As the Tour this week makes its last stop on the Desert Swing, representatives of the Tour Players Foundation and European Tour Wives Association continued their long standing relationship with the Special Needs Future Development Centre in Dubai with a visit to present $25,000 raised at the 2011 Dubai World Championship.
In addition to the official presentation of the funds raised through the ‘Tour Players Foundation - Birdie Pledge’ at the season-ending event in December, Emma Stenson, TPF Trustee, and Beverley Hoey, Claudia Wiegele and Kerstin Löfgren of the ETWA were given a tour of the SNF Group’s facility to meet the children and see the impact the money is having on the charity.
Established in 2007 by SNF Group Founder and Director Mrs Shafia Bari, the centre was initially based out of one small apartment and four member of staff cared for just five children. Five years later, in part thanks to the monies donated by the Tour Players Foundation, the centre has recently expanded into its third apartment at its Karama home on the outskirts of Dubai while 18 members of staff can now cater for 36 children for five days each week.
The Tour Players Foundation (TPF), the charitable arm of The European Tour, led the “Birdie Pledge” initiative by donating 100 dirhams for every birdie made at last year’s Dubai World Championship, while an eagle resulted in a donation of 200 dirhams.
On presentation of the cheque, Mrs Bari said: “It means a lot to us and we are very grateful to the Tour Players Foundation as without them we wouldn’t have been able to get the second apartment and now we have in fact taken the initiative of expanding to the third apartment too, so we are growing each day with the support of the Foundation and we look forward to their visits each year.
“It’s amazing how they come and spend their time here and the kids really enjoy it, and they enjoyed last year too – going to the golf course and they remember it very well, so it does mean a lot to us and to the children.”
The SNF Group specialises in providing holistic support to young adults with special needs through personalised and professional care at the centre situated on the outskirts of Dubai, and the TPF and ETWA often pay visits to the facility when the Tour passes through the Emirate.
“For a couple of years now the Tour Players Foundation and ETWA have supported Mrs Bari and the SNF Centre,” said Emma Stenson, TPF Trustee and wife of European Tour Member and Ryder Cup star Henrik Stenson. “It has made a huge impact for the children’s lives at the Centre, for the Karama area and for Mrs Bari.”
“As with a lot of these centres, she does not get any governmental support and that makes it hard for her to manage here. So therefore our continued support has made a big impression and she told us that to be able to expand her business she needed to be sure she had enough money to last for three or four years because she can’t let these kids down.
“She is just an amazing lady and it humbles you to see somebody who devotes their whole life to other people.”
The TPF has supported the SNF Group since 2009, enabling it to develop and expand its care of the special needs children of Dubai. The support of organisation such as the SNFG is a key objective of the TPF in its desire to give back in regions that host European Tour events.
See the related items above for a photo gallery of the day's visit.
For more information on the SNF Group head tohttp://www.snfgroup.com/and for details on the TPF and its activities gohttp://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/playersfoundation/index.html
