An Inspiring and Uplifting Celebration of Community- Lymphoedema United 5th Golf Day

As first-time attendees, we at PhysioPod® UK Ltd were absolutely delighted to support the 5th Lymphoedema United Charity Golf Day at the beautiful Forest of Arden Golf & Country Club. Despite arriving a little late due to some frustrating traffic, any lingering travel stress vanished the moment we walked into the dining room. Although the assembled guests were already seated and Matt was actively addressing the room on his microphone, he paused to welcome Julie Soroczyn and I, in his signature warm, friendly way, instantly making us feel at ease.

The day had already begun energetically before we arrived, Rebecca Elwell, Director of National Clinical Services at Accelerate CIC, had led the pre-golf warm-up and explained the crucial 'why' of patient self-management, also answering some great questions before dinner regarding compression for lymphoedema, movement, and diet. 

At dinner, we had the distinct pleasure of being seated at an incredible table alongside the legendary lymphoedema educator Professor Peter Mortimer; the inspiring bioengineer Dr Katharine Wang; Tom Wright, MD, of Haddenham; Mark Hudston, Marketing Manager of Daylong; three lovely Lymphoedema United members; and Matt’s delightful and glamorous mum Annie and dad Roy. It was the first time for Matt's parents to attend the event, and they were clearly incredibly proud and in awe of their son, who has achieved so much to ensure that members of the lymphoedema community ARE not alone in his continued efforts.

The atmosphere in the room was warm and friendly. The charity auction, filled with good-humoured banter—especially surrounding the memorable "Mr Weetabix"!—highlighted the night. The generous donations of prizes made the event even more special. 

The event also gave us a precious opportunity to mingle and connect with several long-time friends, collaborators, and champions of the lymphoedema sector:

• Gaynor Leech, the unstoppable founder of the L-W-O Community and expert patient advocate. Our working partnership dates back to 2017, when we first connected on Twitter. It was wonderful to finally meet Mr Leech too. To get a hug from Gaynor after the countless hours of WhatsApping and FaceTiming we do is magical! We have worked together on several global lymphoedema awareness campaigns and educational videos and spent countless hours co-producing articles and videos together over the years.
  
  
• Karen Friett, the effervescent Chair of the Lymphoedema Support Network (LSN). The LSN's Lymphline newsletter has so generously featured therapist reviews and articles on Deep Oscillation with its members over the years. A summary of the PhysioPod® UK independent service evaluation, "UK Treatment and Experience of Head and Neck Lymphoedema” was recently shared.
  
  
• Carol-Ann Barrett is an exceptional private MLD DLT practitioner and complementary therapist based in Hertfordshire, operating under the name Hands2Health. Carol-Ann has integrated Deep Oscillation into her clinical practice with remarkable success for many years, helping her patients manage and improve their long-term swelling. Carol sported a wonderful purple outfit, which is apparently her favourite colour and is also the colour of choice for every room in her house she informed us J.
  
  
• Graham Rooms, who has shared his personal journey with genital lymphoedema as a guest blogger on the PhysioPod® website. We were thrilled to congratulate him in person on his fantastic book, There Is Life at the End of the Tunnel, which we were recently proud to showcase on our website to help others navigate life after a prostate cancer diagnosis.
  
  

We also want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the core family team supporting the lovely Matt behind the scenes. His gorgeous wife, Vikki, is a total ally to both Matt and the cause, working tirelessly to ensure the day was a triumph and their daughter, Jasmine, is an absolute credit to them. Jasmine completely rocked her role, handing out the prizes and gifts and putting her Dad right on occasion with where things were located! The skills of the other Lymphoedema United team members – Dave, Nathan, Lorraine, Steve, Daisy, added to the seamless organisation of the event.

Professor Mortimer’s speech was, as always, incredibly moving, insightful, and wonderfully hilarious too! While the final fundraising figures weren't shared on the night, the grand total was officially announced on June 12th—and what a phenomenal achievement it was! A staggering £8,616 was raised. We are so pleased to know that £6,648 of this will be donated to the Derby Research Team (supporting the great work Katie Riches and her colleagues are doing), and £1,968 will go to the Lymphoedema Appeal & Research Fund at St George’s Hospital Charity.

To top off a perfect experience, we thoroughly enjoyed relaxing in the venue's spa facilities the following morning. We are incredibly proud to have been a part of this special day that so beautifully unites golfers, patients, medical experts, and specialist suppliers. A massive thank you to Matt for the kind invitation—we are already looking forward to supporting the event again on Thursday 3rd June 2027!