General Manager Thomas Griffiths reflects on the work behind the Golf Foundation Fundraising Award and why the relationship has continued.
Rushcliffe Golf Club has received the Golf Foundation’s Fundraising Award after raising £8,444 to help create opportunities for young people through golf.
The award recognised a year of work led by Captain Adrian Bexon and Lady Captain Celestine Stafford, with members, staff, volunteers and local businesses contributing to events and activities across the club.
For General Manager Thomas Griffiths, seeing the 2025 captains collect the award at Wentworth was a proud moment for everyone involved.
“We are very proud of our charitable work at Rushcliffe; we firmly believe that as a golf club we should offer our course and clubhouse to the wider community to help raise funds for vital causes,” he said.
“This award represents the result of this outlook and we could not be prouder to see our immediate past Captains collect this award at Wentworth.”
Rushcliffe began the year with a £5,000 target for the Golf Foundation. Its plans included an annual Charity Open, silent auctions for fourballs donated by other local clubs, and fundraising driven by volunteers. The campaign gathered support well beyond the original target.
“Our Charity Open was a sell-out!” Griffiths said. “Beyond this, all our suppliers put forward tee sponsorships. It was fantastic to see the wider community join us in supporting the Golf Foundation and again shows the power golf clubs have to support causes and act as platforms for fundraising.”
The Golf Foundation’s work appealed to Rushcliffe because it matched the club’s ambitions for junior golf. Its own junior section has enjoyed multiple county wins this year, while club professionals Chris and Ben Hall lead weekly training sessions. Supporting the charity offered a way to help young people who might otherwise never get the chance to try the sport.
“The Golf Foundation’s values align closely with ours: getting the next generation into golf,” Griffiths said. “We are a club that is proud to welcome people of all backgrounds, ages and ability; we knew this would be a great fit.”
Griffiths credited Bexon and Stafford with bringing the fundraising effort together. He said their leadership was backed by the club’s management committee, whose members helped at the Open and supported raffles, as well as staff across the club’s departments.
“Captain Ade Bexon and Lady Captain Celestine Stafford were essential in leading fundraising across the year,” he said. “In my role here, I take a great deal of enjoyment in not just working alongside the teams of staff but also working with our volunteers. Ade and Celestine represent everything the captaincy can be.”
That shared effort helped the club exceed its target by £3,444. Griffiths believes members responded because they could see what an introduction to golf might mean for a young person.
“We, as golfers, never forget the joy and pleasures golf as a sport brings to us,” he said. “If we can introduce the next generation, particularly those who would not have entered the world of golf, to become part of this, we can easily appreciate the great benefit posed.”
The award has also given Griffiths a chance to reflect on a part of club management that can be easy to overlook amid daily demands.
“One can so easily be swept away by the day-to-days that we forget to look back on the wider achievements of our clubs,” he said. “Take time to reflect: what a great honour it is for us to manage clubs capable of such positive impacts well beyond just the world of golf.”
Rushcliffe’s connection with the Golf Foundation has continued beyond its charity year. The club has since hosted junior golf events in collaboration with the organisation, and Griffiths expects that work to carry on.
“I am pleased to say this is far from showing signs of slowing down!” he said.
