Reach is always grateful for donations and fundraising big or small. It’s always particularly special when people choose to fundraise through their own groups or clubs. Not only does it raise vital funds, it helps introduce Reach’s work to a wider community—sparking conversations, building understanding, and strengthening connections that go far beyond the initial event.
Hi Dean, you’ve been doing some fantastic fundraising recently for Reach through your golf society but before we hear about that, please can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be a member of Reach?
“I’m Dean Horler, father to Ayla Horler who has just turned 2. She has an upper limb difference and is a member of reach charity, her older brother, Dexter and mum, (my partner) Amy, make up the rest of our immediate family. We were introduced to the Reach Charity from the brilliant nurses and staff at St Michael’s hospital in Bristol where Ayla was born.”
What is the Teyfant Golf Society?
“The Teyfant golf society is purely a group of mates who enjoy playing golf now that our football careers are all but over. We started 2 years ago and began to get good numbers turning up to play; now we have a committee chairman, Chris Churchill, who’s done a great job rallying, overseeing and handling the charity admin, and membership process.
Word of mouth in our local area has enticed others to join our society and it continues to grow.
We have league tables and prizes at every game; we play once a month at different courses each time around the southwest region, with dates pre-set in the annuals calendar, and an extra event in the calendar for a Trott trophy charity day, which of course last season was dedicated to Reach.”
What inspired the Trott Trophy Charity Day and what was the format for the event?
“The Trott trophy is in memory of our dear friend Ben Trott who sadly passed away back in 2023. The golf format of that day was a scrambles event, and we had 8 teams of 3 all competing against each other. It was won by the team consisting of Paul Holbrook, Craig Ault and Jordan Farrell, played at Coleford Golf course in the Forrest of Dean.”
How did participants and your wider community get involved?
“For the recent Reach fundraising event, everyone in our society and wider friends and family groups took part, giving donations, selling football scratch cards – a special mention to Andrew Gillespie for those cards, he pushed a few out. Also, we held raffles and green fees for the day were taken out of our society pot and paid for, so all payments made by the players were donated straight to the charity pot.”
What was a highlight for you?
“Everyone who was involved was very proud to donate to such a great charity close to our hearts, especially myself. It was very heartwarming to see the lads pull together for what felt like my daughter on a personal level.”
Your charity day raised a fantastic £1130 for Reach! Would you recommend holding a charity event to raise funds for Reach to other Reach members?
“I would very much recommend to anyone to hold fundraisers for Reach as they do great work, myself, my daughter Ayla, brother Dexter and mum Amy have all been to some of the southwest Reach branch events and I have seen first-hand that they’re great for everyone involved but do need the funding.
I will personally continue to do whatever I can whenever I can to raise funds for Reach.
Thank you!”