CLAN Cancer Support

The idea for the golf sessions followed discussions between CLAN and Newmachar Golf Club’s Gordon Forbes to support children, young people and families affected by a cancer diagnosis. Gordon is the club captain and golf co-ordinator at the club.

The evening sessions have been running since January this year and are held on the last Friday of the month. They are designed to introduce youngsters to golf and build confidence and self-esteem.

As an experienced golf co-ordinator, Gordon has been actively involved in junior golf for a number of years. “Inspiring these kids to play golf has been so much fun and it’s great to see their interest grow. Hopefully these sessions have given them the appetite to take the game up seriously,’ said Gordon.

At the final session, the children were introduced to the club’s recently revamped driving range with state-of-the-art Trackman technology in use in all bays to track shots for distance and accuracy. The evening concluded with a dinner and presentation where the participants were presented with a goody bag including tees and a golf cap.

Kellie Strachan, CLAN’s Children and Family support worker, said: “We can’t thank Newmachar Golf Club enough for their time and generosity. It means so much to the children and their parents, and it has proved so successful that we would like to continue with the programme after the summer. We had incredible feedback from the parents and children, as the programme made an important contribution towards an improved sense of wellbeing and confidence to young people who are going through very difficult times.”