Blackmoor Golf Club have raised more than £16,000 for the Macular Society, a charity which supports people and their families with Macular disease.
The sum of £16,092.57 was presented to Sharon Bullock from the Macular Society at the annual Captain’s Drive-in ceremony held to mark the outgoing of the current Captains and incoming of the new Club Officers on Saturday 14th October. 2023 Ladies’ Captain Fran Berriman made the presentation alongside, Immediate Past Club Captain Bill Stiles and Immediate Past Seniors Captain, Graeme Roberts.
More than 1.5 million people in the UK have Macular Disease, a degenerative sight loss condition which targets the macular at the back of the eye. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) which generally affects people over the age of 55 is the biggest cause of sight loss in the country, affecting more than 700,000 people.
The Macular Society was chosen by the 2023 Club Officers as their collective Club Charity because the society is very close to the heart of Fran Berriman whose mum has been living with AMD for over 16 years. “Now 86 and registered as partially sighted her world has become very small because of having Macular Disease.” Commented Fran: “Life can be difficult and confusing, and it is becoming increasingly harder for her to navigate due to her lack of vision.”
Over the past twelve months the 2023 Club Captains have been encouraging donations from members of the Club by holding a variety of events and fundraising initiatives.
Speaking about the donation, 2023 Ladies’ Captain Fran Berriman continued: “It has been wonderful to see the generosity of our members and to have all our fundraising initiatives so well supported throughout the year. We have held everything from raffles, craft, jam and chutney sales, competitions, fun golf days and social events all in support of the Macular Society. It gives me, Bill, and Graeme great pleasure to be able to present the cheque on behalf of everyone at the golf club and to say a very big thank you to all our members for their support.”
Delighted with the donation, the Macular Society regional fundraiser for the South East, Sam Amphlett, said: “On behalf of everyone at the Macular Society, we can’t thank Blackmoor Golf Club and its members enough for their incredible support in the last 12 months. The generosity and dedication shown to our cause through various events, to support people living with the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK, has been wonderful.”
“This incredible gesture will benefit so many people who live with macular disease, whether that’s helping fund our vital counselling or befriending services to ground-breaking research.”
Following the AGM of Blackmoor Golf Club the previous evening, Blackmoor welcomed the newly elected Club Officers at the annual Captain’s Drive-in ceremony.
2024 Club Captain Mark Cornwell drove off the first tee with a 196-yard centre right drive, a distance correctly guessed by Josh Salter in the Drive-in sweep, which raised money for the Rosemary Foundation, the newly appointed Club Charity.
Mark Cornwell was proceeded by 2024 Ladies’ Captain Sarah Mulhall, newly appointed Seniors Captain Nigel Jennings and 2024 Junior Captain, Evan Daniels.