KIND-HEARTED Ayrshire padel players are preparing to hold a special tournament to help raise the cash needed to send a local boy to New York for surgery.
Calum Rae was diagnosed with stage M high-risk neuroblastoma earlier this year.
His family has launched a fund-raiser in the hope of attracting donations to take them to the £250,000 they need to travel to the United States for the surgery.
Calum lives in Troon with his mum Victoria McDonald, who is originally from Dalry and works as a teacher at West Kilbride Primary School, and dad Andrew Rae.
Businessman Brian Stewart, from Largs, is one of the co-ordinators of the padel tournament being set up to help raise money for Calum - and is calling on all padel players in Ayrshire to get involved.
Brian says the event, which will take place at the West of Scotland Padel Club in Stevenston on Sunday, June 11 will feature both 'prizes and surprises'.
Padel is a hybrid tennis sport which sees doubles games with players using smaller, stubbier racquets in an enclosed space with toughened glass walls behind - which means that rallies last much longer than tennis.
The sport uses the same scoring system as tennis, but has some subtle changes such as an underarm serve.
Brian said: "Each player will be given a number for the day.
"The format is randomly drawn pairs playing 15 minutes of tie break scoring per round. There will be a new draw for each round and points totalled at end of day for the individual prize giving.
"There will be prizes for first, second and third places overall, as well as random prizes for shot of the day and 'duff of the day'.
"Members should pease send a WhatsApp message to 07850 163612 - and snacks and drinks will be provided on the day.
"Please support this worthy cause and enjoy the day."
The event takes place from 12 noon till 4pm.
To enter the tournament all you need to do is make a donation to the fund-raising appeal via JustGiving.
To read about Calum’s story or donate go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/calumourraeofsunshine
In little more than two weeks since the fund-raiser was launched it has brought in more than £63,000 - meaning it's already more than a quarter of the way towards its target.
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