West Way Nissan Longest Drive for WellChild
During the event, each player took part in a challenge to hit the longest drive – with the winner raising an incredible £2,500 for WellChild which was donated by West Way.
West Way also supported the hole in one competition offering a Nissan Qashqai as a prize. But nobody managed to hit the elusive hole in one.
West Way Managing Director, Jon Roberts and a team from the firm took part in the golf on the day.
West Way are fantastic supporters of WellChild, providing vehicles free of charge which mean we can do our job of supporting seriously ill children and their families so much more easily and saving the charity money so we can spend it on supporting children instead.
The company has provided essential transport for WellChild in the shape of an NV400 Van and a Qashqai car. A key use for the vehicles is to support WellChild’s Helping Hands Team which enlists corporate volunteers to deliver practical and life-changing home improvement projects, such as bedroom and garden makeovers, across the UK for children and young people with complex health needs.
WellChild Director of Fundraising Abby Guilding said: “We would like to thank West Way for their fantastic support for WellChild, both at the Ed Chamberlin Golf Classic and more generally by providing transport to allow us to do the work we do for children and their families week in, week out. Congratulations to Alex on his mammoth drive and we are grateful that the real winners on the day are WellChild families across the UK.”
West Way Managing Director, Jon Roberts said: ““It’s a fantastic feeling to be back at events like this supporting the amazing work WellChild do. The Ed Chamberlin Golf Day always has a special feel to it and it gives West Way the perfect platform to showcase our vehicles in a superb setting.”
The Longest Drive challenge was inspired by the length that some WellChild families have to go to in order to get the treatment they need for their seriously ill children.
Children like, ten-year-old Oliver who has alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC), an ultra-rare condition affecting less than one in a million people. It causes episodes of weakness in every muscle in Oliver’s body, from arms and legs to his breathing, and can last anywhere from a couple of hours to several days. Some episodes he never fully recovers from.
Oliver’s condition means that on a regular basis his family has to travel the 257km roundtrip from Southampton to see the only specialist for his condition in the country at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. This is a huge journey for a ten-year-old and this has more of an impact now than ever before as he is much more fatigable now.
Oliver has to miss a day of school to attend his appointments and has to take the following day off to recover from the journey. This has a big impact on the whole family. His dad cannot make every trip as he must take leave from work to do so, and childcare arrangements need to be made for his younger sister Alisia. As Oliver is getting older, he now requires two people to help him transfer out of his chair, meaning his dad has to take more time off work to help Oliver’s mum.
Making the trip multiple times a year is expensive and often impractical, but absolutely necessary.