Pedmore Sporting Club

Celebrates It's 30th Birthday

Pedmore Sporting Club started life in a very small way in late 1970. It was formed from a group of Stourbridge and Black Country businessmen who met to socialise and conduct business at Pedmore House restaurant. This has remained the Club HQ throughout, although the membership is now drawn from the wider West Midlands area.

As a group, members attend various sporting events; Race Meetings, International Rugby, Boxing, etc., and take part in their own arranged competitions covering everything from golf and shooting to pool, liar dice, bowls and flyfishing. By the end of this year there will have been approximately 560 events, at an average of almost 20 per year, organised for and by the members.

The first Chairman was the late Maurice Allsop, the well known Midlands Estate Agent, and since then the Chair has changed every two years. It has been taken by some very prominent industrialists, businessmen and professionals. The current Chairman is William (Bill) Oliver. As a measure of the continuity of membership there are many original Founder Members on the active supporting roll and some 75% of the membership of 120+ are approaching 20 years as Members of the Club.

It was recognised from the start that when members were enjoying the arranged events they should be mindful of those less fortunate. Accordingly the Members decided to register Pedmore Sporting Club as a Charity and to raise funds at each event for distribution to worthy causes. The outstanding fund-raising capabilities and generosity of Members has resulted in well over £700,000 being raised over the lifetime of the Club. This started in a small way with £881 raised in the first year of operation with our best effort topping £52,000 in 1998.

The distribution of the funds is managed by the Trustees and Committee who meet 4/5 times per year to process applications for funds and support. A typical meeting will consider up to 60 applications. The Committee appraise each of the applications and compile a short list of the most deserving cases which originate from the West Midlands area.
Applications considered suitable are then taken over by individual members of the Committee who will often visit the premises, organisation or family to assess their merit. They then report back to a full meeting who make an appropriate award. A further important consideration has generally been to try and purchase the items that have been requested on a direct basis and then to present them. The Committee have always felt that this ensures funds go where intended and on many occasions members have been able to make savings on equipment purchases through their business connections. Donations to worthy causes over the years now exceed £500,000 and range from as little as £100 to £25,000+.

Recent support has been given to:

Primrose Hospice, Bromsgrove
Mary Stevens Hospice, Stourbridge
James Allport, Stourbridge
Sunfield Children's Home, Clent
Wyre Forest Canoe Club, Bewdley
Birmingham St. Mary's Hospice
Winged Fellowship, Hagley
Dystonia Society, Lye
Wyre Forest Talking Newspaper, Wolverley