Putts4Charity, one of golf’s most innovative corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, is set to reach a €1m (£807,000) target later this season and has already helped to change the lives of thousands of orphaned children across Europe and improve their prospects of leading more fulfilling lives.
Putts4Charity is a unique CSR programme of European Tour Statistics sponsor Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW), that brings this initiative to the BMW PGA Championship this week for the sixth year.
In partnership with The Tour Players Foundation, Putts4Charity combines the skills of the players on course with a challenge to spectators off course to make a successful “one putt” on specially-constructed greens at various stops along The European Tour.
Each successful attempt by a spectator generates €1, plus an additional €2 for every on course one putt achieved by a European Tour player during the tournament rounds, with all funds being donated by the Genworth Foundation.
Peter Barrett, Genworth Global Managing Director, said: “We’re very proud that Putts4Charity has become a popular feature of The European Tour, and has been well supported by fans and players. It’s an opportunity, in a small way, to support the work of a dedicated team of professionals and volunteers who are really making a difference to the future wellbeing of children who find themselves in some of the most difficult situations imaginable.”
To put this into context:
• each successful “one putt” provides a hot meal for a child in one the SOS Children’s Villages that are supported by the CSR initiative;
• six successful “one putts” help to pay for an hour of professional counselling for a traumatised child;
• 20 successful “one putts” can purchase a winter coat for a child; and
• 40 successful “one putts” can raise enough funds to send a class of children for a supervised day out at the local swimming pool.
This week, Genworth brand ambassadors Peter Hanson and Pablo Larrazábal led the Putts4Charity push at Wentworth Club, Surrey, with their appearance at the Putts4Charity stand in the BMW PGA Championship tented village raising €4,000 on the first day of the tournament.
“It’s great to be involved in raising much needed funds for SOS Children’s Villages and building further awareness of the plight faced by thousands of children who deserve our support. As well as having fun through Putts4Charity, we’re also making a difference,” said Peter Hanson.
Pablo Larrazábal added: “As professional golfers, we feel we should do our bit for supporting charitable work that helps those much less fortunate than ourselves. Both Peter and myself are fully behind the good work that SOS Children’s Villages are doing across Europe, and I’m personally looking forward to visiting an SOS Village in Spain later this year to find out more about the work of this incredible charity.”
Putts4Charity will next feature at the Nordea Masters in Sweden, followed by the BMW International in Germany, the Madrid Masters in Spain and the Hong Kong Open – events supported by Genworth Financial as a European Tour Sponsor.
