It’s been a few months or since our last Newsletter in August, halfway through our golfing season.  At the time, I said we were looking to present a minimum of 31 Coaches this year.  Well, I’m pleased to say we’ve done better than that and, by the end of 2023, we will have raised more than last year in money terms, in fact, enough to have purchased 37 Coaches!

We knew it was going to prove another difficult year with the cost of Sunshine Coaches increasing by the best part of 30%.  But, hey, the last four years have all been difficult for one reason or another whether due to Covid, the economy and, currently, a shortage of parts in the motor trade.  Still, to quote the old saying, ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’ and thanks to the extraordinary support and generosity of our members, Variety Golf has forged ahead through all these difficult times.

All of you deserve thanks.  As our immediate past Captain, Steve, said wisely at Walton Heath “You all have money, there are lots of things you could do with it, but you choose to give it to us”

That says it all, really.  Yes, I know we all love playing golf and relish the unique camaraderie we enjoy, but, beyond all that, is what we do for the children.  We’ve had some lovely speeches lately from the schools who have received a Sunshine Coach, not least from the young man at the New Zealand Club who – lest we should be in any doubt – reminded us just how important our Coaches are to the schools we support.  This really matters.  And there are fewer charities doing it.

On the golfing front, we have had some fun playing on great courses, mainly in excellent weather.  From Captain’s Day at Sandy Lodge, the Sunshine Classic at Woburn, the Bruce Forsyth Trophy at Wentworth, a fantastic two days on the Kent coast, the famous Rugby Legends at Loch Lomond (another big record raising a huge £500,000 on it own), Steve’s memorable Footballers Classic at Walton Heath, and many others in between, it’s been a fabulous year with record attendances – who else regularly turns out 88 players for a society day?  Oh, and the forthcoming Christmas Lunch for which we have already sold more tickets than last year but can still sell a few more!

I would particularly like to thank our Captain, John Conteh, who has excelled in the role for a second time (the last being twenty years ago)!  John, you are a real ‘gent’ – it’s been a real pleasure working with you and we have all enjoyed your excellent company.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Hilton and, in the meantime, do enjoy Christmas and the New Year.

On Wednesday, October 11th we were at Ashridge Golf Club near Berkhamsted.  This was a new venue for us and we were delighted that everybody really enjoyed this real hidden gem!  In fact, it has already been booked in June for our 2024 schedule!

The scoring was very close with Joe Sydee winning the best gross score and Tom Webb taking the best nett.  The winning team was Paul Boyle, Dan Sims, Jonathan Hill & Bill Hill with 89 points.

On September 12^th we were at the magnificent West Hill for our Annual Guests Day, kindly sponsored by Ian Watson & Anthony Trafford. Thank you so much, gentlemen!

The scoring was good all round but, with an emphatic score of 97 points, Bernie Flockhart, David Redfearn, Steve Cross and Fred Ennis were triumphant winning by 6 points!

Before we teed off we presented another Sunshine Coach to the Manor Green College based in Crawley, Sussex, sponsored by all our members through our general fundraising over the months.

In the evening Adger Brown did a superb job with the Auction, as did our ‘The Magic Man’, David Redfearn, who was completely mind boggling as always.

On 16^th and 17^th of August we held our Variety Golf Links Trophy at Princes at Sandwich, Kent which has Royal St Georges and Royal Cinque Ports as next-door neighbours. We were absolutely blessed with amazing weather for both rounds. With an enjoyable overnight stay at The Lodge Hotel at Princes, and a Dinner hosted by comedian Mike Osman {who also raised some money for us in the Auction) a thoroughly good time was had by all.

The event was played in team format over the two rounds combined.  The winning team was: Paul Walsh, Tony Negal, Dickon Bowden and Andy Wilding with 164 points over the two rounds.

On Thursday, October 26^th, we were at Walton Heath for our Inaugural Steve Coppell Trophy and what an amazing day we had.

The forecast wasn’t looking great but the rain stopped and the sun came out just in time for us to tee off and we had a glorious day at one of the finest courses in the country and Walton Heath really hosted us so well, the course was in superb condition and the lunch was even better!

After golf, we had an emotional double coach presentation. The first coach was the 26^th Variety Sunshine Coach that David Welsh from JOIE Baby has now presented and alongside Lady Forsyth (pic below), David presented his coach in his JOIE colours to the ‘Taylor Made Dreams Charity who enable children with life limiting illnesses to achieve their dreams and this Sunshine Coach will I’m sure be a huge part of that.

The second coach was presented by one of our longest standing members Alan Robinson who amazingly presented his 32nd Variety Sunshine Coach to a Special Needs School located close to Alan in nearby Sidcup to The Marlborough School. Both Alan & Steve Coppell went to visit the school the week before and it really made a huge impact on both of them emotionally and I have attached Steve Coppell’s speech, please do listen, amazing words by Steve as always.

We then went in for lunch, which was incredible as it always is at Walton Heath, and Ian Irving did a great job raising funds in the Live Auction and then was then followed by a superb 1,2,3 game by our host Steve Coppell, with some very interesting Q&A’s about Steve Coppell’s career and also with Alan Robinson about our 1990 Variety Golf Captain Sir Bobby Charlton. Just over £21,000 was raised on the day alongside 2 more Sunshine Coaches on the road!

Huge thanks to of course our host Steve Coppell, event sponsor Nick Edwards, Sunshine Coach Sponsors David Welsh & Alan Robinson.

The team scores were very close for the top 4-5 places but the winners raced ahead and were the perfect winners to a perfect day with our host and sponsor taking the trophy. Well done Steve Coppell and Nick Edwards our event sponsor, please see the leaderboard below:

1st – 93 Points = Steve Coppell, Nick Edwards, Paul Eagle, Callum Donaghy

2nd – 88 Points = Steve Sidwell, Mark Coppell, Patrick Bjorklund, Jim Roland

3rd – 88 Points = Steve Sedgley, Ian Watson, Peter Weston, Robin Stock

4th – 87 Points = Paul Jones, David Harris, Michael Dick, Martin Archer

5th – 87 Points = Gareth Barry, Dan Cook, Steve Macrossen, Russell Jacob

6th – 87 Points = Kipp Popert, Neil Bookatz, Laurence Saffer, Andy Wilding