“We’re using the game of golf to help grow something better for kids. Confidence, emotional control and resilience – we’re giving them skills for life.”
The Golf Foundation is the UK’s leading junior golf charity backed by well-known golfing icons such as LPGA Professional, Charley Hull, and Sky Sports Presenter, Nick Dougherty.
It’s on a mission to make golf accessible to every young person, regardless of background, gender, ethnicity or ability by introducing young people to golf in their own environment, in other words in school, or through clubs and community groups. Yes, the idea is to make golf more inclusive and encourage more young people to play – in 2025 the Foundation delivered golf in 3,047 schools and helped introduce over 230,000 youngsters to the game through its adapted programmes. But just as importantly, The Foundation uses the game to build confidence and resilience. With so many children facing challenges because of their mental health, this is an important issue.
Two statistics underline this importance:
- 1 in 5 children aged 7-15 have a probable mental health disorder
- Girls are twice as likely as boys to experience poor mental health before the age of 18 The Golf Foundation
This challenge is tackled through the Golf Foundations’ flagship schools programme called ‘Unleash Your Drive’. It’s a six-week, teacher-led initiative that uses golf as a vehicle for personal development through nine mental toughness tools embedded across every lesson. The results speak for themselves: the programme has been proven to increase confidence and commitment by 20% and there are some fantastic case studies to back this number up.
Benefits are also realised through using inclusive formats like girls-only leagues, adapted equipment to enable disabled children to play, and community events specifically designed to reach under-represented groups. The Golf Foundation is proving that golf is a powerful tool for building the next generation’s mental strength and self-belief.
Whilst it’s a national charity, the Golf Foundation calls the Hoddesdon Enterprise Centre its home – and has been based in Hertfordshire for most of its 75 year history. The offices are a great location for the team members to congregate each week and they all relish the opportunity to swap ideas and network with their fellow HEC customers. We love to support all our charity customers and this year, money raised through our World Cup sweepstake is being donated to this charity. We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank them for donating some truly fantastic prizes.
As a fellow member of the BEC community, we’d love you to take a moment to find out more about what The Golf Foundation does, and if their work resonates with you, please consider making a donation. This could be a small one-off gift or you may wish to become a corporate partner for a larger annual donation. Every contribution helps them reach more children who need it most. You can donate directly at golf-foundation.org.
That’s three quarters of a century of grassroots work taking golf to millions of young people in their own environments such as schools and youth groups, and the team behind it all is based just down the corridor from you. That’s the power of being part of the BEC community – you just never know who’s in the office next door!
