Members of the East Midlands business community came together at the annual CAPs (construction and property) charity golf day at Springwater Golf Club in Calverton, raising £8,500 for Our Dementia Choir.
88 players from local businesses were in attendance, across 22 teams, who played the course as well as testing their abilities in additional activities including a putting competition and a beat the pro game.
Monies were raised for the charity through ticket sales, hospitality around the course and a raffle.
Our Dementia Choir was formed by actress Vicky McClure in 2019, as part of a BBC documentary, as she set out on a journey to discover the true extent of music’s power of combatting dementia – following the death of her grandmother in 2015, who suffered with the condition.
Vicky formed the choir, which is made up of those living with dementia, in her hometown of Nottingham and supports them through singing and musical activities to provide a calm, engaging and friendly space for the community.
Businesses from across the construction and property sector were in attendance, with Blueprint Interiors, Jennie Holland PR, Influence Landscape Planning & Design, 200 Degrees Coffee, Pygott and Crone, Morgan Sindall, Hexa Consulting and GT3 Architects, who sponsored the event.
Coastal Distillery, a Lincolnshire-based business that makes a range of artisan spirits, donated drinks for the halfway house and 200 Degrees supplied coffee and cakes on the course.
At the end of the tournament, Our Dementia Choir was introduced to the players by Vicky McClure and charity manager, Karen Bonser and they performed four songs.
Prizes were given to the winners of both the individual and team competitions, which included rounds of golf at Springwater Golf club, gift vouchers for the onsite golf shop, champagne and PING golfing attire.
CAPs, which was founded in 2017 by John Tansur, client services director at Knights, and David Ford, director at Gleeds, has so far raised a total of £35,000 through a number of fundraising events, with further plans to host a black-tie dinner “with a twist,” a school sports style event and a racing Ladies Day in 2023.
David Ford said: “We’re really pleased so many from the construction and property sector came along to play golf, network, and have fun raising funds for such an incredible charity. John and I are very grateful for everyone’s generosity in raising such a huge amount of money for Our Dementia Choir and to the sponsors of the event. The performance from the choir was definitely the highlight so a big well done to all that sang for us on the day.”
Karen Bonser said: “We are thrilled the CAPs event raised £8,500 for Our Dementia Choir. These funds will enable the choir to reach out to many people living with dementia, of all ages, and support their families. We were honoured to bring awareness of dementia to the event and show the players and supporters how music can really make a huge difference.”
