Teams from the North-East business community yesterday teamed up with sports stars to raise money for a children’s charity at the 16th annual Steve Cram Celebrity Golf Day.

Following the golf at Slaley Hall, other guests joined the fundraising during an evening dinner and auction. The event is expected to raise around £15,000 for North East based COCO (Comrades of Children Overseas), which will be invested in a range of transformational education projects in East Africa.

Stars from the worlds of football, cricket, athletics, motor racing and TV and radio joined Cram for the event. Among the celebrities were Steve Harmison, Phil Mustard, Kriss Akabusi, Allison Curbishley, Max Evans, Richie Pitt, double Olympic champion Daley Thompson, and broadcasters Guy Mowbray and Manish Bhasin.

Cram comments said: “I am always hugely grateful to my friends and colleagues from the world of sport who give up their time to make this event possible, and to COCO’s amazing supporters from the region’s businesses.

“It’s a real privilege to play golf for such a deserving cause on the brilliant Slaley Hall course, and also a significant challenge!

“During the event, we are able to showcase to our guests how the money that they help raise will be invested into sustainable projects in East Africa. That makes a huge impact in improving access to education for young people, which in turn opens up opportunities for them in the future. Once again, thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s event.”

The Steve Cram Celebrity Golf Day was sponsored by Grosvenor Casinos and supported by Nike, Slaley Hall, Aston Martin, The White Ball Club, Bang on Print & Design, R&B Group, Apex Radio Systems and Adnams.

To find out more about the work of COCO visit www.coco.org.uk, find the charity on Facebook or follow @COCO_Charity on Twitter.