In January, after not being able to play golf during lockdown, the Birdies and Beers Golf Society decided to bring their members together by holding their own virtual ‘John O’Groats to Lands End’ challenge to raise money for Havens Hospices after hearing that many of the charity’s fundraising events had been cancelled.

22 members took part by either exercising at home or in their local area as part of their daily exercise. After quickly beating their initial target, they decided to add an additional 800 mile target – the equivalent mileage between some of the best golf courses around the country and many that are part of the society’s tour card.

Lee Thorne from Canvey Island, one of the founding members of Birdies and Beers said: “We started the society as an opportunity for a group of friends to get together once a month and play golf and get some fresh air – we know how important this is for our mental and physical health.

“When this all stopped because of lockdown, myself and my fellow founding members Lewis Harris and Nikki Beale wanted to look out for everyone in the society in these incredibly tough times. So, we decided to set up this challenge to keep everyone focused, active and to raise money for a local charity that nearly everyone in the society has been supported by in one way or another. Additionally, Nikki was scheduled to run the marathon for Havens Hospices back in October but unfortunately this was cancelled.

“We had an amazing response from members and halfway through the time set out we had already raised over £700 of our £1000 target and smashed our distance target. Because of this we then decided to increase the challenge even more. We worked out that in total we had completed enough miles that covered from Canvey Island to Rome.

“We are proud to support such a great charity and hope that anyone that can donate will help support us in recognising the exceptional work they do on a daily basis.”

Jane Hopkins, Voluntary Income Team Leader at Havens Hospices said: “We can’t thank Birdies and Beers enough for their incredible fundraising efforts raising over £1,000 for Havens Hospices so we can continue ‘Making every day count’ for every child, young person and adult we care for. It’s because of the support and generosity from groups like Birdies and Beers that our care exists – every pound raised really is making such a difference to those in our community living with a complex or incurable condition.”

To find out more about how the community can help raise vital funds for Havens Hospices please visit www.havenshospices.org.uk/fundraising

Published: 19th March 2021