ABRIDGE Golf and Country Club saw 110 golfers raise £110,000 at Jewish Care’s 50th Annual Redbridge Aid Golf Society (RAGS) golf tournament.
A cheque for £95,000 was presented to Jewish Care’s Chief Executive, Daniel Carmel Brown, to support Jewish Care’s work in Essex. The Community Security Trust were presented with £10,000 and £5,000 was donated to Sidney Gold RAGS Scholars.
The winner of the RAGS tournament, which took place for the first time in two years, was Hugh Bushall with 40 points.
Andy Green, chair of the Golf Committee, said: “This is a very special year for RAGS and on our 50th anniversary, we were delighted to have raised a total of £110,000 to support a range of services for the local Jewish community.
“Fifty years ago, members of Abridge Golf and Country Club formed a golf committee in answer to the local community centre in Redbridge then known as Sinclair House, stating that they were struggling to pay the utility bill.
“Many of the Abridge members back in the 1960s and 70s were from the Redbridge and Ilford areas where many of their children attended the youth club, their elderly parents the day centre, and many other activities besides for all to benefit from within the local Jewish community.
“Jewish Care have continued to provide these services and since the first Redbridge Aid Golf Society (RAGS) was formed, the committee has continued to raise money for its vital services ever since.”
Adam Overlander-Kaye, Jewish Care’s director of fundraising and community engagement, paid tribute to one of the charity’s oldest fundraising committees.
He said: “Their support enables Jewish Care to continue to provide a wide range of vital services in the area for the older and the younger members of the community.
“From social work and family carers services, dementia day care, Vi & John Rubens House care home, the Redbridge Jewish Community Centre at Woodford Forest Synagogue and the MIKE youth leadership programme, this range of services for those who rely on us simply wouldn’t be possible without the ongoing support of the community and the local committees who are so dedicated to supporting us.”
Those taking part in the day included Essex Jewish News chair Phillip Leigh, who has been heavily involved with RAGS and Jewish Care’s Redbridge Jewish Community Centre for over 40 years.
It was Phillip’s cousins Monty and Jack Shafron who formed the original RAGS committee, which has helped fund the shortfall of Sinclair House over the years.
