We’re sponsoring the annual Padraic Sweeney Fundraising Golf Day this Sunday!
On Sunday 28th May, we will once again be sponsoring the Padraic Sweeney Kidney Research Annual Fundraising Golf Day at Ruddington Grange Golf Club.
The action ‘tees off’ at 8am on Sunday morning and is set to conclude at approximately 3pm, followed by an evening event which includes a carvery and prize ceremony for those taking part. All teams in this year’s competition will be competing for the illustrious McCann Trophy, as well as a variety of other prizes including awards for ‘nearest the pin’ and ‘longest drive’.
The annual event, which has been running since 1996, is expected to attract around 180 people this year – largely made up of suppliers, colleagues and friends – and is widely regarded as a landmark fundraising event in the calendar of the Padraic Sweeney Golf Day.
Padraic Sweeney started the event after he discovered he was suffering from diabetes and kidney failure. He was a close friend of Willy Tunney, uncle to MD John McCann, and well-known locally as a great character to be around. Padraic was called into the hospital three times for a kidney transplant but each time his health let him down and the surgeons would not take the risk.
As his health deteriorated, his determination to raise money strengthened and he made a significant difference to the people of Nottingham, the city’s hospitals and places further afield through his tireless fundraising efforts and determination to acquire state-of-the-art equipment to help those suffering from a range of kidney-related illnesses. Sadly, Padraic lost his brave battle in early July 2000.
McCann has sponsored a range of prizes for the tournament since its formation 21 years ago. Since then, the Irish Society have, along with McCann, managed to raise around £200,000 in crucial funds to help stock the Padraic Sweeney Laboratory in the Nottingham City Hospital as well as supply the Renal Units at both the City Hospital and the Queens Medical Centre with important funds for research projects.
The fund has also been able to purchase laptops in order to enable kidney transplant patients to keep in touch with each other, fund respite breaks for families, purchase three kidney dialysis machines for Mayo General Hospital in Ireland and, help a variety of struggling families in and around the Nottingham area
John McCann is proud that McCann is able to support such a worthy local cause and hopes that this year’s event is as successful as previous years – “As a company, alongside fellow sponsors, we have raised a significant amount of money to support the Padraic Sweeney Kidney Research Fund over the years. We are very excited for this year’s golf tournament and we hope that we can yet again raise a significant amount to help those in need of support.”
Willy Tunney, chairman of the fund, thanked McCann for its efforts and continued support, year-on-year. He said: “I would like to extend a personal thank you on behalf of everyone in the Irish Society to McCann for its continued charitable support of the work we do. The money raised so far has gone a long way in transforming the lives of many people, and we look forward to another highly anticipated golf tournament this year”.
The continued success of this event is only made possible through the generosity of those offering sponsorship, so we would like to extend a big thank you to all the suppliers that have already donated and/or registered to take part this year.
Back to top
