Generous golfers club together to raise £4,500 to support diabetes patients in Wolverhampton

Members of South Staffordshire Golf Club nominated The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) Charity as their chosen cause for the year in recognition of diabetic colleague Wendy Cotterill.

The mum-of-three has been a patient at the Wolverhampton Diabetes Centre at New Cross Hospital for more than 20 years after being diagnosed with type one diabetes at the age of 27.

The 64-year-old retired restaurant owner from Tettenhall was ladies’ captain of the club but was unable to raise funds during her year as skipper due to the Covid lockdown, so Tracey Gamston, who succeeded her, decided to raise money for the same charity.

A series of events including a black-tie summer ball, a raffle, a disco with a live band, a festive afternoon tea and donations in lieu of sending Christmas cards – which alone raised £200 – pushed the total to £4,500.18.

Caring and compassionate people from all over the community joined together – 120 packed out the ball, the tea was serenaded by the Brewood Singers choir singing carols and many businesses in Tettenhall donated prizes for the raffle.

“It’s a fantastic amount of money to raise in the current climate,” said Tracey, who also thanked all the members for their support during her year.

“Everyone has done something to help. The male members came to the summer ball and we had some lovely prizes for the raffle.

“I chose the charity because Wendy has been a great support to me so I wanted to support her. The summer ball was such a success that it will become an annual event.”

Dr Rajeev Ragavan, consultant and clinical director at RWT, Brett Healey, diabetes specialist nurse at RWT and Dean Gritton, group manager, renal and diabetes at RWT, attended the presentation and the group received a complimentary four-ball to play at South Staffs.

Dr Ragavan said: “What they’ve done for us is wonderful – I’m thunderstruck by the amount raised and it’s been very gratefully received.

“Diabetes is an increasingly very common condition and it affects some people’s life and health a lot with its complications, so the contribution is very welcome as it will go towards helping patients with this condition.

“This is only possible because of patients like Wendy who aren’t shy of raising the profile of diabetes or saying they’re living with it. I said to Wendy, ‘one can carry a small burden for an hour or a day, but living with a chronic disease like diabetes is a big burden for life’.”

Dr Ragavan said the money will be used to buy communication devices and educational material to aid better care in outpatients for diabetes.

Grandmother-of-one Wendy, a former buyer for the NHS and a South Staffs member for nine years, said: “We’re so pleased with the amount raised and Tracey has been fabulous.”