Philanthropist pledges €1.5bn to charities

SCOTLAND’s richest man has pledged to donate £1 billion (€1.5bn) to charity.

Tom Hunter plans to give the money to good causes in Britain and developing countries during his lifetime through his charitable foundation, his spokesman said.

The entrepreneur and philanthropist said: “There is more great wealth in fewer hands today than ever before in history. My own personal belief is that with great wealth comes great responsibility. Therefore you’ve got to take care of these things if wealth creation is still going to be seen as a positive force by the rest of the population.”

He added: “We’ve got all the material, goals have all been settled some time ago. So now the philanthropy is the real motivator to continue to make money.”

His spokesman, Ewan Hunter, said: “Over the course of his life he intends to invest £1bn into his foundation for the common good before he slips off this mortal coil.”

Mr Hunter said projects to benefit will include poverty alleviation in Africa, education and training projects across Britain, and leadership development initiatives.

In 1984 Mr Hunter, who started out by selling runners from the back of a van, founded the Sports Division chain of shops which he sold to JJB Sports in 1998.

Along with his wife Marion he set up the Hunter Foundation in 1998, which has donated millions to supporting development projects in Britain and abroad.

In April he was named in The Sunday Times Rich List as Scotland’s first homegrown billionaire.