Linlithgow golfers raise thousands for Cancer Research UK

Golfers in Linlithgow have raised thousands of pounds in memory of a friend and keen golfer who died from cancer.

In total the group have raised £6,481 for Cancer Research UK by organising the Hugh Wright Memorial Trophy competition day at Linlithgow Golf Club. This year’s event raised £2,787 to add to the £3,694 raised at the event in May 2021.

The event was created in honour of former company director Hugh Wright - known as Shug to his family and friends - who developed a love for golf after joining Linlithgow golf club as a teenager. Dad of two Hugh died from peritoneal cancer in June 2018 aged just 57.

Friends and Linlithgow Golf Club members, Colin Fowler and Ian Shiells, helped created the event at the club.

Left to right: Cancer Research UK shop deputy manager Yvonne Stevenson, Mags Wright (Hugh’s wife) and friend Colin Fowler.

Hugh’s wife, Mags Wright, presented the cheque at the Cancer Research UK shop in High Street, Linlithgow.

She said: “Many of those who took part knew my husband so it’s a lovely way for us all to remember him. He loved golf and met some of his very best friends through the sport.

“We had wonderful weather and it was a great day this year and I know Hugh would be pleased to know the event raised vital funds to help other families. So many people are affected by cancer and it’s time we did everything in our power to support the research which will save lives.”

In Scotland, around 32,400 people are diagnosed with cancer every year.

Hugh Wright from Linlithgow who died from cancer on June 7 2018.

Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, Cancer Research UK’s work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been at the heart of the progress that has seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.

Yvonne Stevenson, deputy manager of the Cancer Research UK shop in Linlithgow, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Mags and all of her family for their support.

“This is the second year funds raised from the Hugh Wright Memorial trophy have been donated to Cancer Research UK and was another fantastic day. Thank you to everyone at Linlithgow Golf club for the hard work and planning which went in to making the event a success.

“One in two people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in their lives, but the good news is more people are surviving the disease now than ever before. Cancer survival in the UK has doubled since the early 1970s and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress.

"However, we have only been able to achieve this thanks to the dedication and commitment of volunteers and supporters like the members of Linlithgow Golf Club without whom we would not be able to fund our life-saving research.”