THE club captain of a west Dorset golf club has raised nearly £3,000 for two epilepsy charities.

John Coley from Ryall, held a charity golf event to raise money for Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) Action and the Muir Maxwell Trust.

Mr Coley put on the event at Lyme Regis Golf Club with fellow captain Caroline Baker.

A couple at the golf club lost a child through sudden death in epilepsy some years ago, while Mr Coley also has a niece who has mild epilepsy, and a colleague whose young son also has the condition.

Mr Coley said: “You may like to know that following your article I managed to complete four rounds of golf and clocked up 127 points.

“Far more important was that thanks to the great generosity of members at Lyme Regis Golf Club, fellow choir members in various choirs in which I sing plus business contacts, the total currently stands at £25 short of £3000.

“I am so grateful for the support received and delighted that at the end of our year of captaincy, Lady Captain Caroline Baker and I will be able to present SUDEP Action and the Muir Maxwell Trust with handsome cheques that will help to fight this dreadful problem of Sudden Death Syndrome caused by epilepsy.”

Mr Coley set out to play as many holes of golf as possible in one day.

He sought sponsorship not on how many holes he plays, but how well he plays. One of golf’s scoring systems is with Stableford points which are won according to how well each hole is played. To play to one’s handicap, 36 points is the target.

John plays off a handicap of six, but aged nearly 67, he knew he needed to use all his stamina, as well as skill, to play from dawn to dusk.

There are around 1,200 deaths from epilepsy in the UK each year - while more than 42 per cent of these deaths are potentially avoidable. SUDEP Action is the only charity in the UK solely dedicated to the prevention of SUDEP and other epilepsy-related deaths.