President’s Awards 2024

Young Spirit of Golf Award

‘Dinah Oxley’ Young Spirit of Golf Award

GEORGE HUGHES

Seven year old George Hughes was celebrated at the GF President’s Awards for his fantastic fundraising efforts over the past few years that have seen him raise £100,000 for the Freeman Heart and Lung Transplant Association.

The award was part of the President’s Awards at Wentworth Club, hosted by Nick Dougherty as part of a fantastic week at the BMW PGA Championship. Read more about our President’s Awards 2024 here

For the last 5 years George has been raising money for the Freeman Heart & Lung Transplant Association in the memory of his late Dad who died following a heart transplant in 2018. George’s fundraising will support the FH&LTA to support families who’s loved ones are having heart and lung transplants by providing them with accommodation, travel and emotional support during this distressing time.

Amazingly by the end of September 2024 George will have raised over £100,000 in the memory of his late Dad. In 2024 George has really stepped up the fundraising by combining his love for golf with love for his Dad’s memory. Previously George had arranged a number of Charity Nights, Charity Golf Days and Golf Challenges to help raise money for the Charity but this year George wanted to raise the bar and set himself bigger challenges which would help to raise the profile of the campaign and take the donations to over £100,000.

George is a really keen young golfer, having picked up the game at 18 months old he currently plays to a handicap of 30 and is an active junior member at Wigan Golf Club winning last years 9 hole Order of Merit and this season representing the Golf Club within GolfSixes League. This year George really wanted to combine his love for golf with 2 main fundraising challenges. Firstly George hosted a Junior Charity Day at his home golf club for 45 juniors. Due to the publicity George was getting he was able to attract total beginners to established juniors to the event which raised over £1200 on the day and saw children as young as 5 years old compete on a shortened 9 hole course to juniors with a WHS compete in the 18 hole competition. George is really keen to portray to the wider community that golf is really fun and great for your physical and mental health so added to this in the lead up to his biggest challenge George was also keen to showcase golf to his classmates. With the help of his teachers George laid on taster sessions in the school for 95 children in the Reception classes as well as his Year 2 peers so they could start to understand just how fun golf is and why George loves to play the sport so much. In order to raise the profile of George’s upcoming golf challenge ITV News even featured one of these sessions with their Granada Reports segments and George was able to showcase to the Region his love for the game.

However George’s main challenge was still to come in June, George played 5 different golf courses in 5 different countries in just 24 hours. This had never been done before and George successfully completed 9 holes of golf at Ballymascanlon, Cover Hill, Chester, Hawarden and Wigtownshire with 20 minutes to spare. This truly inspirational challenge really captured the imagination of the public and as well as helping to get George’s fundraising over the £100,000 mark has really inspired other young juniors to golf. Not only locally in George’s school and local community but throughout the UK. George has been inundated with messages from juniors and parents to say how he has now inspired them to take up the game. In person many young people came out to support George at each golf club and watch him play a few holes but also within the media many TV,  Radio stations and print media reported on George’s fantastic achievement, highlighting the work FH&LTA do but also highlighting the fact a 7 year old can have so much fun and enjoyment from playing golf. George loves to play golf with all his family members and this challenge has meant he can inspire young children to take up the game and challenge themselves but also help to raise money for such a worthy cause which is close to families heart and that will forever be grateful for.

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