Child golfing sensations ‘blown away’ by response to new foundation – with support from Tom Grennan and Ben Shepherd

Two child golfing sensations, among the best in the country for their age, have been “blown away” by the response to a new foundation they have set up.

Josh Bland and Leo Boniface recently set up the Leo & Josh Golf Foundation to inspire and financially support children of all ages and backgrounds to play the sport.

The aim is to provide young people with free golf lessons with professionals and supply them with golfing equipment.

11-year-old Josh, from Bugbrooke, has an adult handicap of 9.9 and is among the top three in his age bracket in the country.

He has accumulated more than 15,000 followers on Instagram as a result of his talent and his father, Dan Bland, previously spoke to this newspaper about how Josh came to discover his passion for golf.

Josh and Leo first met through golf, with both of them having a large social media following for their age for the sport – which they have used to their advantage when setting up the foundation to make a difference.

Dan said: “We noticed that junior golf is on the decline. There are some exceptional young golfers out there, but it doesn’t touch the sides of other sports like football and rugby.”

Dan spoke of the stigma attached to the sport, with people assuming it is an old man’s game and elitist.

There is also the challenge of high costs and the hundreds of pounds required for equipment and membership when anyone takes up the sport.

“Accessibility is difficult,” said Dan.

After setting up the foundation, it did not take long for golf fanatic DJ Khaled to get behind the cause and shout out Josh and Leo’s work to his 36 million followers on Instagram.

As the end goal is to take the foundation overseas, this was a great step in the right direction for the duo.

The first celebrity golf day was hosted last month, and Josh and Leo used their social media presence to reach out to celebrities.

The hope is to host two to three events of this kind a year and all profits raised are used by the foundation to provide free golf lessons and equipment.

The concept is that teams of three members of the public pay to take part, and their fourth player is a celebrity.

At July’s event, they were thrilled to welcome singer Tom Grennan, ITV presenter Ben Shepherd and former football player Wayne Bridge – as well as a number of professional golfers.

That day alone raised more than £10,000 and Dan wanted to thank the headline sponsor, Air IT.

“We were blown away by the support,” said Dan. “It is a credit to our boys because of what they’ve done for junior golf. It couldn’t have gone any better.”

Moving forward, the plan is to continue hosting events and getting more big names on board. The next fundraiser will be based in the North, and the one after that in the Midlands.

Talking about the aim of the foundation, Dan said: “We’re not trying to find the next Tiger Woods, it is about the problem solving, mental health, exercise and friendship sides of golf for children.”

For more information, check out the Instagram pages for Josh Bland, Leo Boniface and the Leo & Josh Golf Foundation.