Bramall Park Golf Club donates over £3,000 to Open Arms charity

Matt Phillips with former captain Bramall Park Roger Souter and Simon Wheatley
Matt Phillips with former captain Bramall Park Roger Souter and Simon Wheatley

Former Bramall Park Golf Club captain Roger Souter marked the end of his tenure by presenting a cheque for £3,380 to Open Arms International after a year of fundraising.

It is customary for both the men’s and ladies’ captains at Bramall Park to choose a charity to benefit from fundraising during their year in office and to lead a programme of money-raising activities.

Open Arms International was founded in November 2003 in order to meet the immediate needs of orphaned and abandoned children in Eldoret, Kenya, who were suffering from a wide variety of life-threatening diseases.

Throughout the year Roger and club professional  Craig Daggitt played matches against members with winners and losers paying different sums into the charity pot.

There were a series of Captain’s Week competitions where entry fees all went to the charity and new member Stuart Cosgrove organised a series of fashion shows at Angela Beer in Bramhall, which contributed £1,600 to the final total.

Roger said: “My friend and fellow club member Simon Wheatley, who has been out to visit Eldoret, requested that this charity be the recipient of our funds this year and it has been a pleasure to be involved.

“The total raised has exceeded all expectations and we are delighted to be doing our small bit for such worthy work. My thanks to so many fellow golfers and to friends at Angela Beer who made such a great contribution.”

In the last 14 years the project has made astonishing progress in providing Christian-based support in self-sufficiency for the villagers of Eldoret.

With access to medical and dental care, life skills and vocational training and a real education via the Open Arms Academy the work of the charity has changed lives.

Matt Phillips, the local co-ordinator for Open Arms, said the donation would go towards work during the next trip out to Eldoret in the summer.

“We have an amazing group of over 50 people going from this area this year – doctors, nurses, opticians, musicians, teachers, construction engineers and businessmen and women.

“They are all giving of their time, money and expertise to serve the communities of Eldoret and also Mosoriot in Kenya.

“We will be staging a medical camp, educational activities and vocational training.

“This money will go towards funding our ongoing work and projects that help serve the local community on a daily basis and we are incredibly grateful for the fantastic final amount raised by Bramall Park.”

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