Captain's Page 2015

Mark Johnson's Captain's Page 2015

Raising money for The Teenage Cancer Trust

Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to improving the quality of life and chances of survival of 13 to 24 year olds with cancer. To do this, they fund specialist age appropriate units in NHS hospitals, expert front-line staff, and outreach services to reach young cancer patients wherever they may be.

Having cancer when you’re a teenager or young adult shatters everything. Cancer kills more young people in the UK than any other disease and every day seven young people and their families hear the devastating news that they have cancer.

The physical and emotional impact of cancer on young people is huge. Just at a time when they are going through so many life changes, life shrinks from a world of possibilities to a present and future limited by cancer. Their self-esteem and confidence can be shattered by the diagnosis, subsequent treatment, side effects and possible disability.

Friendships can drift away as they have to have extended absences from school or further education. Their friends may not understand what they are going through and rigid hospital visiting hours can make visits difficult, further isolating the young patient.

A minimum of 400 young people in the West Midlands will be treated for cancer each year. Teenage Cancer Trust are currently reaching around half of these young people through their three units in the region and outreach services.

Teenage Cancer Trust believes young people’s lives shouldn’t stop because they have cancer. With over 24 years’ experience they know that young people with cancer have improved outcomes and a more positive treatment experience if they are treated by experts, in an environment tailored to their needs. This belief has been endorsed by the NICE Guidance on Cancer Services ‘Improving outcomes for Children and Young People with Cancer’ (2005).

“The Teenage Cancer Trust unit is great. The best thing about it is I get a full English breakfast every morning and the nurses wouldn’t enter my room until I was awake. The unit was much better than being on a mixed ward with younger children with little privacy, nothing to do and being surrounded by screaming children. Teenagers’ needs are different and Teenage Cancer Trust recognise that.”
Jaye aged 13

Their ultimate goal is to reach all young people with cancer in the region. Our support could help them to achieve this goal, making sure that no young person in the West Midlands faces cancer alone and hopefully, give them all a chance of enjoying life as we do - cancer free.

Thank you for your support in 2015.

Mark Johnson
BUNGS Captain 2015

 

Captain's Update - 1st March 2015

Captain's Par 3 Challenge

This year, I would like to reintroduce the Captains Challenge to our golf days. This was an idea originally from Graham Adams' Captaincy year, I believe.

For the uninitiated, the challenge is that all three players in a group should hit their tee shots onto a par 3 of my choosing (or three players of a fourball).

A £1 entry fee is charged and the winning group takes half the pot created and the other half goes to our charity.  

If more than one group succeeds, they share the pot. If no group is successful, the pot rolls over to the next golf day. There can be a lot of tension if the pot rolls over. Can you deal with the pressure?   Take the challenge to finds out.

2015 Majors Competition

This competition involves each of those taking part, receiving one of the top golfers in the world as their player for the year.

Prior to the Masters in April, on payment of £5, you will receive a number. Dependant on how many enter, we will then use the amount of entrants as the number of the top golfers to allocate. If we have 40 entrants, we will use the top 40 players prior to Augusta. Each of those players will be drawn out of a hat and a number from a second hat. If that number corresponds to your number, you will then have that player as yours for the season.

In each of the four Majors for 2015, each player will get points according to where he finishes above the cut. A missed cut means minus 10 points but a win will be plus 10 points on top of the place points. The points awarded will be based on the amount of players that are to make the cut. If it is 75 and ties- first place wins 75 points plus 10. Second would win 74, third would win 73 down to 1 point for those just above the cut.

In order to deal with the event of a tie, we will all predict the total of all shots the four winners of the four majors. The closest to this number will win.

You can purchase more than one player as it means we select more players. If your player does not play in the event you get no points but you won’t be deducted points either.

The winner will be the person whose player gets the most points over the four major events – The Masters, US Open, The Open Championship, and the USPGA.

The prize fund will be half of the money taken and the other half will go to the Captain’s Charity. The prize fund split will be:-
1st – 60%
2nd – 30%
3rd – 10%

The more entries, the better as the prize fund and more importantly, the charity donation will be higher too.   Please give generously.

The draw showing which player has been allocated to each BUNGS member can be seen here.