Our History

The Kentown Wizard Foundation announces its collaboration with Together for Short Lives and Rainbow Trust on a community-focused children’s palliative care initiative in Northwest England covering Lancashire and South Cumbria. The Kentown Children’s Palliative Care programme is a new ground-breaking and transformative project to reach the growing numbers of children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. It is a programme with three key complementary elements: Nursing Care, Social Care and Information and Awareness, so families can easily access all the help and support they need in their local communities. The project will invest in building on established children’s palliative care and support services, strengthening coordination and avoiding duplication to make life easier for families.

The Kentown Wizard Foundation collaborates with Make-A-Wish UK and The Walt Disney Company to bring a first-of-its-kind Disney experience to the UK. Hundreds of wish families who have had their Disneyland Paris wish put on hold will now enjoy a magical Disney experience in the UK. Make-A-Wish along with The Walt Disney Company will transform the Elvetham Hotel in Hampshire into an “Enchanted Manor”, where youngsters and their families will meet their Disney favourites and take part in many exciting Disney activities including a magical breakfast with Mickey and friends, a chance to perfect their web-slinging skills with Spider-Man, a Toy Story carnival with Buzz and Woody, Jedi training, story time with Belle, or a meet and greet with Anna, Elsa and Olaf.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, The Kentown Wizard Foundation commits just over £1 Million to support charities through turbulent and uncertain times caused by the pandemic. 

The Kentown Wizard Foundation commits £1 million to Dreams Come True in order to extend the charity’s reach to seriously ill children and young people in areas of deprivation. Dreams Come True is a UK-based children’s charity working to enrich the lives of children and young people with serious and life-limiting conditions, ensuring that every child has an unforgettable experience, with long-lasting memories to share with families, loved ones and friends. The guiding principle of Dreams Come True is that the opportunity to have a dream fulfilled should be open to all. This grant will enable the charity to be a truly national organisation, with a regional structure and a local focus.

The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust is a Cheshire based charity who provide essential respite for children who are living with difficulties on a daily basis that most of us couldn’t comprehend. The Kentown Wizard Foundation is delighted to support the Children’s Adventure Farm with a grant of £460,000, spread over a 3 year period. This will fund staff salaries and in turn help to increase capacity and allow them to reach out to many more children with serious illness and disability.

Over The Wall is a national charity that for almost 20 years have provided free transformational residential camps across the UK for children living with serious health challenges. At The Kentown Wizard Foundation we are delighted to be able to support Over The Wall with their ambitious expansion plans with a grant of £860,000 over a 3 year period. The aim of this funding is to double the current number of campers attending Over The Wall camps across the UK.

The Kentown Wizard Foundation commits $5.3million to a five-year project with Operation Smile with an aim to eradicate the backlog of patients awaiting cleft surgery and to up-skill the Malawian healthcare system so that future children born with a cleft condition are given the safe, effective and timely treatment they deserve. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and it is estimated that 2,400 children and young adults are living with unrepaired cleft conditions. As many as 93% of children with unrepaired cleft conditions could die before their 20th birthday from malnourishment, infections or other associated complications.

The Kentown Wizard Foundation gifts £200,000 to Make-A-Wish UK to fund the wishes of children living in the North of the UK who wish to visit Disneyland Paris. Make-A-Wish UK creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. To them a child’s life should not be about illness, hospitals and diagnosis – it should be about wonder, joy and hope. The effects these wishes can have on a seriously ill child and their family are endless; from creating incredible memories, building confidence and bringing happiness, to providing respite from the daily struggles that come with a critical illness.

The Kentown Wizard Foundation announces its first grant which will be made to Brian House Children’s Hospice in founder Ken’s hometown of Blackpool. Brian House is a specialist unit within Trinity Hospice that supports more than 80 families on the Fylde coast of Lancashire. They specialise in respite, palliative and end-of-life care for children and young adults living with life-threatening conditions. A grant of £75,000 from the Foundation will fund the salaries of two Brian House nurses. These nurses will provide care for children and support for families allowing them the opportunity to experience times of relief and normality as they try to cope with the emotional, practical and financial implications of caring for a child whose life may be limited.

Kenneth Townsley launches The Kentown Wizard Foundation dedicated to having a positive and enduring impact on the lives of children and young adults with life-threatening conditions and serious disabilities.