Benjamin is a permanent staff member at 103 Royal Artillery, a Sergeant Major in charge of training a sub-unit in Liverpool. He has a close affinity with our charity, as he has an autistic son of his own, Jude, while his wife Hayley has attended our Rainbow Groups in the past and a course of Autism Workshops we ran for parents and carers. They have also both enjoyed attending our autism-friendly Santa’s Grotto each December with Jude, along with our recent Family Adventures events.

Benjamin’s partner in organising the event, Matt Fox, himself has strong ties to the charity Combat Stress, so the pair opted to raise funds for both charities. What’s more, Benjamin’s wife Hayley has already kicked off the fundraising effort, through golf-related scratch cards – raising £150 in advance of the event!

About the event
The golf day promises to be a wonderful occasion and a great opportunity for golfers of all levels to play at a quality course, enjoy a friendly competition, and give back to charity while having a fantastic day out. Benjamin explains in more detail what to expect:

“So, on the day we’ve done a block booking at Ellesmere Port Golf Course. We’ve booked a full English breakfast for everyone, with tea and coffee before teeing off. Expect everyone to arrive around 7.30am for the breakfast and registration.

“We’ll then give their times to tee off with a Stapleford competition [individual]. We welcome all golfers of any sort of standard. There’s going to be prizes for the winner, we’re going to have a hole dedicated to the longest drive, closest to the pin on a par three, and then ‘most golf’ is basically like a consolation prize for least points gathered on the day.

“We’re reaching out massively for companies to help us, with potentially an auction for high prizes and a raffle for any sort of other donations we’ve got.”

Benjamin explains that one famous Youtuber, a golfer named Rick Shiels, has kindly donated an auction prize of a Four Ball at his golf club – the Marriott Worsley Park. Also, Slater’s Menswear have donated £300 pounds’ worth of vouchers; and the Liverpool Royal Court have offered theatre tickets – so there should be a fantastic auction and raffle after the golf itself.

A fantastic course
In terms of the course itself, Benjamin is a keen golfer and he has played at Ellesmere Port before. He says: “The course is good, it’s a privately-owned golf course; it’s reasonably priced – that’s why we reached out to them. Well maintained course, family owned. It’s got a friendly atmosphere in there as well, I think the clubhouse has just been refurbished as well, so it’s really nice.”

The event is on Saturday, 29th August, at Ellesmere Port Golf Club (see photos of the course below), with tickets priced £45 per person, which includes a full English breakfast. Whether you’re an experienced amateur or a golfing newcomer, you’re very welcome to come and be a part of the day. We really hope to see you there.

If you’d like to join us for an unforgettable day of golfing, while helping two great causes, please click this link to grab your tickets for this very special Charity Golf Day.