Birdshot Uveitis Charity Shoot Day 2023

15th June 2023

The Birdshot Uveitis Society celebrated another successful shooting event at the Royal Berkshire Shooting School this year, raising a whopping £62,000 for continued research into Birdshot, which is a rare and potentially blinding eye disease, for which there is currently no cure. It gets its name from the white marks that develop on the retina, manifesting themselves as black spots in the field of vision, looking the same as when the lead pellets fired from a shotgun hit a pattern plate.

Held on the 10th of May, and sponsored by John F Hunt, the 25 teams of 4 guns, headed off after breakfast, in the beautiful sunshine to their first stand.  Following a number of cloud bursts and some rapid dashes for waterproofs during the morning, shooting concluded with Champagne served on the lawn and lunch in the marquee.

Top Team with a score of 401 went to ‘2 birds only 1 stone’ comprising Oliver Rees (84), Brett Hallworth (90), Matt Yeates (65) and Nick Brown (62). Top Gun was claimed by Paul Poulter of ‘Hitachi Hotshots’ with 86 points, whilst ‘The Glorious Twelfth’ went to ‘Who Hares Wins’ with Matthew Nesbit, Tony Swanwick, Robin Ede and Paul Bland with 351 points. The Clay Conservationists Team award was presented to ‘New Era Bandito’s’ James Hunt, Steve Newman, Stefan Olen and Patrick Shinners with 269, and Becky Bone scooped the ‘Top Lady’ prize with 57 points.

Amazingly, in the sweep where individuals take a guess at how many clays were actually hit out of the 12,398 launched, Jon Eaglesham scored a direct hit with a guess of 8554 and landed himself a Magnum of Taittinger Champagne, which he very kindly put into the auction.

John Hall, a Birdshot sufferer, spoke passionately, as always, about the eye disease, urging everyone to go for an eye test on a regular basis, to ensure any issues are diagnosed early. He introduced Mohammed Rayhan, Birdshot’s speaker for the day, who is the Portfolio Manager for Ophthalmology Research at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. Ray, as he is known, manages and coordinates the delivery of all ophthalmology trials and part of his salary is paid for by Birdshot, allowing him to dedicate time and resources to deliver their ABC study, uploading Birdshot sufferers’ clinical and imaging data to the database for analysis and research.

The very kindly donated auction lots ranged from a toy JCB ride-on tractor, Fortnum and Mason hampers, football hospitality tickets, a JCB’s golf experience and fishing on the River Test, to Rugby at Twickenham, an overnight stay at Le Manoir Hotel, a long weekend in Italy and a holiday in a luxury Villa within the four seasons resort in Sharm El Sheikh.

An excellent day was enjoyed by all, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the 2024 Birdshot Charity Shoot Day, for which we will announce the date, as soon as it is confirmed!

 

Team Name Team Member 1 Total Team Member 2 Total Team Member 3 Total Team Member 4 Total Flush Total
2 birds only 1 stone Oliver Rees 84 Brett Hallworth 90 Matt Yeates 65 Nick Brown 62 100 401
Hitachi Hotshots James Pengilley 76 Paul Poulter 86 Andy Skilton 75 Martin O’Hare 61 99 397
Trigger Happys Paul White 63 Guy Rudd 80 Sam Harper 78 Jack Sawbridge 68 100 389
Maleon Marauders Steve Revell 73 William Downie 61 Howard Redhouse 83 Simon Wilkinson 68 99 384
Inmalo Miss Hits John Polak 72 Charles Polak 67 Mike Wright 76 Simon Grantham 64 100 379
Oxenwood Outlaws Jeremy Bishop 65 Tom Boardman 63 Steve Spriggens 69 Simon Perkins 73 99 369
3 C’s and a B Stephen Casey 71 John Barbour 63 Simon Casey 55 Finlay Casey 79 97 365
The Bly Busters Paul Hellier 63 Charlie Goodwin 72 Matt Blair 55 James Nolan 69 99 358
The 4 Bores Liam Dunford 59 Peter Davidson 54 Robin Partington 81 Aston Woodward 65 99 358
Mr Gain Matthew Goodwin 60 Nick Ralls 60 Ross Wilkinson 72 David Corry 63 97 352
Charles Wilson Gunslingers David Gallagher 58 James Gallagher 63 Harry Fern 52 Nathan Heathcote 79 99 351
Who Hares Wins Matthew Nesbit 67 Tony Swanwick 81 Robin Ede 49 Paul Bland 56 98 351
Gazetas Go Getters Jon Eaglesham 60 Jonathan Allwood 77 Anthony Chudleigh 46 Toby Badcock 58 98 339
Top Guns Martyn Burnett 61 Andy Murphy 48 Trevor Kent 72 Ronan Herity 60 98 339
Jolly Clay Busters James Richardson 64 Luke Wood 50 Matthew Fenton 68 Becky Bone 57 99 338
Holmans Hoodlums Mark Robbins 56 Rory Mackinnon 50 Darren Watkinson 78 Gareth Hanvey 44 99 327
The Hos-Shots Adrian Mays 73 Chris Woods 58 Rob White 54 Karl Roots 46 95 326
Regeneration Raiders Ben Williams 60 Toby Conroy 71 Subomi Fapohunda 51 Steve Forster 47 94 323
Ridgway Renegades Tim Jones 62 Stuart Jones 56 Stuart Greenshields 57 Paul Hooper 53 93 321
Almacantar Academicals Geoff Taylor 74 James Waite 55 Gavin Sinnott 48 Ray 45 98 320
Team Blue Rory Smyth 44 Frederick Cook 59 Ryan Downs 69 Tony Marshall 51 96 319
Clay Preservation Society David Atherton 42 James Creevy 53 James Caddick 62 Louis Furner 58 96 311
No Hit Sherlock Gary Mold 54 Nick Bloxham 44 Joe Patterson 57 Michael Colmer 49 94 298
Pigeon Protection Posse William Key 52 Jackson Gatley 55 George Tincknell 36 Avi Rosenfield 33 94 270
New Era Bandito’s James Hunt 44 Steve Newman 47 Stefan Olen 40 Patrick Shinners 48 90 269
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