John Andrew, managing director of John Letters Golf and chairman of Direct Golf UK, has donated £4,000 to the Golf Foundation, the charity committed to the sporting and social development of young people through golf.
Some £3,000 of the donation will be spent on existing Golf Foundation initiatives that are seeing more than 700,000 youngsters each year enjoying a first golf experience. More and more of these children from different backgrounds and abilities are able to move from school golf to organised golf at clubs and driving ranges, thanks to the Golf Foundation’s work in support of the national golf partnerships.
The remaining £1,000 of the donation is being reserved for a project that is based at Huddersfield Driving Range. PGA professionals are working with primary and secondary children from the city in both the school setting and in follow-on coaching at the driving range. This scheme is also linked with golf clubs in the area, which will be welcoming children for taster sessions and lessons.
John Andrew recently invited Golf Foundation chief executive Mike Round to see the Huddersfield project for himself and presented Mike with a £4,000 cheque.
The project is important to John, as he himself is an AA standard PGA professional. He said, “We all have an obligation to grow the game and I feel the Golf Foundation does a great job here, which is why I selected the Foundation for our annual charity contribution.
“I met up with Mike at The Open and have since used the Foundation’s Junior Golf Passport and Tri-Golf at my academy in Huddersfield with great success. I urge all who make their living in golf not to forget that we have to invest in golf to ensure its longevity as a national game.”
Mike Round said, “We are delighted to receive John’s help for two reasons. First, as the leading golf charity we rely on financial contributions from the public and business community to maintain our momentum in making the game more accessible to all youngsters. Secondly, we look forward to helping John to develop this fantastic local project, clearly close to his heart, that will help hundreds of Huddersfield children to get into golf.”
Golf Foundation www.golf-foundation.org