A golf tournament in Broxburn raised £10,352.60 for the British Heart Foundation.
This was the second year the Paul Lynas Memorial golf day and auction has been staged. It is one of a number of events that are held throughout the year in memory of the much-loved Livingston man.
After Paul Lynas died suddenly in 2017, aged 37, his family and friends decided to organise some charity events in his honour.
They decided to base them around his life passions, bowls and golf, with the money raised going to the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
Last year they held two bowling days at Middleton Hall Bowling Club and the golf day, raising a total of £16,000.
This year they are doing the same and adding an indoor bowls event with the aim of raising £30,000 raised in two years.
Paul’s brother-in-law Ally Fleming said: “We never started out to raise this sort of money.
“It was just meant to be a wee get-together for Paul’s family and friends but once we started to organise the golf day it really took off because he was such a special and popular character.”
What was meant to be a family get-together ended up with 80 golfers completely taking over the course at Uphall Golf Club and raising thousands of pounds.
Since they started they have worked closely with the BHF and helped them to push through a new measure which means all secondary school children in Scotland will be trained in CPR.
The BHF were already campaigning on this before Ally who was invited to speak at the SNP conference in Glasgow last year about Paul and how CPR might have helped him.
Soon after the conference it was announced that CPR would be introduced at schools by every council in Scotland.
Ally said: “We only helped a wee tiny bit and it was the policy guys at BHF who really put the work in to get this off the ground but I cannot tell you the joy I get from knowing that one day my wee boy is going to come home from school CPR-trained.”
He continued: “It has been a real team effort and everyone in the committee and beyond is doing their bit.
“This year at auction the item we raised most for was a signed Noel Gallagher guitar that one of our guys got by sitting outside a hotel in Edinburgh for hours, waiting for him to sign.
“We just want to all do our own wee bit and, as Paul’s mum is often saying, if this all stops one family from going through what we have then it will all be worth it.”
Anyone interested in sponsoring the golf tournament can contact the organisers through www.facebook.com/Paul-Lynas-Memorial-888521967991722.
