Tom Farmer, the founder of the UK-based car mechanics Kwik-Fit, has been awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. Sir Tom...

Tom Farmer, the founder of the UK-based car mechanics Kwik-Fit, has been awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. Sir Tom, with other leading philanthropists including the billionaire racehorse owner the Aga Khan, accepted the philanthropy world's equivalent of the Nobel Prize at a ceremony in the Scottish Parliament. Sir Tom was praised for the aid he provided to war-torn Kosovo and also for the many community projects for young people which the Farmer Foundation supports in Scotland. A devout Roman Catholic, Sir Tom donates large sums to Catholic charities. Sir Tom was among six recipients at the ceremony. The Aga Khan, who is worth in excess of $10 billion, was also recognised for his extensive work in the Middle East and Africa, conducted by one of the largest private organisations in the world. Also honoured in the parliament was Agnes Gund, chair of the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Cadbury chocolate family and the Hewlett and Packard families. The ceremony was the first time the event, inaugurated in 2001 and held every two years, had taken place outside the US. The awards, which recognise individuals who have donated their private wealth for the public good, were named after philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, whose family emigrated to the US from a life of poverty in Scotland in 1848. After becoming the world's richest man by 1901, he eventually gave away the equivalent of nearly $15 billion after making his fortune in iron and steel, establishing a family of worldwide foundations.