Founding member, Wolfram Koerner with Clara Tauson, the Australian Open Junior winner from Denmark
Dear friends of Golden Sunbeams
It was the idea of our founding member, Wolfram Koerner, to attend the international tennis tournament in Darmstadt by setting up an information desk. He and his friend, Bernd Holtkamp, come from the same region of Germany and have played tennis together for many years.
Bernd, together with several tennis team champions from Hessen, from the Tennis Club Seeheim, have often played on the tennis court in Darmstadt Bessunger. Although he has lived in South Africa for over 20 years, Bernd still feels a strong connection with the tennis club and this region.
Our founding members from left to right: Wolfram Koerner, Klaus Stegmayer and Peter Schreer, on the stand
During the international tennis tournament in early July in Darmstadt, Wolfram Koerner represented our Bickenbach-based association, Golden Sunbeams e.V. He undertook the construction and the design, as well as serving on the desk. During the tournament, he informed visitors about our goals and our sustainable projects. He was assisted by Peter Schreer and Brigitte and Klaus Stegmayer, who are also founding members of Golden Sunbeams e.V. Many former and future volunteers provided additional support at the information desk during the one-week event.
From his practical experience, Julian Gatti, our former volunteer, informed visitors about his experiences in the townships.
Heat wave: The women’s doubles in extremely high temperatures placed a burden on the tennis players.
With this event, and especially with our information desk, we were able to focus attention on our organisation, Golden Sunbeams e.V. We are satisfied with the positive coverage we received in the local press and in the tournament’s newspaper about our work in South Africa. In addition to this, donations were made directly at the desk and proceeds were also received from the tournament itself. And we hope to get in addition a generous donation from the tombola.
We would like to sincerely thank our founding members, Wolfram Koerner, Peter Schreer, Brigitte and Klaus Stegmayer, as well as all the desk supervisors for their great support. A big “thank you” goes to tennis friend Dieter Klussmeier, who gave us support at the desk and acted as mediator. We are grateful that the organisers of this tournament afforded us this opportunity to make a public appearance.
