Ashbourne Golf Club Ladies Raise Money For RAFT
Ashbourne Golf Club, Derbyshire’s Oldest and Friendliest Club, was 125 years old in 2011. Being asked to serve as Ladies’ Captain in any year is an honour, being asked to take on this role in the Club’s 125th Anniversary Year is not just an honour, it’s very, very special.
Each year the Ladies’ Captain is allowed to choose a charity and the proceeds from three of the ladies’ competitions are donated to that charity. I first heard of RAFT through my job and was inspired by the research and work that they did, so it was the obvious choice for my charity. Laura Ripley at RAFT provided publicity material that enabled me to prepare display boards for the competition days, in order to give the lady members an insight into the work they would be supporting. No-one had heard of RAFT but they were really interested in the displays and the newsletters and I hope that in some small way it has raised awareness of the charity.
Some of the Ashbourne Golf Club ladies with their trophies at the Club’s Prize Presentation Night in November.
The Ladies’ Section at Ashbourne is small but they are a great group of ladies, friendly and supportive but enthusiastic and competitive golfers. One of the main events of the year is Ladies’ Captain’s Day, which was held in mid-July. It should have been a glorious day but instead it was cold and miserable. The morning round was played in persistent rain but the ladies turned out in force to support the event. In the afternoon there was another 9-hole competition. The ladies came in for lunch, put on dry clothes and went out again. The rain not only continued, it increased to a downpour. Conditions were really miserable but they all played again – I was so proud of them. After two soakings they showered and changed into their finery for the remainder of the day and the prize presentations. Despite the weather it was a wonderful day; one that I will remember for a very long time.
At Christmas we have a Charity Christmas Tree in the Ladies’ locker room. The idea is that you place one card on the tree and make a donation instead of sending individual cards to other lady members. In addition to the three golf competitions, we decided to make RAFT the chosen charity for the Christmas Tree, so we were able to provide another small donation. In total, during 2011, the lady members of Ashbourne Golf Club raised £638 for RAFT. Not a huge amount perhaps, but we know that every little helps and we hope it will assist in funding your exceptional work.
Jean Bissell
Ladies’ Captain 2011
Ashbourne Golf Club
