Poulton golfers club together to raise £25,000 for Trinity Hospice

The Thatched House Golf Society, founded in 2000 at the Thatched House pub in Poulton, has raised funds for local charities since 2016 with annual golf trips abroad.

But during the pandemic, while travel restrictions remain in place, the society held its second "at-home" tournament at Poulton Golf Club earlier this month.

Some 48 teams played nine rounds of golf in pouring rain, before a cocktail evening with a raffle and blind auction, raking in £25,000 for Trinity Hospice.

Event organisers, dad-and-daughter team Sean Lynden and Megan Valentine-Lynden, also organised last year's first ever tournament at Poulton Golf Club, and wanted to do even better than their 2020 fundraising total of £16,200.

Sean, director at Blackpool Roofing, is a regular supporter of Trinity Hospice after his dad, Tommy Valentine, died there some 15 years ago.

“He always used to say it was like being in a hotel when he was at the hospice,” he said.

“He loved being at the hospice, and it holds such a special place in our hearts. We’ve always tried to do what we can for such an amazing place. To have raised so much really is overwhelming and it was quite emotional hearing from the hospice about how the money we raised will help local people who need hospice care.

"I don’t think there are many people living around here who hasn’t known a family which has needed Trinity, and it was so nice to see everyone pulling together to help.

“We will definitely try to do this every year from now on, and we’re even thinking about doing something at Christmas. We want to do anything we can to help this amazing charity."

Sean and Megan thanked all participants for their dedication to raising money for Trinity despite the weather, which saw a deluge of rain hit the green all day while the tournament took place.

They said: "The whole day was absolutely amazing. Everyone showed up despite the weather forecast – and some teams got absolutely drenched – and everyone got around the course. The weather really was horrific, but everyone was in such good spirits and really enjoyed themselves.

“Everyone was so generous; the teams paid to take part, then people were making donations on the night as well as taking part in the raffle and auction, the golf club kindly gave us the tee times for free and local companies sponsored the holes. It was just incredible.

“We didn’t raise as much as we’d have liked last year so we decided to have another go. We knew we could get more people involved, and we just felt like we knew a bit more about what we were doing."

Janet Atkins,Trinity’s corporate partnership manager, added: “Everyone involved on the day did such amazing work to raise this incredible amount of money. It really was a fantastic event, despite the weather, and the fact that people played through the rain is testament to the efforts of Sean, Megan and the team at the Thatched House Golf Society.

“This money will be used to help to provide the very best hospice care to all who need it across the Fylde coast and we are all so grateful to everyone involved in making this effect

the huge success it was."

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 for your first month. Try us today by clicking here .​