Our annual Charity Golf Day this year was held 23rd May at the Royal Automobile Club Epsom, on their magnificent Old Course. The weather was wonderful, and the course was in excellent condition, so a great day’s golf was enjoyed by all, with every shot being reviewed at the 19th hole!

A view of the superb Old Course, with one of the golfers in full swing!

The Lightmongers Charitable Trust makes financial donations to a range of charities that support people with sensory impairment of either sight or hearing, where good lighting has a positive impact for the individuals effected. The funds raised from this year’s Golf Day will be donated to our two affiliated schools: New College Worcester for blind students and Mary Hare School for deaf students. Later this year they will update us on how the funds raised have been used to support their students.

The Awards Dinner was held in the evening with all the golfers plus other guests attending, following which Liveryman James Hill who had organised the golf tournament announced the winning teams:

Overall winners with a score of 94 points were the Lutron team:

Team members: Colin George, Ryan Pitcher, Dan Grant and Carlo Moriano being presented with their prizes by the Master, Jamie Berry.

2nd with a score of 90 points was the RAC Club team:

Team members Giles Le Manquais, John Otten, Chris Greenaway and Peter Le Manquais with the Master, Jamie Berry.

3rd with a score of 87 was the W.G. Wiggington team:

Team members Paul Keyland, Alastair McFarlane, Alex Mitchell and Mike Parker with the Master, Jamie Berry.

The winner of the longest drive (6th hole) was Phil Cross and the winner of the nearest the pin (13th hole) was Callum Petrie:

Callum Petrie and Phil Cross, both from the Trilux team, with the Master, Jamie Berry.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Some prestigious items, generously donated, went under the auctioneer’s (Greg Jarvis of Electrical Testing) hammer, raising £900, which together with raffle prize draw and the Par 3 challenge during the afternoons golf, boosted the fund-raising on the day to close to £2000. The full amount raised through our Charity Golf Day will be finalised and reported on in the coming weeks.

The Master Lightmonger, Jamie Berry, thanked all the golfers of the 13 teams that took part, and their Companies, for their support to the event and the charitable causes mentioned at the beginning of this article; that support is very much appreciated.

He also thanked those that had provided sponsorship of the event in various ways: Electrical Testing Ltd for sponsoring the golf prizes, organising the tournament and providing an auction prize, London Irish Rugby Club and Junior Warden Tony Ginman for providing auction prizes and members who donated raffle prizes including Senior Warden Peter McVeigh, Past Master Steve Thomas, Liveryman Norman Emery and other anonymous donors.

Peter Robson of Mary Hare School, who joined the event to represent our affiliated Schools, thanked everyone for their generous support of the Schools. He gave a brief update on how Mary Hare was progressing generally and how the funds from the 2022 Charity Golf had been used to improve facilities for the students. He emphasised how appreciative both Schools were of their link with the Lightmongers and the opportunities for their students that resulted from it, as well as the financial support.

The Master, Jamie Berry, closed the formal part of the evening by expressing the appreciation of everyone for those individuals who had been instrumental in ensuring the success of the Golf Day; James Hill and Greg Jarvis for organising the tournament itself, Liveryman Peter Le Manquais for promoting the event to the teams and our Clerk, Mark Houghton, and Assistant Clerk, Abbie Jones, for the administration support of the event.

The provisional date to reserve in your diary for next year’s Lightmongers Charity Golf Day is 28th May 2024

If you are interested in joining the Lightmongers, or donating to the Lightmongers charity, please in the first instance, contact the Clerk, Mark Houghton, via email clerk@lightmongers.co.uk