Hi there

Thanks for taking the time to come here. I am just going to ask for 2 minutes of your time to tell you a little story about why this page exists. Some of you who have been contacted by myself before with a similar message may think this is just another straight forward request for a charity donation. However i hope if you read on you will agree it is actually something rather different.

My Dad, Harry Hunter, celebrated his 80th Birthday just a couple of months ago and has been fortunate enough to lead a long and full life. Unfortunately he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and is now suffering some of the debilitating effects this brings on. He now finds it increasingly difficult to be mobile so his life is very much centred around what he can do in his own home. He has started to receive help and support from a fantastic organisation called St Luke's Hospice who rely on charitable giving to continue to provide the wonderful service they offer. So the first point to this page is to help raise money for this very worthwhile cause.

However there is a second, more personal, reason for this page. Many people raise money in memory of a loved one once they are sadly no longer with us. However I am in the position to be able to involve my Dad in the whole process of planning this event, raising money, and if we are very lucky to actually have him with me on the day we run my event. I also want to be able to show him that there are a huge number of loving, caring people out there who will take the time to spend a few minutes of their day doing something which will raise a smile on a stranger's face at the same time as helping a very worthwhile cause.

So here comes the bit where I ask you to do something. I am asking YOU personally to do three things.

Firstly make a donation of only £3 to St Luke's Hospice via this webpage. The reason I am asking for £3 is simple. I know that each and everyone of you can afford the price of a pint of beer, or a glass of wine, even in these credit crunch days. In the past when I have done these events I have had had so many good friends make significant donations that it is embarrassing for me to ask again, however for £3 I have no shame!! 

Secondly I am going to ask you to do something to help brighten my Dad's days. Please send him a message rather than me when you make your donation, he will be watching this page daily. Maybe tell him how you know me (if you know me!), or something about your Dad, or your son (mothers and daughters count equally here too!!). Or if you don't feel like leaving a message for someone you don't know, why don't you just write a message for someone you do love, or have loved in the past?

Thirdly I need you to help me find some more good people in the world. As you may have noticed I have set myself the target of raising £1500 which means finding 500 people who are prepared to give up just a couple of minutes of their life and a few pounds of their personal wealth !! I think I have managed to send the original message to about that number of people, but if you know of anyone else that you feel would help the cause please pass the information on to them, I love the idea of a network of relative starngers being able to make the difference to a single person's life.

So I had best tell you briefly what I am up to I suppose. Myself and a group of friends from my golf club are going to prove that golf can be a quick game by trying to play a very quick round of golf. The ambitious target is 18 holes in 18 minutes with 18 pars ! The challenge will be to propel one golf ball around all 18 holes from person to person with us running around the course to be in a position to play the next stroke as quickly as possible. It is not as terrifying as my parachute jump I will grant you, but takes a lot more organising than falling out a plane does. Wish us luck ! (Please note the date of the event is now August 8th and not 1st August as appears on the main page)

I have asked you just to donate £3 but if you do feel you want to give more, the Hospice will benefit greatly. I have removed the amount donated form view so you are free to donate as much or as little as you wish, but please, please do something.

Thanks so much for coming here and reading this, please now do make that donation and leave a message for my Dad.

I feel confident that such a fantastic example of the human race as you will not let me, or Dad, down.

Best wishes and thanks for helping me

Blair

IMPORTANT ADDITION: The above page was written in May when I first had this idea. It is with great sadness that I have to now let you know that my father actually passed away on the morning of Friday 12th June. Dad passed away very quickly and peacefully and I was lucky enough to spend some time with him just before he slipped away. The event that I planned will still carry on regardless and the money raised for St Luke's is still as important as ever, so if you have come this far please do donate something. However it may now be more appropriate to leave a message for my mother, Olive, who is very much alive and well and has also been following this page closely. I know she will gain great comfort from seeing the compassion of many people that can touch her life from afar.

Thank you for your kindness

Blair

EVENT UPDATE: I am delighted to report that after months of military style precision planning and preparation (?)this event went ahead as planned on Saturday 8th August. At 6.00pm, watched by my Mum and many others, I hit the tee shot off the first tee at Thorndon Park Golf Club (fortunately not into the trees !) and 55 seconds later the ball was being picked out of the hole and we were on our way to setting our record for the fastest round of golf ever at the Club (and possibly most other Clubs in the world too !) The next short period saw an unprecedented amount of sprinting, laughing, sweat and tears as the ball sped around the course from player to player, and players raced from hole to hole to be ready to play their next shot. There were highlights such as Chris Phillips appearing, sweat pouring from every pore, at his designated spots only to find that the ball had already been and gone; Nick Burt playing off a handicap of 2 chunking his tee shot on the 15th a full 50 yards; the sight of Ian Stratford's and Pete Millet's white legs racing through the rough to get to their next hole; John Judd playing speed golf still with a fag in his mouth and many, many others. 2 buggies with time keepers on board left the first tee with the first strike of the ball but had great difficulty in keeping up with the speed of play even when driven flat out all the time. There was a disbelieving murmur from the crowd as after only 10 minutes, the ball could be seen heading down the 9th fairway towards the Clubhouse. It seemed no time at all before the ball made it's appearance again, this time unfortunately zig zagging up the 18th fairway. John Judd drove into the right hand rough, Peter Millett was there in a flash to play the ball back onto the fairway, Ian Stratford hit an approach to just off the right of the green, I played the ball up towards the hole and then inexcusably missed a 4 foot putt before tapping the ball into the hole to stop the stopwatches.

 

Everyone wanted to know the answer....what was the time ?

 

Bearing in mind that of the 63 guesses which were made in the charity sweepstake to guess the time, only 3 people predicted less than 23 minutes, there was general amazement as the time was announced.....

 

22 minutes 1 second   !!!

It was an afternoon of great fun, many stories and an amazing achievement of having raised over £2,000 for St Luke's Hospice.

 

My personal thanks to everyone involved, the 14 other players who gave up their time and then ran their hearts out, the Club for supporting the event, everyone who supported the charity on the day by making cash donations and every single person who has visited this page and been so kind as to leave a message and make a donation. It has been very touching to receive so much kindness and know that there are so many wonderful people out there.

I know my Dad would have been amazed by the the whole event.

Thank you all, my very best wishes

Blair

 

 

 

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: St Luke's Hospice (Basildon And District) Limited gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor me now!