YOUNGSTERS and their parents, friends and carers will benefit from thousands of pounds raised at a charity golf day.
Langdon Hills Golf and Country Club played host to the event which attracted more than 20 teams and was followed up by a dinner and charity auction, with entertainment provided by compere Johnny Clark and comic Ian Irvin.
The beneficiary of a "thoroughly enjoyable day" was the Corringham-based Kids First charity, which is affiliated to the Thurrock and District Cerebral Palsy Society.
Event organiser Mark Thomas said: “The golf day day has become a popular fixture on the calendar at Langdon Hills and I would like to say thanks to owner Eddie Wright and also the captain and lady captain Kevin Wood and Josie Williams who threw their support behind the event and have made Kids First one of their nominated charities. Also all the staff at the club and all those who donated prizes and who took part.
"We had a throughly good day and after the auction we have raised several thosuand pounds for the charity which will all be put to very good use."
Kids First has grown out of the Lampitts Hill-based home of the Thurrock and District Cerebral Palsy Society, where it runs a school where parents and children with cerebral palsy learn together in a fun and supportive environment.
Its Society started in a small room in a doctor’s surgery in 1964 in Grays. Initially it was set up to assist mothers whose children had been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. The original idea was to organise a network to build up friendships and telephone contacts so parents could talk through their concerns with people who had similar problems.
Over the early years the Society had a number of homes and was at the Dilkeswood Centre in South Ockendon before moving into Lampits Hill, where it had a fundraising shop, in 1994.
As the group progressed it began to research Conductive Education, which originated in the Peto Institute in Hungary.
Supporters raised funds to purchase specialised equipment and for training two committee members on the basic system of conductive education. At this time it was run under the charity of the Thurrock & District Cerebral Palsy Society and were registered as ‘Time For Tots’.
They also secured the employment of a specialist conductor, trained at the Peto Institute.
In 2005 they were able to expand that site by buying the adjacent shop, with land to the rear. On it the group built an office, committee room, counselling room and a fully equipped school room.
The project, which took around two years and is estimated to have cost £150,000, was funded by donations from many local groups, businesses and organisations as well as proceeds from the charity shop.
At the same time the organisation decided to take up an independent charity number and re-registered as ‘Kids First’, affiliated to Thurrock & District Cerebral Palsy Society. The charity has never had any support from governing bodies and is entirely self-funding, relying on the hard work of volunteers, led by stalwart Carol Day.
The charity also runs a respite Home at Walton-on-Naze.
Anyone wishing to support the charity or donate can find out more by visiting website www.tdcps.co.uk, calling 01375 641024 or by email to info@tdcps.co.uk.
Cerebral palsy is a general term that describes a group of conditions that cause movement problems. The most common type is spastic cerebral palsy where the muscles are stiff and rigid in one or more limbs.
The underlying problem is damage or faulty development in a part of the brain which usually occurs sometime before birth. Cerebral palsy ranges from mild to severe.
In some cases there are associated problems such as learning difficulties and epilepsy.
