Street children in Mombasa, Kenya, will soon have the opportunity of a life on the golf course as trained caddies thanks to an exciting new project being supported by the Tour Players’ Foundation.
The Tour Players’ Foundation, the charitable foundation of The European Tour and its Members, has awarded the first grant in its history to Glad’s House (www.gladshouse.com), a charity working in Mombasa, Kenya. The grant of £7,000 has taken the project over its fundraising target and enabled the project to get off the ground.
Glad’s House works in partnership with The Mombasa Olympic Youth Organisation (MOYO), who use sport to reach out to children to give them information, motivation and support to help steer them clear of drugs and crime and avoid HIV infection. It also helps integrate street children back into mainstream society.
As many as 60 young people, currently living on the streets of Mombasa, will be taken out of the poverty trap as they get involved with the Glad’s House Caddie Project at Vipingo Ridge Golf Course, which lies approximately 30 miles north of the city.
Vipingo Ridge is intended to become one of East Africa’s most desirable golf clubs. The development, one of the largest to be undertaken in the country for many years, has some breathtaking views. It will consist of two 18-hole championship courses, designed by David Jones, who is a member of The European Tour Board of Directors; a stunning clubhouse, a game conservancy, numerous lakes, woodland areas and an exclusive residential property development.
The Tour Players’ Foundation has also brokered the support of the European Tour Caddies Association (ETCA). The Professional Caddies, who caddie for the stars of the European Tour week in week out, have generously volunteered their time to provide hands-on training for the Glad’s House Caddies.
Richard Hallam, ETCA Chairman said: “We are delighted to be involved in a project that can provide a real life changing difference to some young people who really need it. By utilising our experience in a game we all love, we hope to contribute towards the success of this exciting project.”
As part of the scheme the youngsters will be taught the principles of golf and caddieing, under the supervision of the ETCA volunteers. They will be provided with uniforms and steady employment under the supervision of two experienced local social workers who will be employed as the Caddie Masters of the project, to monitor the welfare of the team. When the caddies are not working, they will live with local foster families.
Cliff Ferguson, Chairman of Glad’s House, said: “This is a fantastic project for Glad’s House, as this funding from the Tour Players’ Foundation means that up to 60 young people will be lifted out of poverty and given the skills to live an independent and worthwhile life.”
The European Tour has a long association with Kenya dating back to the first Kenya Open in 1967. Former winners have included Major Champions Seve Ballesteros, Trevor Immelman and Ian Woosnam, and other Ryder Cup players Brian Barnes, Maurice Bembridge, Ken Brown, José Maria Cañizares, Eamonn Darcy and Brian Waites. In recent years the event has been part of the Challenge Tour, with the 2009 Tusker Kenya Open won by England’s Gary Boyd in April.
David Park, The European Tour’s Charity Executive, said: “This is an exciting project for the Tour Players’ Foundation to be involved in. Glad’s House is doing some great work for the street children of Mombasa and this project allows the children to make great steps towards a better future and is certainly worthy of our support.”
The Tour Players’ Foundation is the charitable foundation of The European Tour and its Members. Initiated by the players and established by The European Tour in 2006, The Foundation fundraises for, and makes donations and grants to, voluntary bodies and charities that have the full support of the Members, particularly in those regions around the world where European Tour events are held.
