A foundation set up in memory of a Lanarkshire schoolgirl is teeing up to take a different course with this year’s fundraiser.
Over 120 golfers take part in the annual Funky Natz Foundation annual golf tournament at Wishaw Golf Club each year.
It raises money for Epilepsy Scotland in memory of Natalie Hughes, the 11-year-old from East Kilbride died suddenly in March 2011, and has already raised over £100,000.
The foundation was set up by her mum and dad Eileen and Eddie following the unexplained death of their daughter.
Each year its golf tournament offers players the chance to win a prize of a brand new car, courtesy of Park’s Motor Group - the event’s main sponsor, for a hole in one.
This year the charity’s committee have decided to raise money to help pay for life-saving surgery for dad-of-two Neil Moore, who was stricken with three different types of cancer in a short time.
The 60-year-old karate expert has already beaten prostate cancer and B-cell lymphoma, that was after he was diagnosed in September 2019 with GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour), a rare cancer of the digestive tract.
Medics discovered a huge tumour that was deemed inoperable but a targeted cancer drug managed to shrink it to a favourable size for surgery, however, a few months later he was given the news that he had prostate cancer, and he then underwent surgery to remove it and subsequent chemotherapy for the lymphoma which was also discovered.
Neil’s daughters, Caitlin and Victoria who live in Carluke, launched a GoFundMe page to try and raise £75,000 after the GIST tumour started to grow again and surgery to remove it in December 2020 was unsuccessful.
They have raised almost a third of that but time is against them, and the Funky Natz Foundation committee decided this year’s golf tournament could help boost the fundraising efforts.
Natalie’s uncle, Iain Cairns from Wishaw, forms part of the committee and helps organise the golf tournament each year.
He said: “Neil, who is from Craigneuk originally, is a friend of ours and needs a life-saving operation in London. The NHS won’t fund it and his daughters are trying to raise £75,000. He’s already beat cancer twice. We’re still giving 10 per cent or £1000 of what we raise, whichever is greater, but the rest will be going to Neil.
“He is going to be there with his daughters on the day, who will be helping out. We’re just trying to do what we can for the big man and we’re hoping to give him around £7,000. He’s a cracking big fella.
“We’ve only ever raised money for Epilepsy but we know Neil and thought we could possibly help save a life.”
A total of 37 teams of golfers will compete for the Funky Natz Foundation Charity Trophy on Sunday, May 28 at Wishaw Golf Club.
More information on the Funky Natz Foundation is available on its Facebook page.
The fundraising page set up by Neil's daughters can be found at: gofundme.com/f/2vbku-help-my-dad-knock-cancer-out
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