Poker players raise money for childrens’ ward

Poker players have raised £1,000 for the childrens’ ward at the West Suffolk Hospital.

Over 60 people took part in a tournament organised by Sean Hale, Roy Elbourn, Nik Faulds, and Mark Booker and held at the Moreton Hall Community Centre, with the money directed towards the Rainbow Ward at the West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds.

The quartet have been running a weekly poker league at the community centre every Wednesday for the past four years and four times a year they hold a tournament with one of them dedicated to raising funds for charity.

Now they are to pledge future events towards My WiSH and making them their chosen charity with funds going towards the WiSH Upon A Star appeal which helps to enhance the care to every child visiting the hospital.

The winners of the tournament were the four organisers: Sean who lives in Barrow, Roy from Ingham, Nik from Soham and Mark from Chedburgh.

The money was raised from a raffle held at the tournament and Sean said: “We have about 20 people play every Wednesday in the league and when we do a tournament we have up to 13 teams of five and we organise a buffet. Anyone can come along to the tournament to play and we have a Facebook page (Bury Poker League) where we can keep people updated with news of the league.

“We have players come from Essex and Norwich as well as all over Suffolk and we are organising another tournament for October 29. We thought raising money for the Rainbow Ward was a good idea and we can do what we can for them and we’re really pleased with the amount of money that we raised and we can now do it every time we have a tournament,” he added.

Sally Daniels, fundraising manager for My WiSH, said: “This donation is amazing and to have the guys continue to support us is just fantastic. These donations will benefit children who are not only treated in the hospital but also in the community so it will make a difference to say many”.