THE charity founded by the Scottish entrepreneur Tom Hunter said it will match the donations made by people to Paddy McGuinness for his BBC Children In Need challenge.
TV presenter McGuinness is taking part in a five-day ultra-endurance challenge where he is cycling 300 miles from Wrexham in Wales to the finish line in Glasgow.
The former host of Top Gear and Take Me Out is on day three of the challenge where he is expected to finish in Ecclefechan, Dumfries and Galloway, for the night.
During the coverage of the charity feat, Radio 2 confirmed that Hunter’s charity the Hunter Foundation would match the donations made by anyone today.
It is unclear how long the charity will match the donations for.
The announcement on BBC Radio 2 said: “For every five [pounds] he will give five and for every 10 they will donate 10.”
A stream of supportive messages followed the news as 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 was revealed in October as the private citizen who paid for the repatriation of Alex Salmond's body from North Macedonia.
The flight was paid for personally by Hunter and not by The Hunter Foundation, which manages his philanthropy.
Hunter, who is estimated to be worth around £700 million, is a Scottish businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist born in New Cumnock in Ayrshire in 1961.
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.
He has donated money to Band Aid, University of Strathclyde, Comic Relief, the Alzheimer's Society, Make Poverty History, and the William J Clinton Foundation.
McGuinness, who hosts a Sunday morning show on BBC Radio 2, is undertaking the challenge on his dream childhood bike, the Raleigh Chopper.
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.
