Kingsclere golf club raises over £5,000

Staff from Sandford Springs golf club run London marathon to boost charity funds

SENIOR staff at a Kingsclere golf club have boosted charity funds by well over £5,000, after taking part in the London Marathon.

Sandford Springs golf club raised £5,413 over six weeks in the run up to the 26.2 mile marathon on April 17, which the club's general manager, Andrew Wild, and director of golf, Neal Granville, took part in, achieving respective times of 4 hours 17 minutes and 4 hours 40 minutes, after slogging through a five month training programme.

Gordon and Ann Parris, founders of the Children with Special Needs charity (CWSNF), had agreed to match Sandford Springs' initial aim to raise £2,200 in marathon sponsorship for a wheelchair.

When the club exceeded this target, raising a total £3,213, the CWSNF promptly donated a further £2,200, bringing the overall total raised to £5,413.

On Tuesday, May 17, club president Dickie Davies and club captain Stewart Potts handed over a cheque of £5,413 to Claire Lloyd, fund manager for the North Hampshire Medical Fund, a local charity set up to pay for equipment that the National Health Service is unable to provide.

Ms Lloyd, said: “We're delighted that Sandford Springs and Children with Special Needs have chosen to raise money through 2011 London Marathon. Their donation from has meant that we will be able to buy two new Spica wheel chairs, which will be put to excellent use.”