Yesterday saw the 15th Annual Charity Golf day run by the Rotary Club of Elthorne Hillingdon. Being President, I got to pick the charity that we give all the proceeds to. I picked The Stroke Association – and this is why:
Every five minutes someone in the UK has a stroke. That’s an estimated 150,000 people per year. In the last 5 years we’ve lost two of our members to Strokes. 20 years ago my father suffered the first of several strokes that took away his independence and blighted the last 7 years of his life. Last year a 57 year old work colleague was struck down – he’s struggling to walk and to return to work.
33 intrepid teams of 3 made their way round the Batchworth Park course, taking their part in a modified Stableford competition. It has become something of a tradition for us to have many returning corporate entries, who rate our day as the best organised they attend, and this year was no exception. Tube & Bracket company teams toned down their outfits for the day – they claimed the ‘men in black’ were so dressed in deference to the Credit Crunch. The weather was a little unkind, sporadic rain showers though did not dampen the enthusiasm of the teams for the competition.
There were winners – individual winners, team winners, booby prize winners. But much more important than the winning was the atmosphere – everyone having a great time in the knowledge that the outcome would be a substantial donation to an extremely worthwhile cause. Who knows, today we might have provided somebody with a life more worth living as a result of help from The Stroke Association.
My thanks go to everyone in our club, their partners and their friends, who turned out, as they always do, to measure longest drives and nearest pins, direct around the course, provide drinks, provide the best Tombola (on which our takings will be matched by Barclays Bank, to a £750 limit), mark scorecards and all the other jobs that make our day slick and enjoyable. Thanks to Batchworth Park (MY golf club) and its members for allowing us to take over the course for the day. Thanks particularly to every team for their entry - without you there would be no Golf Day. But special thanks to Terry Ruby & Tom Marsh, not forgetting Robin Burrows, for the dedication and diligence that has made this event so successful for so many years. This year has been especially challenging because of the economic climate – I’m very proud of the enormous efforts they put in to fill the card today.
I’ll update this post when we know the final outcome for the charity – we’re hoping for £7,500+.
GREAT NEWS!! - OUR TOTAL IS MORE THAN £9,000!!
The one downside of being on this side of the day is that I didn’t get to play – kept hoping a team would turn up one short – had my clubs in the car boot just in case – but no such luck.
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