Lloyd Pinder loved his golf – so much so that he and four friends created the Thacker’s Hackers Golf Society in 2018.
Lloyd, who lived in South Milford, a village between Leeds and York, passed away in 2020 with prostate cancer at the age of 49. He left behind his wife and two young daughters.
In his later years, Lloyd was a major part of the Prostate Cancer UK charity, spreading the word for men to get themselves checked in every way he could. He often joined Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling on his March for Men walks and they became good friends.
The society, which now has 48 active members, was devastated at the loss of a founding member and – more importantly – a friend.
For this sole reason, in March 2021, they started Pints for Pinder – which was their way of continuing Lloyd’s fundraising legacy.
In 2021, six of them organised a day’s golf and a raffle with the aim of raising £2,000. They were more than successful – and duly presented Prostate Cancer UK with a cheque for £9,016.
Since then, they have gone from strength to strength and recently held their third annual event, which is rapidly become an institution.
We asked them to explain how they have gone about it.
NCG: Tell us a little about Lloyd
Lloyd Pinder was a friend to us all. You knew if he was in a room as he was always the centre of the attention. He was loud, gregarious, and always with a view to annoy everyone else but he did it with a twinkle in his eye.
So when he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer he took the shock of the news and used his personality to ensure everyone knew about this disease and that no matter what he was going to raise awareness for Prostate Cancer UK and ensure all men would get themselves checked.
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He ran dinners at his local football club, golf days to raise money and more importantly he joined Jeff Stelling on his March for Men walks. That’s where their friendship came about.
They met and chatted and eventually Lloyd told Jeff that he had a terminal diagnosis. He joined Jeff on as many walks as he could to raise funds and awareness. Their friendship grew and Jeff has from that point on become a friend of the family.
Why did you decide on a golf day as a means to raise money?
When Lloyd died, six of us decided to raise £500 as a nod to him. One of us owns a bus company so he threw in a way we could get to the golf course, and another organised polo shirts in pink (Lloyd’s nickname). This is how it grew. We were post-Covid and someone had a connection to LNER who gave us beer that they could not sell on the trains. That led to us naming the event Pints for Pinder.
What were your expectations when you started to arrange the first day?
We had one expectation: To give a little bit back to Lloyd as he had given so much to raise awareness. It was our nod to Lloyd.
How has Pints for Pinder changed and developed, now that you have recently delivered your third event?
We have learned so much. We are a company more than a charity and that’s how we think about it. We raise most of our funds from the golf day selling hole sponsorships and fourballs.
We needed to become professional golf day organisers and we learned from watching and visiting other golf days. What did they do that was good? Steal that idea. What didn’t go well? Throw that out or pivot to improve.
Prostate Cancer UK said that we were one of their flagship golf days. This year, we had 32 fourballs and three check-in times and it ran like clockwork. Everyone was at the tee five minutes early and it was near perfection.
What response have you had from the local community and Lloyd’s network of friends and family?
Those who knew Lloyd or the Pinder family have always supported us and we could not ask them for more. But this year we have had supporters from all over the country and that is awesome.
How easy or difficult is it to get individuals and businesses to donate prizes?
This year more than ever it has been really difficult. We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis in this country and we can really see that. Companies have not been as generous as we would like them to be. But those who know us have really supported us and we can’t thank them enough.
What are your main sources of income – is it about the venue or the raffle or the apres-golf?
To start with, our main sources of income were friends and raffle ticket sales – we were like dogs with bones that year. Now we make so much on the golf, sponsorship and the auction but the raffle still gives us 25 per cent of the income. Having the support of golf courses to lower their costs is vital but we take no money from the apres-golf.
What have you learned about arranging these events?
Start early, dedicate time, work hard and do not give up. Then learn from everything you do.
• Learn more about Pints for Pinder or make a donation
• Learn more about Prostate Cancer UK
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