Gold Medal founder pledges fortune to children’s charities
The founder of Gold Medal Travel, multi-millionaire Ken Townsley, has pledged to give the majority of his fortune to charity.
Margaret Ingram, who runs his charitable Kentown Wizard Foundation in his home town of Blackpool, told the Blackpool Gazette that £100 million has been earmarked to help children with life-limiting or terminal illnesses in perpetuity.
Two charities to benefit so far include a children’s hospice, which will be given £75,000 a year to fund two nurses, and Donna’s Dreamhouse in Blackpool, which is being refurbished.
Kentown has also supported Operation Smile, giving £200,000 towards a medical mission to fix children’s cleft pallets in Somalia, and it has given £200,00 each to Make-A-Wish Foundation and Dreams Come True, and £20,000 to the Rainbow Trust, amongst others.
"Ken just lets us get on with it," said Ingham. "He does not really want to be involved in the day-to-day decision making process.
"The charities will be UK-based but it’s nice we are starting in Blackpool because Ken is Blackpool born and bred."
Townsley, 71, started working at Blackpool Airport as a baggage handler at the age of 15. He worked his way up to reservations manager and later joined British Eagle Airways until it shut down and he was made redundant in 1968.
He used his redundancy cash to set up Trident Travel, which later became Gold Medal, in Blackpool. Townsley is believed to have made around £87 million when the company was sold to Thomas Cook. He now lives in Florida but is a regular visitor to his home town.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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