EDITION NO 31
NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2026
JAMIE’S BLOG It has been a tremendous year so far and, as we move into the second half of the season, I am delighted to report that we expect to raise broadly the same amount as we did last year which was, of course, our very special 60th Anniversary Year. Our Captain, the irrepressible Ronnie Irani, has done a fabulous job. His enthusiasm, energy and great sense of fun have added enormously to every occasion. Thank you, Ronnie, for everything you have done and continue to do for Variety Golf. We have also welcomed a record number of new members this year. Indeed, such has been the demand that, regretfully, we have now had to close our membership for the immediate future. Every one of our events has been fully booked and, if we continued to accept new members, we would inevitably have to start turning people away. That is a marvellous position to be in, but it does mean that everyone should book as early as possible for our remaining events. Please do not leave it too late and risk being disappointed! Those of you who attended our Summer Lunch at The Dorchester will know what another wonderful occasion it was. The event raised in excess of £150k, and I would like to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make it such an outstanding success, as well as to all those who supported us so generously on the day. Our Christmas Lunch at the Hilton on Park Lane is coming up on Friday, 11 December, and I am delighted to say that the same thing applies. We have never received so many advance bookings. Although the Hilton ballroom can accommodate more than 500 guests, we were virtually full last year and expect another capacity attendance. So, once again, please book early. Christmas is nearer than you think!
Best wishes, Jamie
Variety Golf Summer Lunch at The Dorchester... ...and a wonderful afternoon for Variety golf Thanks so much to you and your guests for supporting our Variety Golf Summer Lunch at The Dorchester on Thursday July 9th. We had the most fantastic afternoon of fun, great food in an incredible location. For those of you who didn’t see the Variety Sunshine Coach presentation just before the Drinks Reception…. a big thanks again to David Welsh of JOIE Baby UK who presented a Variety Sunshine Coach to Cedars Special School based in Hounslow We hope you enjoyed the ‘Variety’ of entertainment we had during the Lunch and a special thanks to Former England Rugby Star Martin Bayfield who was our MC and Auctioneer, Steve Hewlett – Ventriloquist and Britain’s Got Talent Finalist who I thought was sensational, Former 2015 Variety Golf Captain and Strictly Come Dancing Legend Anton Du Beke who
presented Lady Forsyth with a Lifetime Contribution Award for hers and Sir Bruce Forsyth service to Variety Golf as a Charity. The Five Acre Wood Special School Choir who sang us a couple of beautiful songs followed by a Happy Birthday song to our Former Variety Golf Captain Steve Coppell. And then last but no means last thanks to our two incredible West End Singers – Shannon Grace and Katy Adamson who had everyone up on their feet dancing the afternoon away! All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon for Variety Golf and thanks to many of you whom we have had some amazing feedback from and of course, most importantly a £150K raised to support more Special Needs Schools and Hospices with more Variety Sunshine Coaches later this year.
Variety Away Day – Birch Grove Estate
Thursday, May 28th was a special day at a very unique and special venue – The Birch Grove Estate in West Sussex. Birch Grove Estate does not have any members and only have 4 Charity Golf Days a year. The rest of the time the course is literally only used by some family friends of the owners, so, with the help of our Travel Partners, Mike Bryant of Golf Escapes, we were able to hold a lovely event with 80 golfers. After Golf, we presented a Sunshine Coach which was sponsored by our members from our general fundraising and then a lovely BBQ followed, along with one of our great Variety member, Adger Brown, who entertained us with a very funny Heads & Tails and then the prize-giving. The final leaderboard looked like this: Team 1st- 87pts Steve Coppell, Daniel Sims, Joe Sydee, Roger Feist 2nd- 87pts Phil Heffer, James Pavis, Joe Colletti, Jamie Little 3rd - 85pts Adger Brown, Tim Wilkie, Rob McNamara, Michael Freeman Individual 1st – 37pts Joe Colletti 2nd- 36 Points = Michael Budgen 3rd - 36 Points = Tim Wilkie The event was kindly sponsored by Peter James
Variety Golf – Lady Forsyth Invitational
On Thursday, June 11th, we were at the stunning Worplesdon GC for our Lady Forsyth Invitational and despite some rain on the front 9, it eventually stopped and we were lucky enough to play the back 9 in dry conditions and the course was in absolutely perfect condition. After golf we were delighted to present a Variety Sunshine Coach to the Two Rivers Special School based in Staffordshire who were so appreciative and had made the 3.5 hour journey down to collect their coach. A big thanks to our event host Lady Forsyth who was as glamourous as ever and was so welcoming to everyone. Also a big thanks to our event sponsor John Hayes of Champions UK. The final leaderboard looked like this:
1st - 95pts Darren Robinson, Rob McNamara, Mario Gough & Russell Tregar 2nd - 90pts Jeremy Curtis, Jamie Little, Gerard Cohen & Mike French 3rd - 88pts Ray Nash, Chris Horsnell, Andy Crux & Neil Preston 4th - 87pts Michael Greco, Daniel Sims, Roger Feist & Vince Hedges 5th - 87pts Peter Ciccone, Olivia Mehta, Simmi Ciccone, Mike Bracken
Variety Team Championship Kindly Sponsored by Jon Diver of The Character Group
On Tuesday, 23rd June, we were at the magnificent Hankley Common GC for our Variety Golf Team Championships where the course and food was absolutely first class! Remarkably the weather on Tuesday morning was quite cool and overcast with a tiny drizzle for the first 9 holes until the sun came out on the back 9 and then it was incredibly warm. The we played one of the finest courses in the country! A Carvery Lunch followed and that was almost better than the golf course – 11 out of 10! After golf we presented two Variety Golf Sunshine Coaches, very kindly sponsored by Jon Diver and his team at The Character Group who presented their 49th and 50th Coach – quite a remarkable achievement! Adger Brown did a great job as always MC’ing the Lunch and a big thanks also to Alan Pardew and Lawrie Sanchez who hosted an interesting World Cup Q&A just before the England v Ghana game.
The Final Leaderboard looked like this: 1st - 94 pts 2nd - 92 pts 3rd - 91 pts 4th - 91 pts 5th - 91 pts
Michael Budgen, Stuart Williams, Tony Harris, Paul Fletcher Harry Hutchinson, Jim Fox, Bill Macklin, Jimmy Norman Min Patel, Nick Edwards, Dan Cook, Paul Eagle Chris Simmons, Neil Guilfoyle, Stan Matthews, Graham Barr Scott Bambridge, Paul Howes, Ryan Boxer, Alan Burton
Wonderful Woburn, July 1st On Wednesday July 1st of July, we were at the magnificent Woburn Golf Club for our Variety Sunshine Classic and the sunshine was on full display! Big thanks to Geoff Irvine who sponsored the event alongside David Welsh of JOIE Baby UK who sponsored one of the 2 Sunshine Coaches and the second coach was sponsored from general fundraising. We played the event on the Dukes course which, needless to say, was in sensational condition and has hosted many European Tour
Steve Copple won ‘bestdressed golfer!
events over the years. It really is a privilege to play there. On the signature 3rd hole, Samantha Head was hosting the ‘Holiday Hole’ which was sponsored by Golf Escapes and Costa Navarino (No.1 Golf Resort in Europe). Simon Brading was the lucky winner of a trip to Costa Navarino. After golf, we had a superb meal and prize-giving and managed to finish bang on time at 4.58pm, ready for everyone to watch England v Congo in the function room on a big screen. In the end we got the result we all wanted which finished the day off perfectly! The final leaderboard looked like this: 1st - 94 Pts - Ronnie Irani, David Welsh, Neil Bookatz, Lance Brown 2nd -92 Pts - Dave Beasant, Phil Heffer, Joe Colletti, James Pavis 3rd -92 Pts - Min Patel, Peter Little, Rob McNamara, Melvyn Carter 4th - 92 Pts - Jeremy Curtis, Jeremy Margolin, Sammy French, Paul Viner 5th - 92 Pts - Mike Moody, Spencer Maclean, Bertie Chambers and Chris Leonard
The winning team
The Variety Golf Invitational at Bearwood Lakes On the 9th hole we had 2-time Ladies European Tour winner, Annabel Dimmock, who was hosting the hole sponsored by Golf Escapes and Hilton Vilamoura where the winner wins a trip to Portugal. After Golf, we presented a Sunshine Coach to The Castle School in Newbury, this Coach was sponsored by Joe Hemani and this was Joe’s 16th Sunshine Coach which he has presented since he joined The Variety Club in 2017 – huge thanks to Joe as always!
On Wednesday, July 15th we were at the sensational Bearwood Lakes GC for our Variety Golf Invitational which was kindly sponsored by Joe Hemani. This event is our biggest field every year and this year was no exception, with 120 playing and two on the reserve list! Bearwood Lakes was in superb condition, and it really was a special day. On the 1st Tee, Jamie’s nephew Zach Little - who is currently on a US Scholarship at University of Nevada, Las Vegas - and plays off plus 6, was taking the tee shot with every team and hitting on-and-around the green from 360 yards. Not surprisingly, that certainly helped a lot of the teams on that hole!
We then we treated to a superb BBQ Lunch and Ian Irving did a great job as always helping us raise some money with Heads & Tails and an Auction. I am delighted to say approximately £70,000 was raised on the day which is just AMAZING and thanks to everyone who supported the day.
The final leaderboard looked like this: 1st - Mike Williams, Steve Daniels, Nigel Broad, Al Perrin 2 - Mitchell Sydee, Joe Syee, Joe Treadwell, Courtney Treadwell 3rd - Ian Irving, Laurence Saffer, David Mattey, Jamie Little 4th - Nick Edwards, Dan Cook, Ian Whiting, Paul Carter, th 5 - Martin Rose, Jeremy Curtis, Tony Rosenberg, Jeremy Margolin 6th - Michael Greco, Justin Seal, Jess Rider, Daniel Sims nd
Sir Bruce Forsyth Trophy at Wentworth On Thursday, 23rd July, we were at the stunning Wentworth Club for our 9th Sir Bruce Forsyth Trophy which was hosted by our Vice President, Lady Wilnelia Forsyth. We were blessed with perfect weather and before we teed off, we got off to the best start as Lady Forsyth handed the Sunshine Coach keys over to the Beacon Hill Academy based in Thurrock. The coach was very kindly sponsored by David Welsh of JOIE Baby. After golf, we had a superb BBQ and Drinks Reception on the terrace of The Ryder Cup room and were entertained brilliantly by ‘The Magic Man’ David Redfearn. Aaron James then hosted the auction which raised lots of money towards our next Sunshine Coach.
Here is the final leaderboard:
The course was in superb condition but playing tough which reflected on the scoring.
Individual Sir Bruce Forsyth Trophy Winner - Steve Drewitt 42pts (level par gross with 6 shots!)
Runner Up - Jeremy Margolin 36pts Third Place - Zak Summerscale 36pts Team 1st Martin Rose, Jeremy Curtis, Mike French & Lenny Rosso - 86pts 2nd Lady Forsyth, Zak Summerscale, David Redfearn, Jamie Little - 84 points 3rd Steve Stroud, Jason Jarrard, Jamie McNama & Paul Coop -84 pts 4th Gary Collingwood, Jeremy Margolin, Gary Plein, Tony Rosenberg – 84pts
Variety Golf – President’s Day at West Hill On Thursday, September 4th we were at the stunning West Hill for our annual Variety Golf President’s Day, which was very kindly sponsored by Neil Bookatz and Daniel Sims. Before golf, we started the day the best way possible where both our President Jimmy Tarbuck and David Welsh from JOIE Baby presented a Variety Sunshine Coach to The Castle School which was superb. Team
1 - Dan Furnell, Matt Gilchrist, Stuart Honeywell, Matty Hails – 92pts st
2nd - Steve Coppell, Neil Bookatz, Daniel Sims, Denis Dimitrov – 91 pts 3rd - Mark O’Sullivan, Leighton Adams, Andrew Smith, Darragh Doherty – 91 pts 4th - Jim Draper, Marcus Green, Bernard Marchant, J James Draper – 90 pts 5th - Peter Ciccone, Tony Di Cesare, Mike Bracken, Mike Edwards – 90 pts
We then had 26 teams playing on a shotgun start, then after golf, we were treated to dinner where when we were entertained by the incredible ‘Magic Man’ David Redfearn who was sensational as always. Captain Ronnie Irani then did brilliantly to run a small auction to help us raise extra funds to finish off the perfect day! At the end of the day scores were really close as follows: Individual Division 1 (Handicaps 0 – 12.4)
1st Andrew Smith – 39pts 2nd Sam Bernard – 39pts 3rd Matty Hails – 39pts 4th Jeremy Margolin – 37pts 5th Neil Henderson – 37pts Division 2 (Handicaps 12.5-24) 1st Daniel Sims – 40pts 2nd Andrew Wilding – 40pts 3rd Ian Watson - 40pts 4th James Draper – 39pts 5th Alan Curbishley – 38pt
The Greatest 36 Holes Challenge at Trump International Golf Links – Aberdeen On the 10th and 11th of August we ticked off a new venue on our Variety Golf ‘bucket list’ schedule on what President Trump calls ‘The Greatest 36 Holes’ and I must say we all agreed with him! We arrived on Sunday morning just in time for the Legends Tour final round on the New Course, where Jamie’s brother Sam was competing and shot a final round 2 under par. Watching some of the Senior Tour players such as Monty, Paul McGinley, David Howell, Jamie Donaldson and many more, certainly gave us some inspiration for the following day. On Monday for our first round we played the same course and same pin
positions! Later that evening we held a Gala Dinner in the Clubhouse and a big thankyou to Ian Irving who hosted the auction which helped raise £40,000 in total for the event – and will help us present another Variety Sunshine Coach to a Special Needs School. The next day after a few sore heads, we tackled the incredible Old Course which the following week played host to the DP World Tour, making our members feel very special with all the grandstands in place! An unforgettable three days and if you have not been up there, I would strongly advise you to make the trip, please enquire if you would like any help booking as I can hopefully help you get slightly discounted rates!
The Final Leaderboard looked like this:
Day 1 Best score 87pts - Mark Ramprakash, Bill Sangster, Anthony Trafford, David Bussey (left) Day 2 87 points - Paul Thomas, Rhys Thomas, Steve Manley, Kevin Clough (right) The Greatest 36 Hole -Top 3 1st 187 pts - Tom Nunn, Nick Edwards, Jeremy Brown, Ryan Krautkremer 2nd 186 pts - Kenny Smith, Carl Palmer, Simon James, Aiden Wilkens 3rd 171 pts - Ronnie Irani, Graham Heffer, Joe Colletti, Michael McKenna
Thanks to everyone for their support so far this season. If you need any further information about our events, please refer to our website or call Jamie on 07801 098101
MEDBURN LANE, WATLING STREET, HERTS, WD6 3AA TEL: 07801 098101. E-MAIL: JAMIE@VARIETYGOLF.ORG.UK WEBSITE: WWW.VARIETYGOLF.ORG.UK