GOLFERS are inviting people to pitch in to support a fund-raising challenge.
Pat Manning from Warwick and Bill Ryan from Leamington, are preparing to take on an epic 11-day golf challenge in aid of children’s charity Molly Ollys later this month.
The pair are hoping to raise more than £4,000 as they walk 160 miles between 35 golf courses, stopping to play a hole at each.
Starting and finishing at Leamington & County Golf Club, they will follow a route via golf clubs across three counties, including Warwick, Kenilworth, Stoneleigh, Coventry, Solihull, Stratford and more.
The challenge marks the first in a year of fund-raising for Molly Ollys at the Leamington & County Golf Club, at which both men are longstanding members.
Bill, who is current club captain, said: “I have been looking at a number of charities to support throughout my year as captain which was becoming a difficult decision as there are so many worthwhile causes.
“It became easier after meeting with the founder of Molly Olly Wishes who described to me the incredible work that they do for young children who are going through extremely difficult times.”
Pat, 59, and Bill, 62, are already clocking up the miles in preparation for the challenge, from March 14 which will see them cover an average of 15 miles a day, with clubs in tow.
Pat said: “We’ve done some fundraising but never staged anything quite like this before. We wanted to do something that’s not been done before but on a golfing theme. Playing 36 holes is a normal format in golf but I thought we could do it with a bit of a twist by making it an endurance test as well.
“The weather is predicted to pose the biggest potential problem. And, we’re hoping we don’t get any muscular injuries along the route. But whatever’s thrown at us we’ll get through it one way or another.”
Molly Ollys was established in 2011 following the death of Rachel and Tim Ollerenshaw’s eight-year-old daughter Molly from a rare kidney cancer.
The charity is well-known for its therapeutic toy lion, Olly The Brave, which has its own Hickman line and a detachable mane. The soft toy helps to explain and normalise the effects of chemotherapy. These form part of an Olly The Brave pack which includes a six-part book series.
Throughout the ten years that the charity has been running it has granted more than 2,500 wishes, supported more than 16,000 children, distributed more than 13,000 Olly The Brave books to over 70 hospitals and raised more than £3million.
Founder Rachel Ollerenshaw said: “Pat and Bill have certainly come up with a novel way to fund-raise and one that will definitely be a challenge. The support from Leamington Golf Club and the wider golfing community to enable this event has been great and big thanks to everyone involved at the clubs and those who have donated.
Visit www.mollyolly.co.uk for more details.
