The Fiji Crippled Children's Society will be $20,000 richer thanks to Vodafone Fiji's sponsorship of national golf and this weekend's Christmas in August Charity Golf tournament at Denarau, Nadi.

The Vodafone Fiji Christmas in August Corporate Charity Golf and Awards Banquet, held at the Denarau Golf & Racquet Club, has attracted over a 140 golfers and over 400 dinner guests from Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

The Ambrose event, will see the participation of a team from the Australian Spastic Centre, led by former Australian Wallaby great, Glen Ella and professional golfers, Gary "Smokey" Dawson and Matthew Laverty.

The winning golf team will fly to Sydney, Australia in November to participate in the Col Crawford Charity Golf Day for The Spastic Centre.

"We are proud to be behind Fiji Golf to enable them to hold such a big charity event and give something back to the needy in society," Vodafone Fiji acting Chief Marketing Officer, Pradeep Lal said.

"Vodafone Fiji, through the Vodafone ATH Foundation, helps various charities annually with more than $1 million in grants, but this is the first time the company is behind a charity event in its own right," Lal said.

Vodafone Fiji has sponsored Fiji golf to the tune of $100,000 for the next 12 months.

National Golf Association of Fiji national secretary, Mosese Waqavonovono, thanked Vodafone Fiji for the sponsorship.

"This is the first major charity event in the national golf calendar and without Vodafone Fiji's contribution, we wouldn't be able to hold tournament like this," Waqavonovono said.

"We at NGAF have adopted the Fiji Crippled Children Society as our charity beneficiary in this most worthwhile cause and hope to continue to hold this event annually."

The charity money has been raised through event sponsorship, the sale of each of the 18 holes to corporate houses, the entry fee for the event from business houses and a fee for the dinner night.

His Excellency, the Vice President of Fiji, Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, is the chief guest at the awards banquet.

The NGAF is working closely with the Leadership FIJI 2005 graduates, with huge support from the Cerebral Palsy Institute and The Spastic Centre in NSW, Australia in organising this event.

The money raised will be used to continue funding the CAL Training Program, an early intervention training program for teachers, caregivers and families of children with cerebral palsy to enable these children access to health care and progress into the normal school curricular if possible or to an appropriate special school.

The first phase of the CAL Training Program commenced in May this year with the seed money raised at the 'Red October Night' fundraising dinner in October 2005, a Leadership FIJI 2005 graduates community project.

Some of the seed money paid for the costs of Community Rehabilitation Assistants (CRA) and caregivers to come from all parts of Fiji for a three-week in-classroom training and one week field therapy work.

The CAL Training Program is being implemented by The Spastic Centre and Cerebral Palsy Institute of NSW, Australia, working closely with the Fiji Crippled Children Society. The three-year program needs $110,000 per annum to ensure its success.