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Heroes at The Open with Charity Dinner

NEWS RELEASE
A spectacular dinner on the eve of the final round of The Open Championship at St Andrews will provide a major boost in support of British military personnel wounded in Iraq , Afghanistan and previous conflicts.
Celebrities from golf and the wider world of sport will gather for one of Scotland ’s biggest fund-raising nights of the year in support of Help for Heroes, the charity that is doing such splendid work for our wounded soldiers, sailors and airmen. .
The fund-raising dinner will be held in The R&A Marquee alongside the first fairway of the Old Course, St Andrews on Saturday, July 17, 2010, just before The Open Championship reaches its climax. The dinner has attracted worldwide interest and more than two-thirds of the 300 places available have already been filled.
The dinner will be one of the highlights of the week-long celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship. Among the star-studded guest-list will be five-times Open Champion, Peter Thomson, who won the second of his Open titles at St Andrews in 1955. He will join other celebrities who are lending their support to the Help for Heroes fundraiser.
The speakers will be comedian Ronnie Corbett and two high ranking officers who have had leading roles in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq , Major General Barney White-Spunner and Brigadier Tim Radford. They will explain the importance of the help being provided by Help the Heroes for our wounded servicemen returning home.
A mouth-watering range of “What Money Can’t Buy” auction items will come under the hammer of Edinburgh auctioneer Alexander Meddowes during the dinner.
Among the items being bid for will be a four-ball with Gary Player at the famous Leopard Creek in the Kruger National Park in South Africa with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group contributing three return flights to South Africa .
Two 2010 Dunhill Links Pro Am places worth around £8000 each will be up for auction.
A signed copy of the Past Champions photograph taken during Open Week will attract many bidders but the star item might well be the 13:40 time on the Old Course on Monday July 19, the day after The Open finishes when the winner of the bid will have the chance to play the Old Course from the championship tees just as it was on the final day of The Open.
A collection of other fantastic items including two tickets for finals day at Wimbledon, a package for two at Le Mans and a house for a week at Sotogrande in Spain will also come under the charity hammer.
Julian James, Fife co-ordinator for Help for Heroes and Chairman of the Dinner Committee, commented, “This promises to be a truly memorable evening and we are delighted by the support we have received so far. We still have a few tables available (£4000 for a table of 8) so I would urge anyone wishing to come to contact Tim MacDowel as soon as possible - http://uk.mc870.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Tim@cairniecottage.co.uk”
The Pipes of the Royal Regiment of Scotland will set the scene ahead of a glittering evening in the Home of Golf that will give much needed help and support to our wounded heroes returning home.
For full information about the work of H4H visit http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/
UK REGISTERED CHARITY 1120920