CRASH Newsletter: October 2024
VolkerFitzpatrick raises over £19k for CRASH charity at its annual golf event
This September, Corporate Patron VolkerFitzpatrick held its third annual Paul Lane Memorial Golf Day to raise money for CRASH. The golf day is in memory of Paul Lane, former VolkerFitzpatrick Head of Quality, who passed away in 2018, and was attended by his family.
The golf day was at Birmingham’s Belfry PGA Golf Course, with 28 teams playing18 sponsored holes. Teams were from VolkerFitzpatrick and their subcontractors. Players could play ‘nearest the pin’ and ‘beat the professional golfer’, Rhys Piper, by donating to CRASH. Blessed with sunshine, everyone had a great time playing golf.
Commercial Director (and CRASH Trustee), John O’Grady, and Managing Director, Stuart Deverill of VolkerFitzpatrick’s Building Diviision, visited each hole, networking with all the teams. The VolkerFitzpatrick team also lent their muscles, helping set up, host, drive people around on buggies, and collect donations and payments for CRASH.
The day takes a great deal of planning with Ken Alborough, Senior Site Manager, and Sally Hill, Emerging Talent Manager both at VolkerFitzpatrick, and a great team helping with setting up, preparing, managing the finances, marketing, and hosting on the day. Francesca Roberts, Chief Executive, and Lucie Gillard, Fundraising Coordinator, both from CRASH, attended the day and helped collect donations and greet guests and selling raffle tickets.
There was a 5-way tie at the top of the team leaderboard, all with 94 points, so winners were decided on the back 9.
Team winners
- 1. Scott Parnell – 49 on the back 9
- 2. ATE – 47 on the back 9
- 3. Fawkes & Reece – 46 on the back 9
- 4. Danny Sullivan – 45 on the back 9
- 5. VFL 1 – 44 on the back 9
Individual winners
- Dan Atvars, from Mobile Mini, won first prize for the best individual winner with 44 points.
- Richard Lama won nearest the pin.
- 11 players beat the pro!
The teams then returned for dinner, heard a heart-warming speech by Francesca followed by a fantastic auction hosted by Stuart Deverill, VolkerFitzpatrick Managing Director of Building, and a raffle. Raffle and donations were donated by generous sponsors.
The auction prizes included a 1-day hospitality day at Arsenal, which was snapped up for £1,500 by Hedson Rail, and even our esteemed auctioneer, Stuart Deverill, bid for his beloved Chelsea FC shirt at £450! A total of £19,194 was raised during the day event. The target was to beat the last golf day’s total of £13k, which was exceeded.
Until next year…
“The VolkerFitzpatrick memorial golf day is a wonderful event, and what they have achieved this year to help CRASH is truly remarkable. I am so grateful to everyone who organised the day and all the people who attended and so generously helped in their own way. I can promise that CRASH will use every penny of the money donated with the utmost care to help the maximum number of homeless people, and men, women, and children who need compassion and care in a hospice. This donation will allow CRASH to continue our vital work construct places that care for people. My sincere thanks to everyone involved.”
Chief Executive of CRASH
“We are all delighted to raise over £19k, a phenomenal amount of money, at our third annual golf day for CRASH. It was a fantastic day in a great venue with positive feedback from everyone. I am so proud of the team making such a difference to the people CRASH help and thank all our sponsors, CRASH and the team for their commitment in making the day such a success.”
Trustee of CRASH and Commercial Director of Building at VolkerFitzpatrick