About The Gooch Trust

The Gooch Charitable Trust was set up by Archie Gooch MBE and his daughter Heather Virgin in 1998.  

​

Archie Gooch wanted to show his appreciation to the town where he set up his business Gooch and Housego, with his partner Les Housego after the war in 1948.  He and Les had been evacuated from London to work at Standard Telephones and Cables, as key workers, manufacturing crystals for the war effort.  There he met his wife Nancy and settled in Ilminster. He set up Gooch and Housego and became a respected and active member of the community.

 

Gooch and Housego grew rapidly and was eventually floated on the AIM stock market. At this point Archie decided that he wanted to give something back to the community that had supported him and so, with the help of his daughter, set up The Gooch Charitable Trust (Ilminster).