while he was closely followed by finance expert Martin Lewis.

Coldplay took fifth spot for donating £1.7 million, just ahead of Ringo Starr, who gave away £16 million, which was raised through an auction of Beatles memorabilia and donated to his own Lotus Foundation.

Chef Jamie Oliver was named seventh most generous star after donating £1.4 million towards his own charity, including the chef apprenticeship scheme he launched in 2002.

He was followed by golfers Rory McIlroy and Colin Montgomerie, who donated £1 million and £900,000 respectively with One Direction and Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor rounding out the list with their donations of £800,000.

Away from celebrities, the Sainsbury family topped the overall list for the third successive year.

The supermarket chain founders donated £220 million to charity, the equivalent of 40 per cent of their wealth.

Sunday Times' Charitable Giving List: Top 10 Celebrity Donors:

1. Elton John - £26.8m 

2. J.K. Rowling - £10.3m

3. David Beckham - £5.0m

4. Martin Lewis - £2.5m

5. Coldplay - £1.7m

6. Ringo Starr - £1.6m

7. Jamie Oliver - £1.4m

8. Rory McIlroy - £1.0m

9. Colin Montgomerie - £0.9m

10 = One Direction - £0.8m

10 = Brian May/ Roger Taylor - £0.8m