10 Jun 2022 Community

Woodsome Hall Golf Club Captains raise over £23,000 for The Kirkwood

Woodsome Hall Golf Club captains, Sue Gillespie and Richard Hirst, complete their captaincy following a successful year of fundraising for their chosen charity of the year – The Kirkwood. 
 

Sue Gillespie and Richard Hirst teed off their fundraising efforts back in April 2021, with two events; including a men’s and ladies’ Captain's Day. These events got the pair’s fundraising efforts off to a flying start, raising an incredible £1,895.30 for The Kirkwood. The Joint Captains’ JustGiving page swelled the coffers further still, bringing in another £941.27! 

A year of fundraising activities followed, with Sue and Richard organising a whole host of events, including a ‘100 holes in 24 hours’ challenge.  

Taking on the 24-hour challenge was a personal highlight for Richard. He explains: “The 100 Holes in 24 hours challenge was good. I’m a keen golfer and it was quite the challenge, playing golf during the night but thankfully we used specialist balls that are designed to glow in the dark once struck – which makes it a little easier to track them across the greens!” 

Last September, the captains held Woodsome Hall’s flagship charity event – their annual Charity Golf Day in aid of The Kirkwood. 

Sponsored by world-famours car manufacturer, Rolls Royce, 15 teams of four competed for glory at the event. After a hard-fought day on the fairways, the winners were: Rob Kelly, Craig Waddington, Amer Latif and Paddy Carmody. 

Following their rounds, the golfers were treated to a pre-dinner talk from former Huddersfield Town footballer, Steve Kindon. Trick-shot maestro, Jeremy Dale, then took over proceedings, giving an entertaining speech, before turning his hand to the role of auctioneer. The star item in a packed auction was a Tanzanite and Diamond cluster ring, kindly donated by John Butterfield of JPB Jewellery. Rolls Royce offered a factory tour and a chauffeured car for a day, and Richard Butterfield generously agreed to pilot a lucky couple in his WW2 biplane! Lots of amazing golfing experiences were also up for grabs thanks to the generosity of Richard Haygarth, Steve Kindon, Maria Cullen and Jeremy Dale. With bidding fierce for every lot, the auction proved a huge success, helping to boost the team’s fundraising efforts even further. 

The year was rounded off with lots of social events, including an Afternoon Tea Get Together, Christmas Wreath making (a particular favourite of Sue’s), a Christmas raffle and a Ladies’ Christmas Special. Accompanied by very generous donations throughout the year, including from the Ron Carbutt Trust and the Michael Woodhead Charitable Trust, Sue and Richard’s captaincies proved to be a hole in one for The Kirkwood.  
 
Sue Gillespie, Woodsome Ladies’ Captain 2021-22 said: “I would like to extend a special thanks to Julia Owen (The Kirkwood Community Fundraiser). She was a fantastic support throughout the events, helping to set up the JustGiving page, gathering prizes for the raffle hampers, and delivering them wonderfully presented, and wrapped by their dedicated volunteers.  

“Julia was a delight to work with, and the guests in attendance at our afternoon tea agreed, she made sure to visit each room and introduce herself, giving talks and having general chit chat also. Thank you, Julia, for all your hard work and attendance at our events.” 
 
Visiting Sue and Richard on Friday, 13th May, The Kirkwood’s Chief Executive, Michael Crowther, Fundraising Manager, Beverley Shaw, and Community Fundraiser Julia Owen, were delighted to be presented with a cheque from Woodsome Gold Club for an unbelievable £23,424.45! 
 
Michael said: “It was an honour to visit Woodsome Hall Golf Club, meet with Sue and Richard, and hear all about their fantastic year of fundraising during their captaincies. Their support, along with the supporters, family members and donors of Woodsome Hall Golf Club has been unbelievable.  

“The Kirkwood was founded by local people who believed that the community of Kirklees deserve the very best care. Sue and Richard have become a vital part of our movement, their fundraising efforts ensuring the people of Kirklees can access the care they need wherever they need it, whether that be in their own homes or on our In-Patient unit at Dalton.” 

 

On behalf of The Kirkwood, we’d like to say a huge thank you to Sue Gillespie and Richard Hirst, all the event organisers at Woodsome Hall Golf Club and everyone who has supported their efforts. We’d also like thank all the teams, bidders, buyers, and donors who helped to make the Charity Golf Day, and each of the other events over past year, such a huge success.