Golfers in Louth raise funds to help improve lives of breast cancer patients
Charity fundraising by golfers in Louth is helping to improve the lives of breast cancer patients who are being cared for in hospital.
The seniors section at Louth Golf Club has started a year of generating money to boost the oncology department at Lincoln County Hospital.
Chris Barber, who is the seniors captain for 2025 at the Crowtree Lane club, has chosen the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity as his charity of the year.
It’s his way of saying thankyou for the care his wife received while a patient at the hospital after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She spent nine months attending the oncology unit every week for treatment and continues to receive regular check-ups from doctors and nurses there.
Chris believes it is “an absolute necessity” to highlight the good work that takes place every day in the hospitals around Lincolnshire.
He said: “I want to give something back to the department that looked after my wife. So I decided that, during my year as seniors captain, we would raise funds for the oncology unit.
"This will help it to invest in equipment and materials for the future which, otherwise, they might not have been able to obtain.”
The year of fundraising will include multiple activities at all home matches at the popular club, as well as a captains’ charity day.
Ben Petts, who is the manager of the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity, said: “It is wonderful that Louth Golf Club is supporting us in this way.
"The fundraising will make a real difference to the lives of patients using our county’s hospitals and also their families.”
In 2024, the charity, which is part of the United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust that runs the Lincoln hospital and also County Hospital, Louth, received more than £1 million in donations.
The money helped it to fund projects worth more than £108,000 to support cancer patients. These included providing resources for parents to help support children with cancer, and buying scalp-cooling caps which help reduce hair-loss during chemotherapy.
The projects also included giving a new makeover to the Lincoln hospital’s oncology garden, which is now a peaceful and welcoming space for patients attending for treatments.
The golf club, founded in 1965, comprises an adventurous 18-hole course set in delightful countryside, and a clubhouse restaurant.