BFC 2025 Charity Testimonials

2 Wish

Wow—what an amazing end to the week, to open your email! We are absolutely over the moon to hear about the incredible £650,000 raised at the 2025 Valero Benefit for Children Classic—what a phenomenal achievement! And to know that 2wish will receive a donation is just incredible. Thank you so, so much. Wow, just Wow.

This generous donation will make a huge difference to the families we support. To put it into perspective, it will help us provide over 820 memory boxes—each one a deeply meaningful that offers comfort, connection, and a lasting tribute to a lost loved one. That’s over 820 families who will feel supported and remembered thanks to your kindness.

We’re so grateful for your continued support and I can’t wait to see you again next week

ASD

We feel so honored to be chosen by Valero as part of the 2025 Benefit for the Children Charity. We cant thank you enough and the sponsors for this huge amount. It will allow us to keep supporting our Autism/ADHD and Neurodivergent local community here in Pembrokeshire - with your support we truly believe we are making a difference to our young people and their families, who often feel lonely and isolated and not sure who to turn to.

If you have a moment, do have a look or follow us on our Facebook Page ASD Family Help - Pembrokeshire | Facebook

So you get to see the wonderful things we are doing with this donation.

Thank you once again for your support and a wonderful few days at Celtic Manor and a lovely evening at St Brides Hotel!

Barrow Farm RDA

Thank you so much for your recent donation to Barrow Farm from the Benefit for Children Classic. We are incredibly grateful for your support. The money will be used to help fund our Changing Lives through Horses programme which we started earlier on in the year.

It’s been really encouraging to see the positive effect it’s already having on the young people taking part. One of our participants has really taken to the programme and is now seriously interested in working with horses as a career. She’s made some really positive changes in her life since starting with us and it’s been great to watch her confidence grow.

Another young person has simply loved being here. She’s really enjoyed the sessions and always looks forward to coming along. It’s been lovely to see her so engaged and happy in this environment.

We will send a full report to you later on in the year. Thank you once again for your continued support, it is very much appreciated.

Cerebra

On behalf of everyone at Cerebra, I want to extend our deepest thanks for your incredibly generous donation raised through the Benefit for Children Classic golf day. We’re truly grateful for your continued support, which makes a real and lasting difference to the children and families we work with.

We’re also proud that our Cerebra Innovation Centre has been involved in making the event’s trophies. It’s a privilege to have our designs featured at such a brilliant event, and it speaks volumes about our shared values of inclusion and community.

Ross and James both speak so warmly of your team and have genuinely enjoyed working with you. It’s always a pleasure collaborating with partners who share our passion and belief in the potential of every child.

We’d love to welcome your team to revisit the Innovation Centre at any time, to see first-hand the difference your support makes and explore future opportunities to work together. And of course, we’d be delighted to invite you to one of our future events, where we share some of the latest breakthroughs and stories coming out of our work.

Once again, thank you for your outstanding generosity and belief in what we do.

Claire House

I want to say thank you for donating following the Valero Golf Day and for everything that you have made possible by supporting Claire House Children’s Hospice.

My name is Olivia, and my sister, Jess, has been coming to Claire House since 2015. Jess has tubes through her heart, a tracheostomy for her airway, she's in a wheelchair and can't talk. In fact, she has a condition so rare, they named it ‘Jessica syndrome’ after her.

Growing up with a seriously ill sister was never going to be easy. But because of you and the care from the hospice, my brother Joe and I got to have a childhood.

Thanks to you, we got to do “normal” things with my mum and dad like going out for tea and to see a film while Jess was living her best life at Claire House. My parents were also able to be there to hug me tight when I moved to university, cheer me on in my first London marathon and, this summer, will see me graduate.

These are memories that might never have happened without your kindness.

I love Jess with all my heart. She’s my little sister – we’re only 16 months apart. But I've been a young carer since I can remember, and there are so many things she can’t do – like eat food or sit in a noisy cinema. So, respite is so important.

By supporting Claire House, you’re not only helping care for Jess, but for our whole family. As kids, it meant Joe and I could do the things that our friends were doing. And it means our mum and dad can have a rest.

It’s a comfort knowing my family will be supported through our hardest times, both now and forever, even after Jess has passed. That kind of support means more than I can ever fully explain.

Thank you for helping make the impossible feel normal.

Clowns In The Sky

Such a generous donation received to support the work we do with families with a child with a brain tumour, and to promote positive well being via play and distraction for all children in hospital no matter of their diagnosis.

For children in hospital our activity trolleys, entertainer and author visits make a real difference at times when the children are very much in need of distraction, and help to bring smiles and some giggles to children in hospital, and their families, as well as raising the morale of the whole wards.

Please see photos below of refill parcels/trolleys, and some entertainer sessions too – complete with smiles! I hope you can see the difference you are making.

Momentum

Please pass on to everyone at Valero involved in organising the Benefit for Children sincere thanks from everyone at Momentum Children’s Charity. We are all so grateful for your continued support, shown most recently by the incredible donation received from this year’s event.

Family feedback from our latest annual survey included these thoughts: “Momentum has been there when I had nobody else. They care when I thought I was alone” and “The counselling we received has been invaluable. It cannot be stated how much it has helped me.” The part that Valero plays in helping us to care for these families cannot be overstated and we really do appreciate all that you do.

Last year more than 2500 children, their parents and siblings received our support to help them through treatment, or to help families through their bereavement. We receive no government funding and rely entirely on the generosity of donations like yours. Thank you so much once again.

Noah's Ark

It truly was a beautifully executed event, and the grand unveil was incredibly emotional for everyone involved. On behalf of all of us at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity, I want to extend a huge well done and an even bigger thank you for your continued support – it genuinely means the world to us - and the 90,000 children from across Wales who receive specialist and often life-saving treatment at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales each year, and their families.

We were absolutely blown away by the amount raised – our donation was considerably more than we’ve received in previous years.

The funds which were donated will enable us to complete a significant project which will begin this autumn – one that we’re really excited about, and I look forward to sharing more details with you soon!

Sandy Bear

On behalf of everyone at Sandy Bear Children’s Bereavement Charity, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for Valero’s incredibly generous donation.

Your support could not have come at a more critical time. This year, Sandy Bear must raise £525,000 just to keep our doors open – ensuring that over 3,000 children, young people, and their families across Pembrokeshire, and Wales, receive the bereavement support they so desperately need.

Your donation alone covers 7.6% of our annual running costs – essentially taking the pressure off for an entire month. That time and breathing space is invaluable, allowing us to focus on delivering frontline support when it’s needed most.

We believe – and know – that no child should have to face the death of someone close alone. Thanks to your generosity, many won’t have to. Valero’s gift is helping us provide therapeutic support, group work, peer connection, and family guidance that empowers children to process their grief, regain their confidence, and build emotionally healthy futures.

The impact of this work goes far beyond the emotional: our recently published Social Value Report shows that Sandy Bear’s support generates over £24 million in economic benefit annually – by preventing more complex mental health issues, reducing pressure on services, and helping children thrive again.

But even beyond the economics, your support helps save futures. It saves lives. It lays the foundation for resilient, compassionate young people – some of whom may one day become future employees, leaders, even CEOs of organisations like Valero.

We are proud to be associated with a company that shows such meaningful commitment to its communities and understands that long-term investment in children’s well-being is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do.

Valero Benefit for Children Classic 2026