The Tour Players Foundation have made a donation of $50,000 to the Special Needs Families Group, a local organisation to the Dubai World Championship, the group's primary focus is providing holistic support to young adults with special needs through personalised and professional care at their Children Development Centre.
The donation has been made possible by the partnership of Genworth Financial and the Tour Players' Foundation in the Putts for Charity Initiative which took place at 5 events on the European Tour Schedule this year, the BMW PGA Championship, The Barclays Scottish Open, the Mercedes-Benz Championship, the Madrid Masters and the Portugal Masters.
The initiative raised over €150,000 during those events by donating one euro for every putt made by the general public on the Putts for Charity putting greens situated in the sponsors villages at each event and by donating two euro for every on-course one putt being made by the professionals participating in the tournament.
The donation to the TPF of $50,000 is to mark the contribution of the players who have supported the Putts for Charity Initiative during the season and to mark the "Putts for Charity Putter of the Year Award", which was awarded to the Professional making the most on-course "One Putts" at the Putts For Charity Events at last night's Genworth Financial Statistics Awards Dinner. This year's winner is Anthony Wall who made a lot of 131 "One Putts" in the five events, pipping Scott Drummond one putt.
Putts For Charity "One Putts" Standings
Anthony WALL 131
Scott DRUMMOND 130
Raphaël JACQUELIN 128
Paul BROADHURST 128
Miguel Angel JIMÉNEZ 127
Thongchai JAIDEE 126
Alvaro QUIROS 125
Francesco MOLINARI 122
Jamie DONALDSON 120
Stephen DODD 119
The Tour Players Foundation Board of Trustees had chosen to pass the donation straight on to an organisation local to the Dubai World Championship as Dubai has played such an important role in the last 20 years of the European Tour and i's Players, even more so now with The Race to Dubai.
The SNF Group and its Children Development Centre was chosen due to the inspirational story of Mrs Safia Bari and the significant difference a donation can make to the families and children that the group cares for.
The SNF Group was founded by Mrs Bari, a mother of a special needs child who faced the obvious difficulties a parent would, but by coming into contact with other special needs parents she seized the opportunity to help others by creating a group that could aid each other in the care of their special needs children.
The group of parents started by caring for the children at each others homes until Mrs Bari, realised her dream of having their own premises in April 2007. Their Children Development Centre is within the Karama Centre which is located Al Karama area of Dubai and is the focal point of the SNF Group and their work with special needs families.
Mrs Bari said: "At The SNF Children Development Centre, we aim to equip our children with special needs, with skills to make them independent enough to face life with confidence. Our goal is to move to larger premises, so as to enable us to offer our services to many more young adults with Special Needs. With rents still high, we have been unable to do this. This support from your organisation will now make it possible for us to consider such a move."
TPF Trustees Emma Stenson, wife of Ryder Cup player Henrik and a Dubai resident, and Jonathan Orr, Financial Director of The European Tour, along with Sanna Hansen, Diane Donald, Charlotte Kjeldsen and Lauren Wilson from the ETWA went to the centre to meet the children and Mrs Bari. They spent time with the children and gave them gifts of educational toys and also presented them with the donation cheque.
Mrs Stenson, Trustee of the Tour Players' Foundation, commented: "The story of the Special Needs Families Group was inspirational to us and shows how community spirit can produce wonderful results and it is our pleasure to provide a helping hand to a Dubai organisation. The European Tour and its Members have enjoyed many years of fabulous golf in Dubai and it is wonderful for us to give back to the community that has been so welcoming."
Since its inception in 2003 the SNF Group has survived with the generosity of the families and volunteer supporters who have had a close affinity to the group and now with the SNF Children Development Centre the need for support is greater than ever. So it is with great pleasure that the Tour Players' Foundation in conjunction with Genworth can make this donation which will have a significant impact to the organisation and enable them to continue their fantastic work in the Dubai Special Needs Community.
