Jack Petchey

Sir Jack Petchey CBE (born West Ham district 19 July 1925) is a businessman, now involved in many charitable enterprises.

He was brought up in the East End of London. During the second world war, he served in the Royal Navy, and used his Navy discharge pay to start a car hire and car sales business. This grew into a business empire worth - in mid-2007 - over half a billion pounds. Jack became known as the grandfather of timeshare, and ammased his fortune with various hardsell type marketing in UK and abroad. It was the resort in Albufeira, Portugal, where the real timeshare boom took place, right up to late 2000's, when the hole conglomerate of leisure businesses was sold. In 1969 he was involved with property development, becoming one of the most successful businessmen in Britain.

The Jack Petchey Foundation's flagship programme is its Achievement Award scheme - a reward and recognition initiative which enables schools and youth organisations to celebrate the achievements of their young people as well as receive additional funding. Almost 2,000 schools, colleges and youth organisations across London and Essex run the scheme, which contributes millions of pounds each year. Among the organisations on the scheme are sports, music and performing arts clubs, uniformed and disability groups, and youth clubs.

The Foundation also celebrates Adult Leaders who support young people and has funding available for educational visits and for young volunteers to carry out projects both in the UK and abroad.

On top of the central grant giving programmes, the Jack Petchey Foundation runs a number of partnership programmes including the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge, Step Into Dance, Panathlon, the London Schools Table Tennis Championships and the Anthony Nolan Register and Be a Lifesaver programme.

The Jack Petchey Foundation were also the central funding body of the Petchey Academy and the Petchey Centre for Entrepreneurship.

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