Lilleshall Hall Golf Club, Telford eagle magnificent £4300 to fight superbugs

Alison Staples ANTRUK announcements, Donate

Golf club praised for flagging-up antibiotic resistance. Lilleshall Golf Club in Telford has been praised by ANTRUK for being masters of #fundraising and helping to beat what could become the world’s biggest health problem.
Everything from hosting an oompah band concert to running a Spanish night complete with a menu of tapas and flamenco, helped the club raise £4300 for Antibiotic Research UK (ANTRUK). That above-par effort will now help fund new medications to replace increasingly ineffective antibiotics and support families and patients living with potentially deadly conditions such as MRSA.
The club has a personal interest in putting anti-#superbug fundraising at the heart of its activity. Because outgoing Captain Nick Collins’ daughter Emily is enduring a brave ongoing battle with an infection that stunted her career as a nurse – but has led her to becoming a national ambassador against antibiotic resistance.
Born with scarring on her kidneys and susceptible to urinary tract infections (UTIs), Emily has an incurable condition called ESBL E.coli. Said Emily: “When I got a UTI, the answer was always in the form of an antibiotic. When one stopped working, I guess they gave me another, it wasn’t a problem.
The #antibiotics would be given by district nurses at home, but poor veins meant regular trips to A&E waiting to be re-cannulated time after time and still really with no dramatic impact…and no explanation. Eventually the Urologist said that we all have these bacteria in our gut and if they stay in there they do good work, but if they get into the rest of your body they cause all sorts of mayhem.” (Read Emily’s full story athttps://www.antibioticresearch.org.uk/young-patient-antibi…/ )
This antibiotic resistance put paid to Emily’s dream of becoming a nurse. But since then, she has taken on the role of an ambassador for ANTRUK. She has also recently become a mum!
Professor Colin Garner, Chief Executive and Founder of ANTRUK said: “Emily’s story illustrates fully the magnitude of antibiotic resistance. Already 700,000 people per year die of superbugs globally and conditions such as UTIs, gonorrhoea, TB and pneumonia are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Her determination to beat the condition and raise awareness of superbugs is however truly unique and she is an inspiring young person doing her bit to preserve the health of all of us.”
Nick Collins added: “From Ryder Cup weekends to race nights where we’ve worn bowler hats, flat caps and jockey helmets, our 650 members have joined in with the spirit of the fundraising and contributed, and all of that kindness has added up. They have also become much more aware of antibiotic resistance.”
Professor Garner concluded: “All of us have a duty to help prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance. The pharmaceutical industry needs to invest more in research, decision-makers should make it a priority and medics need to stop handing antibiotics  without due cause. We can do our bit by raising the funds required to develop new medications. If every sports or social club in Britain did what Lilleshall has, we would be able to begin to create the new medicines that would save lives!”

If every golf club up and down the country were to follow Lilleshall’s example, ANTRUK would raise raise £000s to help ensure that future generations enjoy the same antibiotic benefits that we have enjoyed. If you want to help please contact info@antibioticresearch.org.uk