A round of golf has generated thanks all round due to the generosity of some very sporting people who have supported the work of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey.

A cheque for £1,980 has been presented to the unit by Les Thatcher as a “Thank You” for the care given to his grandson Billy Stocks, who was born 11 weeks prematurely in February 2007.  Billy, weighing 3lbs 40z, was in NICU for almost eight weeks. Billy and his family have recently moved from Ashford to a new home in Whitton to be closer to the rest of the family who live mostly in the Richmond area.

Les was Captain of Sunbury Golf Club and used his year in office to nominate the Unit as his chosen charity.  The Lady Captain, Lesley Taylor, also nominated a charity of her choice and the funds raised by both were jointly shared and distributed. 

Said Les: “We had numerous charity events such as raffles, auctions and golf games. The most notable of these was whenmyself and my Vice Captain Les Vine were sponsored to play nine holes of golf wrong handed!  This was quite a struggle, especially for the queues of people waiting to play behind us!

“I would just like to say “Thank you” to all the members of Sunbury Golf Club who support all of our charity events and also Crown Golf who donated a lot of raffle prizes throughout my year as Captain.”

Les presented his cheque to Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatologist Dr Peter Reynolds who thanked all those who made the donation possible and then gave a talk about the work of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to the golf club members at their AGM.

Said Dr Reynolds: “"We are extremely grateful to Mr Thatcher, and the members of the Sunbury Golf Club, for supporting the Early Births Fund and the Neonatal Unit at St Peter's Hospital. The generous donation they have provided goes a long way to purchasing the vital equipment and specialist training the NHS is not always able to provide."