The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and Leuchie House will join the European Tour Foundation as Official Charity Partners of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, a Rolex Series event.
The two charities will benefit from a host of charitable activities during the tournament week at Gullane Golf Club on July 11-15, 2018, including the return of the popular Tartan Wednesday, when fans are encouraged to join players and celebrities in getting kitted out in tartan on pro-am day.
Doddie Weir is one of rugby’s most recognisable personalities. The former Scotland and British and Irish Lions lock forward revealed in June 2017 that he was suffering from motor neurone disease. In November that year he and his Trustees launched the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation to raise funds to aid research into the causes of motor neurone disease and investigate potential cures.
Leuchie House, a charity local to Gullane Golf Club, is Scotland’s only dedicated respite centre and offers caring respite breaks to people with long term neurological conditions, including motor neurone disease. By providing the care they need, Leuchie is able to support people with many different conditions to have fulfilling, revitalising breaks, while giving their carers time away from caring.
The European Tour Foundation works with charities, players, governing bodies and partners to ensure a lasting legacy in the countries where the European Tour plays, and this new partnership will help the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open to make a difference by working with two charities that have a positive impact in the local area and beyond.
The partnership was announced as Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher joined Doddie Weir and his former team mate and Leuchie House Patron Gavin Hastings, and the charity’s Chief Executive, Mairi O’Keefe, at Leuchie House National Respite Centre. They joined some of the Leuchie House guests to get their hands on the Scottish Open trophy and the Calcutta Cup, as golf and rugby came together on Scotland’s Golf Coast.
A world class field will gather this year at Gullane Golf Club, just a few miles from Leuchie House, as the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open once again takes its place as part of the Rolex Series – the premium category of tournaments on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, each with a minimum prize fund of US$7million.
Doddie Weir said: “The Scottish Open is always one of the sporting highlights of the summer and we are delighted to be associated with such a prestigious and highly regarded event. I must admit, I’ve never been much of a golfer, but I’ve always enjoyed the social aspect of the game and admire the skill and dedication of the professionals.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in a major European Tour event and for the Foundation to benefit from the fun everyone will have at Gullane throughout the week. You may even see some of my tartan out on the course!
“My thanks to all who made this possible. We shared details of our first investment into MND research this week and this would not have been possible without this kind of support.”
Mairi O’Keefe, Chief Executive of Leuchie House said: “It is wonderful for Leuchie House to have this opportunity to work with the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, and to be part of the Scottish Open as it takes place on our doorstep. The tournament offers the perfect platform for both charities to raise awareness of the support available to help people with neurological conditions to live the best lives possible, while raising essential funds.
“At Leuchie we think it’s vital to keep the cost of our respite breaks as low as we can to enable as many people as possible to benefit from them, so we fundraise to subsidise almost half the cost. Every pound raised for Leuchie during the event will help us to support more carers and people with neurological conditions to have the kind of break that really can transform their lives.”
Nick Rose, Head of the European Tour Foundation, said: “The European Tour Foundation is delighted to be joined by the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and Leuchie House as Official Charity Partners of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.
“Doddie is one of Scotland’s best-loved sportsmen, and his story resonates with people in Scotland and beyond, while the benefits that Leuchie House provides for people dealing with neurological conditions and their carers are incredibly positive.
“Both charities do such important work in different ways to help people affected by neurological conditions, and it is a real pleasure to be able to work with them to make a positive impact in the East Lothian area and much further afield, as the European Tour Foundation embarks on a far greater philanthropic strategy.”
The Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open will welcome some of the world’s best golfers to Gullane this summer as Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello returns to defend his title alongside 2015 champion Rickie Fowler, his United States Ryder Cup team mate Matt Kuchar, World Number Three and 2014 winner Justin Rose, and the 2016 Open Champion Henrik Stenson.
Fans can buy tickets from just £15 at www.asiscottishopen.com
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About My Name’5 Doddie Foundation
My Name’5 Doddie Foundation received full charitable status in October 2017 with the stated aims of raising funds to aid research into the causes of Motor Neurone Disease and investigate potential cures.
In addition, it is committed to making grants to individuals suffering from MND, to enable them to live as fulfilled a life as possible.
About Leuchie House
- Located near North Berwick in East Lothian, Leuchie House is unique in delivering respite breaks with 24 hour specialist nursing care for people living with over 35 different long term neurological and physical conditions.
- With its expert team, Leuchie is able to support people at all stages of their condition. Around half of Leuchie’s guests in 2017 had the highest levels of care needs.
- An independent charity, Leuchie House’s mission is to transform lives by providing personalised, empowering breaks. As well as expert care, 1-to-1 physiotherapy and preventative health assessments, guests at Leuchie have the opportunity to take part in memorable experiences on trips and outings, and to enjoy the same fun, social activities we all look forward to on our breaks away.
- There are approximately 240,000 people in the UK living with the types of neurological conditions supported at Leuchie House. Respite breaks offer vital opportunities to socialise, reconnect and recharge.
- To support Leuchie House, text Leuchie to 70970 to donate £5.
About The European Tour
The European Tour celebrates men’s professional golf on a global stage. In 2018, the European Tour International Schedule will feature a minimum of 47 tournaments in 30 countries, including eight Rolex Series events, all part of the Race to Dubai.
Celebrating the global connectivity of the European Tour and Dubai, the Race to Dubai is a season-long competition to crown the European Tour’s Number One player, an honour which in 2017 went to England’s Tommy Fleetwood for the first time, and which, since 2009, has also been achieved three times by Rory McIlroy, twice by Henrik Stenson, and once each by Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald.
Since its formation in 1972, the European Tour has witnessed 27 Members celebrate a total of 53 Major Championship titles between them, enjoyed ten Members attaining the pinnacle of World Number One and has celebrated its diversity as players from 36 different countries have won on the Tour.
The European Tour also manages the Challenge Tour, which featured 27 tournaments in 21 countries in 2017, and the Senior Tour, which featured 16 tournaments in 12 countries in 2017 and which, from the 2018 season onwards, will be known as the Staysure Tour. It is also the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe, the body which, alongside the PGA of America, administers golf’s greatest team contest, The Ryder Cup. In 2018, the 42nd staging of the biennial contest between Europe and the United States of America will take place at Le Golf National, France, from September 28-30.
The European Tour broadcasts live coverage of its tournaments to more than 490 million homes in more than 150 countries every week, generating in excess of 2,200 global broadcast hours for each event. It also enjoys the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with Rolex, BMW, Emirates and Titleist as Official Partners.
About the Rolex Series
The Rolex Series is the premium tournament category on the European Tour’s International Schedule, comprising eight events in 2018, staged in a variety of golfing locations around the world, each with a minimum prize fund of US$7 million.
Launched in 2017, the Rolex Series showcases innovation, enhanced broadcast and digital coverage, and world class players, with the list of champions in the first year comprising: Alex Noren (Sweden), Tommy Fleetwood (England), two-time winner Jon Rahm (Spain), Rafa Cabrera Bello (Spain), Tyrrell Hatton (England), Justin Rose (England) and Branden Grace (South Africa).
The 2018 roster of Rolex Series tournaments is: the BMW PGA Championship (May 24-27); the Italian Open (May 31-June 3), HNA Open de France (June 28-July 1); the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation (July 5-8); the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open (July 12-15); the Turkish Airlines Open (November 1-4); the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player (November 8-11); and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai (November 15-18), where the leading golfer on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex will be crowned.
About Aberdeen Standard Investments
Aberdeen Standard Investments is a leading global asset manager dedicated to creating long-term value for clients. To achieve this, we offer a comprehensive range of investment capabilities, as well as the highest levels of service.
We manage worldwide assets worth £575.7bn* on behalf of clients in 80 countries. In managing these assets, we employ over 1,000 investment professionals and provide client support from 50 client relationship offices globally.
The Aberdeen Standard Investments brand was created in connection with the merger of Aberdeen Asset Management PLC and Standard Life Plc on 14 August 2017 to form Standard Life Aberdeen plc.
* AUM data for Aberdeen Standard Investments as at 31 December 2017
About Scotland, the Home of Golf
Scotland is renowned around the world as the Home of Golf. It is the birthplace of the game and to this day remains its spiritual home. It is also a modern, dynamic and world-class golf events and tourism destination welcoming hundreds of thousands of golfers every year and regularly playing host to the biggest tournaments in the world.
The golf industry in Scotland is worth more than £1 billion annually to the Scottish economy, of which golf events and golf tourism plays a major role.
Through activity delivered by organisations including VisitScotland, Scottish Development International and Scottish Golf, the Scottish Government is committed to continuing to support the growth of the game in this country. This includes; supporting economic and business growth within the Scottish economy, driving increased participation in the sport and helping to nurture the next generation of Scottish golfing stars through the Clubgolf programme of junior golf activities.
For more information on the Scottish Government and its partners: www.scotland.org | www.visitscotland.com | www.scotent.co.uk | www.sdi.co.uk | www.scottishgolf.org | www.clubgolfscotland.com