Golf day putts charity fairway past £100k
A golf day set up to support a great cause has smashed its £100,000 charity target.
The Washington based charity Niemann-Pick UK (NPUK) helps to ease suffering from an incurable condition which mainly affects children. Niemann-Pick disease is a rare, life-limiting condition.
The charity had already reached £96,000 and had a fairway to go past the magical £100,000 mark.
However, they made it with the golf day at Ramside Hall.
The total figure is yet to be finalised, but organisers expect it to be around £8,000 which would easily take it past the target.
It was the 15th time the annual tournament had been held.
A total of 86 golfers made up 21 teams, each team paying £250 to enter.
Each hole was sponsored, with car dealers Pulm an offering aV W Polo Active 95 PS to the first golfer to hit a hole-inone at the 15th.
No one quite managed that, although it has happened in the past. The tournament itself was won by car dealers SG Petch.
NPUK’s chief executive, Toni Mathieson, is originally from Sunderland and became involved with the charity afterlosing her three children to Niemann-Pick disease type C.
Her brother-in-law, Craig Mathieson, was one of the organisers of the golf day and competed himself for the Black Horse, finishing a respectable sixth. However, the day at Ramside was all about the charity.
Craig said: “We’ve managed to get past our £100,000 target which is just fantastic.
“I think it’s a great milestone to have reached. It was also a great day with beautiful weather.
"Everybody has a great day. But the most important thing is that the charity benefited and got some great exposure too.
“Many thanks go to Pullman and to Ramside for hosting it. But I really just want to thank everybody who helped .”
In August NPUK announced it was developing a short animated film called Invisible Manners, to tell the stories of families and patients they support who suffer from Niemann Pick Disease.
The project is backed by Lord of the Rings actor Billy Boyd, Royle Family star Ralf Little and comedian Isy Suttie.
Anyone wishing to contribute or find out more about the charity should visit www. npuk.org/niemann-pick-disease.