The top automotive golf day and gala event returns for its second year and welcomed a special VIP guest, Pudsy Bear!
On 20th October 2017, Charles Hurst hosted their annual Golf Invitational, this year in aid of BBC Children in Need at the prestigious Galgorm Castle Golf Club. Four balls consisting of staff, customers and sponsors made their way around the beautiful yet challenging course, with a few too many missed putts along the way. Players competed for a Hole in One, Longest Drive, Nearest the Pin, Best Individual Player and team prizes, whilst also enjoying hot dogs and refreshments to keep them going at the half way house. Charles Hurst were delighted to have Tee Up Video film our players on the course, the good and the bad shots, and produce the extremely entertaining video below, with only one hour of editing time to produce it. The video was an extreme success when played to guests at the dinner later in the evening.
To view the Tee Up Video click here
Guests were greeted to a champagne reception & canapés at the Castle courtesy of French Village, before moving into the stunning Ivory Pavilion for dinner for a delicious 3 course evening meal. Pudsey Bear table captains were then elected and those present were invited to enter into the running of “Drive for show and putt for dough”, for a chance to win a Supercar and Golf Experience Weekend.
The fundraising continued into the evening with a silent auction during the meal, where guests had the opportunity to bid for some incredible prizes that included a Christmas Shopping break in London, a cocktail masterclass for 12 guests and an All-Inclusive 5 Star holiday in Cancun, Mexico.
Paddy Sloan, Director of Grant Making and Policy from BBC Children in Need, introduced the speeches of the evening, which provided an insightful look at the life-changing projects the charity supports. There to explain how Paddy and the team had helped young people were representatives from local charity CanCan, who work to develop the social skills of children and young adults with learning disabilities.
“CanCan encouraged me to come out of my shell and make a life-long friend in Alice. We’ve been friends ever since”, said Lauren, a former member of the charity’s fun and friendship and buddy programme. Lauren was just 13 when she approached the charity and now, after 10 years, the inspiring individual has achieved her Level 1 and 2 in Childcare and is working alongside the team to connect young people with similar interests and build bonds amongst them.
We were fortunate to have a live performance from comedian Rodd Woodward who took centre stage and was a real highlight of the evening, before accompanying event organiser Leo Callow in hosting the Live Auction. This section of the evening was a great success, with large contributions from guests, winning prizes such as a holiday to Monaco, trip to London and luxury afternoon tea and most importantly, raising money for a very worthwhile cause.
A huge thank you to all of our fantastic sponsors who made the event such a success, including Used Cars NI, Lookers, Kaizen Print, Callow Event Management, Cool FM, Parr Group and many more.
