THE charity founded by the Scottish entrepreneur Tom Hunter has revealed the amount it will donate to Paddy McGuinness for his BBC Children In Need challenge.
On Wednesday the Hunter Foundation announced it would match the donations made by people towards McGuinness’s 300-mile five-day ultra-endurance challenge which will see him cycle from Wrexham in Wales to the finish line in Glasgow.
The charity, which manages Hunter’s philanthropy, confirmed it would match donations made from Wednesday morning up until McGuinness completes his challenge up to a value of £2 million.
A spokesperson for the Hunter Foundation said if they do reach £2m in donations the organisation will have given a total of around £7m to Children in Need.
51-year-old McGuinness is on day four of the challenge as he set off from Ecclefechan, Dumfries and Galloway, where he finished on Wednesday night.
The former host of Top Gear and Take Me Out is expected to stop off in Strathaven on Thursday night and will complete his challenge at the BBC’s Pacific Quay building in Glasgow on Friday.
When BBC Radio 2 announced last night that Hunter would be matching donations paid to McGuinness a flood of support came in from listeners.
One person said: “Oh Paddy, £10 donated, what a wonderful thing the Hunter Foundation are doing to go along with Paddy’s incredible efforts on his chopper.”
While another added: “Sir Tom’s pledge has sent me over the edge, I am in floods of tears, I have donated.”
Hunter (below) was revealed in October as the private citizen who paid for the repatriation of Alex Salmond's body from North Macedonia.
He and his wife Marion established The Hunter Foundation in 1998 with a £10m cheque as a tax management vehicle and cited Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie as an inspiration.
Hunter has donated money to Band Aid, University of Strathclyde, Comic Relief, the Alzheimer's Society, Make Poverty History, and the William J Clinton Foundation.
BBC Children In Need will air at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on November 15.
Anyone who wishes to donate can do so here.
