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Golf Foundation heralds London Welsh dragons who fought the ‘Beast’

The Golf Foundation has thanked the London Welsh Golf Society (LWGS) for braving the ‘Beast from the East’ to raise nearly £3,000 for Foundation related projects in Wales.

The Golf Foundation team was delighted when London Welsh chose to donate fundraising proceeds from its recent St David’s Day Golf Day to this charity which encourages young people from all backgrounds and abilities to enjoy the benefits of the sport, including learning the valuable life lessons of the game.

The event took place at The Berkshire Golf Club as part of ‘Wales Week in London’ in late February to mark St David’s Day. Eighteen teams of four players, all with an affinity to Wales and most living in the London area, made light of the snow and freezing temperatures and enjoyed a great golf day founded on fun, sportsmanship and camaraderie. The snow halted some teams before completion but a number of fourballs managed the full 18 holes, their efforts helping to raise £2,947.

Golf Foundation Head of Fundraising Vanessa Bell praised LWGS and organiser Richard Scott for the “huge generosity of all taking part, raising funds that will be of great benefit to projects in Wales to help young people”. The Foundation supports the work of Wales Golf, which will now invest the money raised, plus a further donation from the Foundation, in a number of deserving junior projects; the first two being schemes to help youngsters with learning difficulties and special educational needs in Conwy in North Wales and Newport in South Wales.

Richard Scott of London Welsh said: “We were delighted to be partnered by Wales Week in London in making the St David’s Day Golf Day a great success. Through our joint promotional efforts the golf day sold out in just over two weeks! The golf day will now become an annual event; part of Wales Week in London each year and so we look forward to another great day on the course next spring.”

This year the Golf Foundation wishes to make more golf clubs and golf societies aware of the benefits of supporting this charity’s HSBC Golf Roots programme which offers a first taste of golf to 500,000 extra young people each year, aiming to create 15,000 new regular players every year, while all of its initiatives are designed to enrich the sporting and learning experience of youngsters from different backgrounds and circumstances. To show their support, clubs can hold fundraising competitions and a fun par-3 ‘ETIQUS Charity Challenge.’

In more detail, the first two junior projects to benefit from the LWGS donation will be:

North Wales: Conwy Golf Club in partnership with the Conwy Youth Service is supporting pupils from Ysgol Gogarth (a day and residential special school in North Wales) and Ysgol Dyffry Conwy (an additional learning needs unit). This funding will allow the project to continue. Chris Gledhill, a project worker for the Conwy Youth Services, said the project has been “really successful and helped improve young people’s confidence in a different type of sport. They got on really well with the club coaches and enjoyed going each week. The coaches were excellent role models and were extremely patient with them all.”

South Wales: Parc Golf Club has linked up with Newport Live (specialists in inclusive sport) to deliver golf sessions for pupils from experts in SEN at Maes Ebbw School. Golf activity started recently and is going well!

Results of the LWGS St David’s Day Golf Day:
Winners: MCI Environmental (80 points 2 out of 4 scoring)
Longest drive: Ben James
Nearest the pin: Tim Jones

With thanks for raffle prize donations:
Conwy Golf Club
Aluk GB
Geoff Williams
Porters Park Golf Club
Tenby Golf Club
Robert Ryder PGA Pro
Ramada Cwrt Bleddyn Hotel & Spa
Maesdu Golf Club
Brynhill Golf Club
Radyr Golf Club
The Parc Golf Club
Derllys Court Golf Club
Bull Bay Golf Club
The Imperial Hotel, Llandudno
Lawray Architects

Other contributions:
Acorn Recruitment for the goody bag
Glyndwr Vineyard Llanblethian for contributing to the winners’ wine
Penderyn whisky and Spirits for a gift in the goody bag
Helistrat for the winners prizes

* See more on golf activity in Wales at www.walesgolf.org
* See also www.walesweek.london
* See also www.londonwelshgolf.com