On Friday, Dec 9th, we held our 2nd Variety Golf Christmas Lunch at the London Hilton Park Lane. It was a huge success and, as you will see from the pictures below, great fun was had by all!
We got off to a fine start by presenting Sunshine Coaches to two Special Needs Schools. One was sponsored by Glen Nash of D&G who ran our Silent Auction, and the second was actually sponsored by 27 individuals who had each donated £1,000 at last year’s Christmas Lunch.
Our President, Jimmy Tarbuck, kick-started the event with a warm welcome to over 500 attendees and – from one President to another – Donald Trump (Mike Osman) then made a sensational appearance!
Later, our 2022 Captain, Steve Coppell, said a few words and wished our incoming Captain, John Conteh MBE, luck for 2023. Steve has been a wonderful Captain this year and as well as playing in virtually all our events, drove up and down the country visiting all the Schools and the thousands of children to whom we presented a record 40 Sunshine Coaches. Thank You Steve.
Throughout the Lunch we enjoyed the music of the XS Showband, along with the several celebrities who performed for us including Bob The Cat Bevan (who ran Heads & Tails), Roy Walker, David Redfearn, Simon Brodkin, Robert Powell, Jess Conrad – and the superb Jonny Gould who conducted the Live Auction. As soon as the auction had finished, we had a very special announcement from one of our members, David Welsh from JOIE UK, who once again pledged £150,00 to cover the cost of five Sunshine Coaches in 2023. The Lunch ended with a touch of style and glamour when former Miss World, Lady Wilnelia Forsyth drew out the lucky winners in our raffle.
After 5-6 days of finalising the monies raised – which included a further hefty donation the following week – the total figure raised was £452,000. This is £32,000 more than last year and happily exceeded our expectations.
Huge thanks to you all – members and guests – for your kind donations in the Live Auction & Silent Auctions and to every single one of you who attended the Lunch and supported Variety Golf this year.
