Ayrshire padel tennis event for Calum Rae raises £2k

Calum Rae was diagnosed with stage M high-risk neuroblastoma earlier this year.

His family has launched a fundraiser 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 Rae fundraiser (Image: Rae Family)

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, co-ordinated the padel tournament to help raise money for Calum - with a total of 36 padel players from Largs, Irvine, Ayr, West Kilbride, Fairlie, Ardrossan, Prestwick, Saltcoats, Stevenston, and Stewarton involved.

All smiles - Claudio Nardini of Largs (Image: Newsquest)

Brian said the event was a great success and featured both "prizes and surprises", with players having to undergo various challenges from wearing pirate eye patches, to using mini inflatable balls as opposed to tennis balls, or playing with the opposite arm.

Even a Hawaiian-style drinks bar was set up and raised funds for Calum on the day.

Keeping cool on a hot day - Hawaii styled bar at padel tournament with Mathias Kupiec, Robert Norval, Mo Baird (Image: Newsquest)

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.

Each player was given a number on the day.

Padel ladies included Sonya Hughes and Angela McGlynn (Image: Newsquest)

The format saw randomly drawn pairs playing 15 minutes of tie break scoring per round. There was also a successful raffle on the day with top prizes including a rib trip to Poravadie and a signed Rangers FC top.

Brian said: "Many thanks to those who played on Sunday and to those who couldn’t make it but contributed to the 'just-giving' page.

"Hopefully everyone enjoyed the challenge albeit not too taxing on a very hot day!

Padel players came from all over Ayrshire for a great cause (Image: West of Scotland Padel)

"The donations bucket had £840.63 in it. Adding in more raffle and just-giving donations takes us to £2,000 or so.

"There’s still plenty of time to donate but I’m sure Calum and his parents will be delighted with your efforts."

To donate, go here - Crowdfunding to Calum_OurRaeOfSunshine on JustGiving

See more photos below:

Thumbs up - Steven Clarke of Seamill, David Mackie of Saltcoats, Stephen Dowdalls of West Kilbride, and Kenny Allan of Largs (Image: Newsquest)

Pirates of the Caribbean - or Stevenston! Mo Baird and Ian Fyfe with the eye patches on! (Image: Newsquest)

Padel players enjoying a break from the action (Image: Newsquest)

Diane manned the bar and also played in the padel tournament! (Image: Newsquest)

Former Largs Thistle man Archie McNicol, and Mark Matheson of Stevenston (Image: Newsquest)

Eye eye! Andy Boyle of Largs played with teh eye patch in fun padel challenge (Image: Newsquest)

Top shot - Archie McNicol of Saltcoats won top prize with most points accumulated on the day, presented by Brian Stewart (Image: Newsquest)

Runner-up Ian Fyfe was consistent throughout the challenges, with prize presented by Brian Stewart (Image: Newsquest)

Top performer - Angela McGlynn of Ayr was another prizewinner on the day and top female (Image: Newsquest)

Richard Croll won the best shot in the tournament by judge Andy Boyle, with Brian Stewart pictured handing over prize (Image: Newsquest)

Team effort - there was a great turnout on the day to raise funds for Calum Rae (Image: Newsquest)